``Janaab Vajpayee, you and your BJP leaders make tall claims about driving out the intruders from Kargil. Why did you allow them to enter? Is it not a failure of your intelligence department and the RAW?'' thunders Owaisi in a street-corner meeting.

Attempting to demolish the BJP plank of the Kargil victory, he dwells on the likely fallout, including the proposed new taxes and price rise. The crowd, which is thin initially, swells slowly as more people join and cheer the MIM leader whenever he makes a reference to the failures of the BJP Government.

In the background of allegations that a section of Muslims in this communally sensitive Lok Sabha constituency nurses a soft corner for Pakistan and that some political leaders have ISI links, Kargil appears to be taking thecentrestage in the elections. And the BJP and the MIM, the main parties between whom the fight is likely to polarise, are slugging it out. ``Why shouldn't we refer to Kargil? It is our biggest achievement,'' is how BJP candidate Baddam Bal Reddy reacts to any criticism.

At all his election meetings, Bal Reddy, who is supported by the ruling Telugu Desam Party, doesn't miss any chance to taunt the opposition for trying to gain political mileage out of the same issue.

No one can deny Kargil's appeal as a campaign issue. Says Harinder Yadav, who runs a finance business in Aliabad, a Hindu pocket in the old city: ``The BJP deserves the credit as it was under its effective leadership that our soldiers fought against all odds in driving the enemy away.''

But can the issue be a poll plank? ``Certainly,'' he says. ``Every government lists out its achievements and Kargil is one of the biggest victories for India. It was possible only because of the presence of a mature leader like Vajpayee,'' he adds.

Sufiyan,a bakery owner in Chandrayangutta area, disagrees: ``You know that he is your enemy and you are also aware that he will strike at the first opportunity. Why take chances at all? The opposition parties are rightly projecting the failure of the government,'' he says.

Abdul Raheem, an employee of a colour laboratory near the historic Charminar, is more rational. ``Woh din gaye jab log idhar ka khate the aur udhar ka gaate the. (The days are gone when people used to live here and praise Pakistan). No political party can take any advantage by undermining the Government's efforts in driving away the infiltrators,'' he says. However, he feels politicians should not exploit Kargil as a poll issue. For him, it was a ``mistake'' by those on the borders who failed to be alert. This was rectified by them later and the politicians had nothing to do with it.

State government employee Mujeeb says Kargil is a closed chapter and at least now the politicians should shift their attention to several other issues likebasic amenities instead of indulging in slanging matches over Kargil.

Those belonging to Yadava and Lodh communities in the Hindu pockets in the old city, like Aliabad, Gowlipura and Karwan, are all praise for the BJP for effectively handling the issue.

As Premraj, a local BJP leader of Karwan assembly segment, puts it, given the constant threat of communal violence under which the people survive in the old city, Kargil can be the one issue which can effectively consolidate the Hindu vote behind the BJP-TDP combine.