Gandhi’s Corruption Drive Being Tested at Polls Today

Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s attempt to purge his ruling Congress-I Party of corruption and win control of India’s state governments begins today with a four-day election process in 11 states.

Gandhi succeeded his mother as prime minister immediately after she was assassinated Oct. 31. He was swept into power in his own right in December, when his party won almost 80% of the seats in the Lok Sabha, the key lower house of Parliament, in national elections.

In voting today and again Tuesday, he hopes for party victories in the states--including heavily populated Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Dropped Officeholders

Before the campaign began, however, Gandhi ordered nearly 40% of the incumbent Congress-I legislators in the states dropped from the lists of candidates. The move was part of his effort to rid the party of hundreds of corrupt and inefficient members, many of whom had risen to power during Indira Gandhi’s rule.

The anti-corruption campaign by the new prime minister has earned him many enemies in India’s political establishment, and some of the spurned politicians have worked openly against him. Many of the new candidates he has chosen are young and inexperienced.

Nevertheless, Gandhi is heavily favored to maintain control for his party in the nine states where it already runs the state assemblies. And in Karnataka, which is a southern state, Congress-I is favored to wrest control of the assembly from the Janata Party despite the immense popularity of Janata Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde.

Congress-I is expected to lose only in Andhra Pradesh state, where the regional Telegu Desam is in power under its movie-star leader, N.T. Rama Rao.

The campaign has been marred by violence, and several candidates have been killed in election-related incidents. The death in police hands of a popular independent candidate and former maharajah in Rajasthan state led to protests in Jaipur, the Rajasthan capital.

Candidate-Fugitives

Despite the emphasis on a party cleanup by Rajiv Gandhi, the Press Trust of India reported that in Bihar state, more than 160 candidates are wanted by the police for crimes including murder, rape, smuggling and robbery.

Today’s first phase of the polling includes voting in all areas of the central state of Madhya Pradesh and in populous parts of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar.

People in the remaining sections of these states, as well as in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, where the contests are the closest, will vote Tuesday. Results will not be released until Wednesday.