Target of Sympathy

The stones were already flying when Indira Gandhi came before a hostile audience of 50,000 in the eastern city of Bhubaneswar. Campaigning for her Congress Party before national elections that will last from Feb. 15 to Feb. 22, India's Prime Minister upbraided the troublemakers. She cried, "Will you vote for such hooligans, who throw stones at other people?" Just then, an egg-shaped rock flew through the air and thudded into Indira's face, fracturing the bridge of her nose, loosening a tooth and lacerating her lip. For a moment she swayed forward, clutching her face. Then, though her nose bled severely, she regained her composure. "This is an insult," she told the crowd, "not to me but to the country. I am agonized over your future and the future of democracy in this country."

Indira remained on the dais for a few minutes, then was led under heavy guard to a waiting auto. Flying back to New Delhi, bandaged and in obvious pain, she held the tip of her sari in front of her face to shield her damaged nose from photographers. "I'm as tough as ever," she said. But her doctors ordered her to enter a hospital for treatment, and to cancel all engagements for the next few days.

Increasing Violence. The stone may actually have been the best thing to happen to the Congress Party in months. The party has been under attack as never before, partly because its own internal squabbles have emboldened its opponents and partly because, as the dominant force in Indian politics for 20 years, it is blamed for the country's food shortages and economic stagnation. The campaign has been marked by increasing violence. At nearly 80 political rallies, most of them Congress Party affairs, speakers have been heckled and shouted down. But the stone that hit Indira caused a surge of sympathy for her throughout India, an emotion that could only work to the advantage of the Congress Party.

Indira herself was certain of victory in her own constituency in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. For that matter, the Congress Party also was certain of an overall victory. The question was, by how much? Most forecasts held that it would lose some seats in Parliament and lose control of three or four states to opposition parties, including the state of Kerala to the Communists. The outcome was vitally important to Indira, who, unlike the vast majority of candidates, faces another election almost immediately. In April the Congress Party will convene to assess the election results and decide whether to confirm Indira in office for a full five-year term or choose a new Prime Minister.

Kennedy Candidate. India's balloting, the fourth since independence, will be the largest election ever held. More than 130 million people, nearly twice as many as ordinarily vote in the U.S., are expected to go to the polls. More than 18,000 candidates are competing for 521 seats in the lower house of Parliament and for seats in the 17 state legislatures. Despite India's widespread poverty, the candidates will spend $100 million on electioneering. Because three-quarters of India's electorate is illiterate, voters will show their preference by stamping an X above a symbol representing their favorite of nine parties: a yoked pair of bullocks for the Congress Party, a star for the free-enterprising Swatantra Party.

Some candidates hired drummers to precede them and attract crowds; others leased elephants or rode about on camels. The fakir who last year tried to walk on water and sank is running for Parliament "by order of God." India's

Ronald Reagan, Movie Idol M. G Ramachandran, is running for the state assembly in Madras. There is even a "Kennedy" candidate for Parliament: a young man named Surendra Tapuriah. who affects a shaggy forelock, makes his pitch to the young and otherwise fashions himself in the Bobby Kennedy mold.

Princely Politicians. For the first time since independence, India's nonruling royalty are running for office in force, having finally come to realize that the only way to regain real power and influence is through politics. No fewer than 200 maharajahs, maharanis and less imposing princelings are standing for office, some of them campaigning in Rolls-Royces and returning exhausted to their palaces, where they live on incomes from the Indian government. The displaced princes are hard to beat; many peasants still remember their rule as the good old days, when life was simpler and they could at least bring their complaints directly to their ruler instead of facing the massive bureaucracy that now engulfs India. Sadly, as Indira Gandhi has discovered, all too many Indians associate their troubles with the democratic system and the Congress Party, which succeeded their former rulers.

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