Date:18/10/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/10/18/stories/2005101807841200.htm

National

I am too busy to vote, says Raghuvansh Prasad

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Monday said he had never voted in elections.

He was too busy electioneering for his Rashtriya Janata Dal and never got the time to vote. Things were unlikely to be different in the coming Bihar elections, he told reporters on the sidelines of a two-day conference of project directors of the District Rural Development Agency here.

Denying that the Supreme Court ruling on the dissolution of the Assembly would have any impact on the RJD's prospects, Mr. Singh said the people in rural areas were not bothered about technicalities. "They just know that the National Democratic Alliance MLAs' plea for restoration of the dissolved House was rejected by the court and that the elections are being held despite the NDA's effort to stop the process".