Mad scramble for party ticket

Guwahati, Mar 10: Mad scramble for party ticket has literally brought Guwahati to standstill as ticket seekers and their supporters literally blocked the main roads of the city throwing normal life out of gear.

While the Congress threw out the ever busy GS Road to be completely blocked by the hundreds of vehicles coming from all over the state, the AGP paralyzed the traffic at M.G Road and the BJP was no better in the R G BO Road.

Unable to handle the party supporters, the party top brass have started conducting secret meetings. Both the Congress and AGP are trying to use the normal government protective security ring as the shield against the masses while BJP top brass has left for New Delhi.

''We will remain on the ground and will try to resolve the ticket distribution process as far as possible locally. We do not want party ticket seekers to go to New Delhi,'' said the Congress in-charge of Asom Digvijay Singh, whose arrival at Guwahati had further changed the enthusiasm at Rajib Bhawan, the party state headquarter.

The AGP have moved their most important meetings to the residence of their President Brindabon Goswami, who is also the leader of the opposition in the present assembly. His residence is within the high security Assembly Complex.

''Here a crow can not come because of the security. With the huge crowd it is impossible to discuss anything serious. In fact we have asked the district committees to select their own candidates because every one of the 500 people, who applied are eligible to get tickets,'' said party President Brindabon Goswami.

The BJP top brass after playing cat and mouse game for one week finally left for New Delhi with a draft list. They party supporters chased them in the party office, hotel rooms and finally even at the terrace of a shopping mall as unusual surge of applicants made life miserable for all of them.

''The party leadership has more or less finalized the whole list and in phased manner the same would be announced in a day or two,'' said the party spokesman Ashok Singhal, himself a contender for the Guwahati (West) post. He said party leader Pramod Mahajan was himself screening the list.

Also the breakway AGP(P) is trying to catch the disgruntled elements of the AGP to bring them into their own rank and put up as candidate and play the role of the spoiler for the parent party.

In fact there has been heavy demand of hotels and guest houses at Guwahati city. Except the upmarket hotels, all the mid range and budget accommodations are packed to the capacity for last five days.

''It has been good business. The business is up by about 70 per cent and we have actually returned some of our old customers,'' said Mr. Pankaj Baishya, Manager of Param Hotel.

UNI