Tainted Vote

Tainted Vote THE drastically curailed election formalities in Punjab have been rushed through under tight security and at the end of it all the Congress has captured 87 of the 117 assembly seats and 12 of the 13 Lok Sabha seats. The BSP has secured one parliamentary seat and nine Vidhan Sabha seats. The Akali Dal (Kabul), CPI, CPl(M), IPF, BJP and an independent have picked up the remaining assembly seats. The central parliamentary board of the Congress has expressed happiness at the outcome of the election but apart from those given to clutching at straws it is difficult to imagine anyone echoing the same sentiment, least of all an electorate that chose not to vote.