Missing the action

In distress due to the incarceration of both O P Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala, the Chautala clan has for the first time brought its women-folk in the political arena. Ajay Chautala’s three sisters and wife Naina are seeking votes for his son Dushyant Chautala in the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency. There is a conscious effort by Dushyant to display humility by touching the feet of all those who are elder to him, a practice not associated with the family. The rustic workers of the INLD have been directed to stay put in their villages and avoid coming to the party offices in urban areas.

TECH THAT

While party leaders suggest that BJP president Rajnath Singh is not going to face much difficulty on account of Lucknow being a new constituency for him, there is one new technicality that his poll managers need to struggle there that he did not face in Ghaziabad. The Election Commission has identified Lucknow as one of few Lok Sabha constituencies across the country where Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system will be experimented during the elections. Rajnath’s managers were learnt to be planning to brief party’s booth agents to be aware about the system to keep their voters informed about the new mechanism. Ghaziabad is not selected for VVPAT trials.

WORK IS PRIORITY

Even amidst her hectic campaign schedule with just a week to go for the Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi took out time for one of her pet projects. Sonia chaired a meeting of the National Advisory Council Friday, the last for the body under this government. However, the meeting was attended by seven of its 11 members, unlike the last meeting that saw full attendance.

BANKING FOR VOTES

His party may claim that it is in the fray to change the culture of identity and votebank politics, but Yogendra Yadav is banking on Muslim votes in parts of Mewat which come under the Gurgaon constituency, to romp home. Narendra Modi predictably dominates his interaction with Muslim villagers during his many visits there. At several meetings on Sunday he told them that Muslims should vote for AAP to break the long cycle of deprivation and to ensure that the system that makes Muslim youth languish in jails is changed.