Munde dismisses all this as political conspiracy against him but he is the de facto power here. Locals say how Pandit Anna calls the shots, how his supporters are allegedly involved in every conceivable crime. ``Extortion, eve-teasing, kidnapping, goondaism -- they haven't spared even rickshaw-pullers and small-time vendors,'' says Janardhan Vithal Gade, college lecturer here. Even hawkers speak of the hotline that connects Pandit Anna's home with Parli police station. ``What's the use of filing complaints,'' asks the father of a girl allegedly molested by BJP partyworkers.

In the midst of this, a Rs 30 crore water supply scheme is still a distant dream. Worried that he may finally have to pay the price this election -- his best chance to become chief minister -- Munde is leaving nothing to chance. As if hisown track-record was not enough, Nationalist Congress Party's TP Munde and Congress' Panditrao Daund -- who defeated the Deputy Chief Minister once -- are giving Munde quite a few sleepless nights. No wonder then that Munde is virtually camping here despite earlier assertions that he would not spend more than one day a week. Also no wonder that he along with brother-in-law and Union Information and Broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan persuaded Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to modify his schedule and address a meeting in the area last week.

To top it all, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, who first embarrassed Munde three years by exposing his relationship with tamasha artiste Barkha, homed in on Parli-Vaijnath this week asking people to elect `clean' candidates. Ironically, Munde's election speeches are replete with instances of his taking on Mumbai's underworld. People nod their heads at both meetings and wonder what kind of violence they will see on September 5 when the district votes.