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Basharat Peer in Agra.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Agra scheduled for Monday has been cancelled due to heavy rain playing the spoilsport.
Vajpayee was scheduled to address the masses at the Ramlila grounds in the vicinity of the Agra fort. The local BJP was excited to have the prime minister canvass for them and massive preparations were underway.
But since Monday morning, a heavy downpour has filled the venue with water, drastically reducing the chances of a major gathering.
Senior BJP leader and former information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj was camping here and had hectic parleys with the local leaders and candidates.
During an interview with rediff.com, she said that the prime minister's visit might be cancelled as the adverse weather conditions would prevent a gathering worth the prime minister's stature.
The BJP is taking the rallies of its leaders very seriously and is ensuring that under no conditions should a public meeting be held where the size of its crowd fades in comparison to the one its rivals had.
The present MLA of Agra Cantonment, Keshav Mehra, confirmed the cancellation of the prime minister's visit to rediff.com.
Sushma Swaraj was also contemplating cancelling the rallies in Jhansi and other places as bad weather would mean a low turnout.
"Due to the bad weather we cannot expect the people to come in huge numbers. But if we proceed with a rally in such circumstances, people would only talk about the low turnout and not the reason," Sushma said.
Meanwhile, in the three assembly constituencies of Agra -- Agra Cantonment, Agra West and Agra East -- there is a strong competition between BJP, SP and BSP.
Agra has been a pro-BJP belt, but the balance was upset in the last Lok Sabha elections with the Samajwadi candidate Raj Babbar, emerging as the winner.
But the last assembly polls saw two BJP candidates and one BSP candidate being elected. This time BJP faces the challenge again mainly from the BSP, which is planning to encash on the Muslim-Jatav (lower caste) combine by fielding a Muslim candidate Basheer Chaudhary.
Another sore in the BJP's foot is the Samajwadi Party's selection of a candidate from the Rathore community, which has traditionally voted for the BJP.
But the BJP Agra Cantonment candidate, Keshav Mehra is confident that the BJP will romp home victorious. He claims that he has worked hard for the people.
"When the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of various constructions, including temples, mosques and gurdwaras that came within 200 metres of the Taj Mahal, I personally argued the case against the demolition in the Supreme Court. The court let the buildings stay," Mehra said.
He believes that the Muslim factor is not going to be decisive as the vote would be split between SP, BSP and Congress as almost every party has fielded a Muslim candidate.
"In Dholi Khar, a Muslim settlement they weighed me in coins," Mehra said, claiming that the Muslim community is warming up to the BJP.
But Ghulam Rassool, an autorickshaw driver has a different story to tell. He said that in all the three constituencies the Muslims have decided to vote for the party who can defeat the BJP.
"It can be BSP in one constituency, SP in another. We have decided to vote for the man who keeps the BJP out," he added.
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