New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) Trust politicians to use all weapons in their arsenal to woo prospective voters.
At a recent rally in her north west Delhi constituency, Congress candidate Krishna Tirath played a new trick to get votes. She flaunted her athletic side to seek support from 'pahalwans' - musclemen - in Delhi.
As Tirath went about her campaign trail in Mundka, her supporters - Congress block level leaders began discussing her sports background with a bunch of young men, belonging to the 'pahalwan' community.
When Tirath neared the area with her supporters, she also started chatting with the musclemen. 'Yes I am an athlete. I used to run, participate in long jump and high jump events. I used to play at national level volleyball - sadly after entering politics that's all stopped now.'
The result, the young men were impressed and began shouting slogans 'Krishna Tirath ki Jai' and assured her their votes.
-*-
One allegation that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla faced was that he favoured the Congress because he was a school-mate of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.
When confronted with this issue in Chandigarh, Chawla laughed out and said: 'I studied in Sanawar.' Lawrence School in Sanawar-Kasauli Hills in Himachal Pradesh is a well-known boarding school from British times.
For the record, Amarinder Singh, a descendant of the Patiala royal family, studied in Dehradun's famous Doon School - an institution that also had the likes of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on its rolls.
So no favouritism please!
-*-
The law of the land prevails - sometimes the country's VIPs get the taste.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda learnt it the hard way. Following a complaint made by the opposition that he had misused government vehicles on an election related tour March this year, the Election Commission got the matter investigated and found it to be true.
Hooda had to deposit Rs.4,050 as penalty for the misuse of government vehicles.
Health Minister in the Hooda government, Kartar Devi, too had a similar case against her. She ended up paying Rs.2,000 for misusing government vehicles on election related work.
-*-
At a joint public rally held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad recently in Lucknow, senior party leaders were irked when they found that their supporters were raising one hand in the air - a very common style of showing support.
The reason: a hand is the party symbol of the Congress.
The leaders made it clear to their supporters that whenever they agree or want to appreciate their speech, they should raise both hands in the air and not one.
'Your one hand symbolizes the election symbol of the Congress, reflecting that you are with the Congress and not with us. So, keep in your mind from now onwards you would raise both of your hands to show support for the BJP,' said a BJP leader to the crowd.
|
|
Comments:
