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It is expected that more than 9 crore voters in the 85 constituencies all over 8 different states would exercise their right to choose the right candidate to represent them in the parliament. In total there are about 1300 candidates trying their luck across these 85 constituencies.  This would be the fourth round of voting for the Lok Sabha elections 2009.

Though the pollsters have predicted long back that it would be a coalition government as there would be a hung house, major political parties like the Congress and the BJP claim that it would be clean sweep in these elections. Well it is also seen that they have started working on plan B as major political parties have started wooing the possible allies and have started searching for the new ones as well. This indicates that the post poll scenario is going to be really different than what these parties are claiming. The final phase of the elections would be on May 13. The counting of the votes will take place on May 16 and we may have the clear picture after that only. Election commission has made all the required arrangements to ensure free and fail polls.

Many old warhorses in the game of politics are going to try their luck. The External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is contesting from Jangipur, Science and Technology Minister is contesting from Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav is trying his luck from Patliputra, Samajwadi Party Boss Mulayam Singh Yadav is looking for a mandate from Mainpuri, Rashtriya Lok Dal Chief Ajit Singh is in Baghpat. In total from the states, Haryana will have 10 seats, Rajasthan 25 seats, Punjab 4 seats, West Bengal 17 seats, Bihar 3 seats, Uttar Pradesh 18 seats, Delhi 7 seats and Jammu and Kashmir 1 seat for which the public opinion would be locked in EVMs today. The fourth phase will conclude the polling in Bihar. We still have West Bengal, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir where a yet another round of polling will happen on May13. Today’s polling will complete Delhi, Rajasthan, and Haryana in one go. Out of the 85 seat contested today we have maximum 82 candidates from BSP trying their fate. Congress has fielded on 70 seats and same is the number for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The left parties are trying their hand only on about 30 seats.

There are three national party presidents from BJP, SP, and RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) - Rajnath Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ajit Singh respectively who are contesting today. Rajnath Singh is trying to help his image of the leader of masses. He was brought into the parliament by BJP through the safe doors of Rajya Sabha for past three terms. He is trying his luck for the first time from Ghaziabad for Lok Sabha. Today the masses would decide how correct he and his supporters are. Mulayam Singh Yadav is also trying to find a place to retain his political Base. He has to confront the challenge of retaining the 8 seats his party won in the 2004 elections. He has Etawah, Mainpuri and Kannauj as his home ground for he will have more than 20% of the Yadav voters from these areas to support him.  Ajit Singh, though many of you might have forgotten him since he is nowhere seen in the active politics in the past years is trying his hand in his homeland on the account that the Jatland would vote for him and will help him to keep him alive in the Indian Politics. Bhartiya Janata Party has joined hand with Ajit Singh assuming that he would be the candidate who could be helpful in getting support from Jats and Gujjars of the western Uttar Pradesh. If he wins, this would be his 6^th tern in the Lok Sabha from Baghpat.

When Bindusara died in 274 BC, he was succeeded by his son Ashoka, the third and the greatest of the Mauryan line of Kings. During the times of Bindusara the North West India was administered by a centrally controlled bureaucracy. Its impersonal administrators were headstrong. The freedom loving people of Punjab could hardly put up with their oppression. Hence they rose in revolt, at Taxila. King Bindusara sent Ashoka at the head of a large army to reclaim the allegiance of the discontented people. When Ashoka arrived near the town the representatives of the people came out to meet him and said that they are not opposed to the King Bindusara nor even the prince, but the wicked officers suppressed them. Then they brought him to the city with great pomp and festivity.

From Taxila, Ashoka led and expedition to conquer the land of Khasa, the hill region in the south and west of Kashmir, and annexed it to the Mauryan empire. Ashoka’s hold over Kandahar is attested by the discovery of his bilingual Graeco-Aramean inscriptions on the old Kandahar Herat Road. The revolt of Taxila and the expedition of Ashoka to Khasa resulted in the annexation of the hilly region near Kashmir to the province of the Punjab.

Towards the end of the reign of Bindusara, the people of Taxila again revolted against the tyranny and exploitation of the Mauryan officials. The Divyavdana tells us that on that occasion Prince Susima was sent to suppress the revolt, but he failed to pacify the insurgents. Hence the king Bindusara again thought of sending Ashoka. But in the meantime Bindusara died.

When Ashoka came to the throne he had again to face the problem of the upheaval of the people of Taxila. On the advice of his ministers, he sent prince Kunala to quell the rebellion. On his arrival at Taxila prince Kunala was cordially welcomed by the citizens. But they complained of the high handedness of the officers and assured the prince of their loyalty. These three revolts of the people of Taxila against the tyranny of the bureaucrats show that they were freedom loving people and were not prepared to tolerate the conduct of oppressive bureaucrats.

Eight years after his coronation, Ashoka invaded Kalinga, with a mighty army and conquered it. The large scale man slaughter bloodshed and loss of property caused in the terrible battle changed the mind and heart of Ashoka. He vowed not to resort to war for the conquest of territories. Instead, he decided to make Dharmavijay the conquest through the propagation of Dharma. He organised missions to spread teaching of the Buddha, both in India and the foreign countries. In his Rock Edict XIII he says that the missionaries were sent to Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Epirus and Macedonia. He issued orders forbidding killing of a number of animals and birds like parrots, monkeys etc which were neither utilized not eaten. He built hospitals both for animals and men. For the convenience of the travelers, he planted trees, dug wells by the road side and constructed rest houses and watersheds.

With the Accession of Ashoka and his conversion to Buddhism, Taxila developed into the foremost city for the propagation of Buddhism in the Punjab. It was personally known to the emperor Ashoka as he had been the viceroy of the province during the reign of his father. The Punjab had now full share of his benefactions. It is stated that Ashoka gave a portion f the body of relics of Lord Buddha to every town of importance in his realms and ordered Stupas to be erected for their enshrinement. A large number of stupas, monasteries and Buddhist monuments were built in the north western India. The great Dharamarajikas Stupa was originally one of the Stupa built under Ashoka’s orders for housing the body relics of the Master. Most of the Buddhist monuments, though in a ruined state were in existence, when the Chinese pilgrims FA-hain and later Hiuen Tsang visited India.

Ashoka established friendly relations with the kingdom of Lanka in the south and with the successors of Seleucus in the North West of India. His northern and north western dominions included Nepal, Tehri Garhwal, Punjab and the whole of North West Frontier province which proved by his pillar edict at Lumbini and the Rock Edict at Kalsi, Shabazgarhi and Manshera. During Ashoka’s times, from Bengal to Afghanistan and from Hindukush to Mysore, the whole of India came under the rule of the Mauryas.