People here are no stranger to war and Kargil seems to have become just another unfortunate roadblock in their quest for peace. In villages less than 100 km away across the border live their relatives who got separated from them in 1947. Resumption of a train service to Pakistan is uppermost in the minds of the residents of this township followed by the acute scarcity of water.

Many claim they have not met their relatives, including brothers and sisters, for years but relationships do not end. ``Rishtey kabhi aise khatam hote hain? Hum mil nahin paate. (Relations don't come to an end but we cannot meet),'' said one. First, the train service was stopped after1965 and passports became compulsory if one wanted to go across legally. Then the borders were fenced and, even with a passport, people have to travel over 1,500 km to visit a relative.

Barmer MP and Congress candidate Col Sona Ram claims credit for making efforts to get the train service to Pakistan resumed two years ago. But things have not moved any further. The people became hopeful after the Lahore bus service was started. ``Now we don't know how long it will take or whether it would start at all. We have asked for it so many times,'' they said.

Asked about their apparent lack of concern about a conflict with Pakistan, though they live so close to the border, Sohan Lal says: ``We were never worried about Kargil. We know our soldiers; they can throw them (Pakistanis) out whenever they dare to enter our land.''

People admire the Army but not the Government so much. ``It was a serious case of intelligence failure. The Government did not wake up in time and so many of our men got killedunnecessarily,'' rues Sohan. Most of the others agreed. Not that they were much agitated about the matter, for they spoke only when prodded.

And the BJP is also not getting any points here on Vajpayee's abilities and his Government's deft handling of diplomacy which earned international acclaim. Only one man, Ram, grudgingly admitted that infiltration had been going on for a decade and that ``it was only the Vajpayee Government which took sent in the Army to throw out the infiltrators.''

Some people agreed that Vajpayee was a good man but pressed for an explanation, said: ``Sab kahte hain (Everyone says so).'' ``But Kargil is not an issue here,'' said Ram. ``It will not make any difference in the elections.'' According to native wisdom, he said, Jats, minorities and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will vote for the Congress while the Rajputs will vote for the BJP. The votes of the other castes will be divided. Apart from Rajput villages, BJP has most of its traditional votes in the urban centresBarmer, Jaisalmer, Balotra, Pokharan.

Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, a favourite campaign issue for the BJP, does not matter to the rural folk here. ``She is a favourite with the SCs and minorities,'' they add. In any case, these factors do not decide their vote. That is decided by candidates and local factors.

The Congress usually puts up a Jat candidate. Since 1996, he has been Col. Sona Ram. The BJP, on the other hand, fields a Rajput. This time it is External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh's son, Manvendra Singh. He is now facing some lack of enthusiasm from the local Rajputs who are missing the amiable Lokendra Singh Kalvi, the BJP candidate during the 1998 elections.