After campaigning, it8217;s time to relax

AHMEDABAD, SEPT 7: While Union Home Minister L K Advani, the BJP candidate from Gandhinagar, dug into a relaxed meal of roti and saag, hi...

AHMEDABAD, SEPT 7: While Union Home Minister L K Advani, the BJP candidate from Gandhinagar, dug into a relaxed meal of roti and saag, his opponent T N Seshan, sunburnt from the endless trips in open jeeps, has packed up his Gujarati primary school books and booked a ticket back home to wife and Madras. For the candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, who spent the last fortnight with folded hands and smiles flashing into camera lenses, this is the time to give facial and other muscles a break.

Khadi has been put aside for the time being, and most are looking back upon those hectic campaign tours and barefoot walks from roadside meets to party offices to home visits with affection.

Most had a long day on Sunday and woke up late, Seshan possibly the only exception, with his strict discipline of a 5 am daybreak. BJP candidate from Ahmedabad, the ever-smiling, ever-vocal Harin Pathak, had actually lost his tongue. But not because of excessive verbal promises made to voters, his workers hastened toclarify. 8220;I had boils in the mouth which reacted to a medicine I took. Now I can barely talk,8221; he rasped over the phone. This, however, did not stop him from making a courtesy call to Santram Maharaj at Nadiad.

For Congress candidate Girish Dani, it was back to business and a few moments of affectionate bantering with son Saumil and lawyer wife Smita. 8220;I had told my son to forget Papa for 15 days and I have to make up to him for that,8221; he said, adding, 8220;I have also missed out on so much work, there are so many pending files to clear.8221;

According to Dani, in the last 16 days he had just been able to manage 50 hours of sleep. 8220;From 8 am to 8 pm, I had been campaigning and after that addressing group meetings till long after midnight,8221; he explained. After a week, he is off on a tour of Norway and Sweden, organised by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Seshan spent the day with his new-found friends from the Congress, as many as 100 of whom had crowded his place of residence. 8220;It wasgreat to get so much response from the people and the press,8221; he said, promising to stick with his Gujarati classes even back home in Madras. 8220;I have bought the books from standard I to III, and I plan to study them,8221; he added.

After a Gujarati post-poll meal on Sunday, Advani is already back to campaigning, this time in Tamil Nadu, and Seshan would be surprised to see that he has addressed a sabha in Madras.

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Advani8217;s children Jayant and Pratibha left for Delhi a day earlier and wife Kamla locked up their Three Tulips residence in Ahmedabad, boarding the Rajdhani Express to Delhi on Monday evening.

BJP candidate from Dhanduka Ratilal Verma, who returned to his Bodakdev residence well past midnight on Sunday, woke up late and was back in his constituency next afternoon to thank party workers for their support. Bhavnaben Dave spent a relaxed day, giving her tired feet a rest at her Vivek Bungalow residence in Surendranagar, while she met the mahila8217; workers of her constituency. 8220;There is a feeling ofemptiness after a fortnight of such intense activity,8221; she confessed. Now begins the painful wait for the counting, which will take place after a month.