As the major vote bank - even in the country's most planned and modern city - lies in slums and labour colonies, the inhabitants of which are largely ignorant and have no direct link with the issue, Kargil it appears, will have little local impact.

Chandigarh Newsline spoke to a cross-section of residents, including ex-servicemen, to gauge the impact the Kargil episode has had on city voters.

Residents unanimously agree that despite the issue being played up by political parties to achieve their ends, the issue will have no significant impact on city voters, the main areas of concern being the status of the city as UT, cleanliness, by-laws and unwarranted growth of slums.

So much so that even the Rashtriya Raksha Dal, an ex-servicemen's political party contesting the elections for the local seat, is not banking upon the Kargil issue to generate support.

"Kargil is more of an international issue between the two countries, whereas politics is an internal matter," said Mayusha Sharma, a school teacher. "Political parties are definitely trying to play up the issue to achieve electoral gains, but it seems that in this city they are not succeeding," she added.

"While Kargil is dominating election issues at several places, it has not been raised in a significant way here," said Rakesh Jolly, superintendent, Central Excise and Customs. "The major chunk of voters here has no direct link with the issue," he remarked, adding that while it has tended to sway a section of the voters toward the BJP, it should not have been made an election issue at all.

"Kargil is not a major election issue here, though the BJP has tried to play it up to gain political mileage," Suhaghvir Singh, a city youngster, felt. "The glorification of the sacrifices made by soldiers has been done keeping the elections in view," he commented, adding that despite so many soldiers being killed earlier, this was never done before.

However, Dr. Bikas Kar of PGI, while agreeing that Kargil did not appear as a major issue here, tended to differ, saying that the impact would be more on the ignorant classes as they could be easily swayed, what with the issue being played up.

"Operation Vijay has definitely generated some sympathy among the voters toward the government and is being played up by some. Perhaps it will influence a section of the educated class, but in lower classes where ignorance prevails, it is not likely to have any impact," said Brig. B.M. Verma (retd).

On the other hand, Rakesh Kumar, a Sector 32 resident, felt that Kargil was a major issue and has had a fifty-fifty influence on city voters. "It is the younger generation that has been influenced more by the events in the Kargil Sector," he said, attributing the factor to the pro-Kargil wave which swept the nation.