NEW DELHI: This week’s announcement of provincial elections in four states has signalled the start of particularly vicious mudslinging season, with top leaders of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its arch rival, the Congress party, at the receiving end.

Neither party is pulling any punches because the outcome of the polls in the four Congress-ruled states of Delhi that houses the national capital, western Rajasthan, central Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh on Dec. 1 and in north-eastern Mizoram on Nov. 20. These polls set trends for general elections scheduled for Sept 2004.

Soon after Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh announced the poll schedule on Monday, the country’s main sleuthing agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), swung into action. It raided the homes of a top opposition politician and charged the Congress chief minister of Chattisgarh, Ajit Jogi, with forging documents.

On Wednesday, the CBI raided the home of Mayawati, who in August resigned as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. She had fallen out with the leadership of the BJP over who sanctioned a multi-million dollar project to construct a tourist complex uncomfortably close to the Taj Mahal.

Last week, Fernandes, who is currently facing an opposition boycott in Parliament because he did not step down while under investigation on serious corruption charges, said he is in touch with the Attorney General with a view to initiating a case against Gandhi. “I have the responsibility to see that sedition is not allowed to go scot-free.”

Five years ago, the BJP was humiliated by the Congress party in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and is now desperately looking to win back the three major states that were, prior to that, strongholds of the BJP. The elections are also remarkable for the fact that for the first time, the Election Commission has required all candidates to disclose criminal records and financial assets. This is represents a bid to curb a disturbing trend that has emerged for criminals to contest elections and win using money and muscle power. —Dawn/InterPress News Service.