Sunday, January 23 2005 14:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Meham (Haryana): The ghost of the 1990 shootout at a polling booth in Meham constituency of Haryana has come back to haunt the residents of the area on the eve of the Assembly elections in the State.

The constituency, a cluster of 32 villages is agog with electioneering and the people cannot help but recall the killing of eight voters at a polling station there as they tried to resist booth capturing during the February 1990 bye-election to the Assembly seat.

Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala was the Janata Dal candidate then against independent nominee Anand Singh Dangi in 1990. The poll-related violence created such a political storm that Chautala had to quit as Chief Minister. Dangi is now the Congress candidate in Meham but Chautala has shifted to Narwana and is trying his luck in another constituency Rori.

Ask the residents of Meham about the history of the constituency, and they are bound to tell you about the shooting incident.

"It happened not far from where we are right now. I had also come out to vote when the news of the shootout spread like wild fire through the area," says Shadilal Malik, a septuagenarian in Bamnsi village in Meham.

A Punjabi migrant from Pakistan, Malik, who has served as accounts officer in the State Government before returning to his roots in the village, says it appears that the killings will remain a blotch on the face of the constituency.

"It was shocking. Every election brings back the memories of that day," says 35-year-old Satbir Singh, a farmer from nearby Saiman village.

"It's been 15 years since the killings, but even now when I go to the polling booth to cast vote, I am reminded of it. The people of Meham can never forget that incident," he adds.

Dangi terms the incident "an attack on democracy" and holds Chautala responsible for it.

But INLD (India National Lok Dal) pooh-poohs the charge, saying had Chautala been responsible for the incident, the party would not have won from the area twice consecutively since 1996.

"Dangi has always tried to mislead the people. But his ploy does not seem to be working anymore. We won in 1996 and 2000 and we will win again," says the INLD candidate Rajbir Singh Samain, also reminding that Dangi was the Congress candidate in Meham in the last two elections.

"An attempt was made by Chautala to belittle the wishes of people. And he had to beat a hasty retreat," says Dangi, who had gone on to win the re-poll in 1991 on a Congress ticket.

Dangi, meanwhile, is trying his luck again in Meham, pitted against Samain, who is a first-time contestant in the Vidhan Sabha polls, replacing sitting INLD MLA Balbir Singh.

It may not be so easy for him, going by the history of Meham. While Congress has managed to win the seat only thrice since the State was formed in 1966, INLD founder Devi Lal has won from the area thrice and since 1982, INLD has held the seat except for the 1991 debacle. And Samain is a popular local leader who has risen through the ranks of the party.

However, Dangi says there is a "Congress wave" in the area, which has over 1,20,000 electorate, and he will win by a landslide margin. "People's anger towards INLD was reflected in Lok Sabha elections. The anger has not subsided," he says.

All in all, an interesting fight between two farmers from neighbouring villages is on the cards in Meham.