The gruesome death of at least 21 women in a stampede in the Indian Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency has sparked a demand from several women’s groups to debar him from contesting the upcoming polls.

The groups plan to call on the Election Commission of India — a federal body in charge of the polls slated in three phases from April to May — to press for the disqualification of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Vajpayee is scheduled to file his electoral papers today from his constituency, Lucknow, the capital of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

“Vajpayee should not be allowed to fight,” says Syeda Hameed, the convener of the Muslim Women’s Forum, a New Delhi based organization. “The electoral code of conduct should be applied in the case of the Prime Minister,” she stresses.

The women were killed in a stampede in Lucknow Monday when free saris were being distributed at a function to mark the 70th birthday of the Prime Minister’s election manager, Lalji Tandon.

In the uncontrolled scramble for the saris, the women — from some of the poorest sections of society — were trampled to death.

Election codes in India prohibit candidates, their agents or people representing them from distributing gifts during an election. The women’s groups stress that the gifting of saris violated the rules.

“This is a callous exploitation of people’s poverty,” remarks Kalindi Deshpande, treasurer of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), one of the largest women’s groups in India.

“Gifting saris is a corrupt practice aimed at buying votes,” she emphasizes.

Several women’s groups — including the Muslim Women’s Forum, AIDWA and the National Federation of Indian Women — came out on the streets of New Delhi Tuesday to protest the deaths. The protesters demanded the arrest of those responsible for the function.

The Indian media highlighted the tragedy, pointing out that the scene of the incident bore testimony to the women’s abject poverty. Long after the bodies were removed from the venue of the function, the place was scattered with broken and mismatched slippers.

The administration later said some 10,000 to 15,000 people had been cramped in a small area.

“The attempt to cash in on their poverty is an insult to all women,” says Deshpande. “Distributing saris to the poor to mark a 70-year-old man’s birthday is disgusting,” adds Hamid.

The women’s groups — who describe the incident as the “Lucknow Sari-Bribe Tragedy” — stress that the Prime Minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — which is the leading partner in a federal coalition government — was attempting to secure votes by distributing saris that cost about a dollar each.

Strangely, the BJP has attempted to disassociate itself from the function, claiming it was not a formal event organized by the party.

The women’s groups, though, believe the incident was nothing but an effort to buy votes. “This is the most nauseating attempt at bribing for a vote,” declares Hamid.

The groups hope that just as India’s apex judicial body — the Supreme Court — endorsed a civil rights group in a significant decision Monday, their petition before the Election Commission will not be a futile effort.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of a case from the western Indian state of Gujarat, where over 2,000 people were killed in protracted anti-Muslim riots in 2002, to the adjoining state of Maharashtra in western India.

The accused, charged with burning 14 people to death in a bakery during the riots, had all been acquitted by the courts of Gujarat.

“Till now, our voice was like a cry in the wilderness,” says Hamid. ”But the Supreme Court ruling on the Best Bakery case encourages us to think that we can make a difference.”

The women’s groups planned to call on the Election Commission on Wednesday.