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Politics Business Expressions General Sports Leisure States 22 February 1998   First phase of polling in State today As 24 of the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra go to the polls on Sunday, the State administration has deployed security forces all around and geared itself up to conduct smooth elections during the first phase of polls in the State. State Election Officer D K Shankaran yesterday said that 2.59 crore voters are likely to cast their ballots at 34,531 polling centres, with 1.80 lakh polling officials deployed on duty.   Jaya woos TN voters in Hindi A party sworn to Dravidian ideology and opposition to Hindi, the AIADMK appears to have switched over from the two-language formula to the the three-language pattern. The AIADMK, which calls those who laid down their lives in the anti-Hindi agitation in the State in the sixties as martyrs, is staging a concerted effort at reaching out to a section of the electorate in Hindi. It's Sonia vs Gadkari in RSS HQ The prestige of the BJP is stake at the Nagpur Lok Sabha seat. More than the BJP, it is the political clout of Pramod Mahajan and Nitin Gadkari which will be severely damaged if Vilas Muttemwar of the Congress manages to pull it off. Thanks to Sonia who rejuvenated the Congress ranks and brought back its traditional voter into the party fold. Sonia yet to clear Rajiv in Bofors case: Advani The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said yesterday that Sonia Gandhi had not convincingly cleared her adversaries' suspicion about her husband Rajiv Gandhi's alleged involvement in the Bofors payoffs case. The party has also demanded her to immediately respond to premier I K Gujral's contention that Congress withdrew support to his government fearing disclosure of the names of the beneficiaries of the pay-offs.   Sound of UP crash is music to many Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari's dismissal of the Kalyan Singh Government has drawn swift reactions from all the parties on the Indian political horizon. Most of the parties have responded in a very positive note to the down fall of the BJP government in UP with a Kesri accusing the government of being unfit to carry on its duties. Pawar dares Govt to table Srikrishna report Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar yesterday alleged that the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was behind the 1993 Mumbai riots and challenged the alliance government to make public the Srikrishna Commission report. Addressing a well-attended public meeting at Sangamner for Congress candidate Prasad Tanpure from Kopargaon Lok Sabha constituency, Pawar alleged that the alliance government is behind the killing of innocents during the riots.     Body blow to BJP as Kalyan is dismissed   Vajpayee goes on fast unto death   Sadhu still eludes police dragnet   Joshi pooh-poohs threat to State Govt   BJP has turned `touchable' now, says Pramod Mahajan   Shinde exults after Sonia's bash   Siwan's terror faces a mother's wrath   Kamal Nath comes back in new avatar   In the hills of UP, BSP is the party to watch   "A pauper can't represent us"   Firing on farmers, a non-issue in Betul   Anna Joshi's postal plea   Joshi denies threat from independents   Sonia rally