Inside Track

On the other hand, Sonia8217;s Hindi has improved enormously during the year, even if her Sanskritised language was wasted on most of her audiences in Andhra Pradesh who needed an interpreter.

Meanwhile, Sushma Swaraj in Bellary has dazzled many by her Kannada. On the day of filing nominations itself Sushma rattled offin Kannada the convoluted sentence.8220;I have come from Haryana 1,000 miles away to meet you and solicit your valuable vote.8221; It seems Sushma mugged up the line when she was campaigning against Indira Gandhi in Chikmagalur back in 1978. Now Priyanka has followed suit and learnt a few sentences in Kannada to counter Sushma.

Southern discomfort

Close observers of Tamil Nadu politics are not surprised by Jayalalitha8217;s snub to Sonia. Jayalalitha is fuming against the Congress for several reasons. Two of the Congress parliamentary candidates are former MLAs who had foulmouthed her in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Jayalalitha is also furious with stray remarks by Manmohan Singh and Sheila Dixit, which she interprets as a reflection on her integrity. A major bone of contention is over funds. Jayalalitha believes that the Congress should provide a substantial share of the AIADMK8217;s poll expenses. Jayalalitha had established a special rapport with the sons and foster sons of Narasimha Rao, Deve Gowda and Vajpayee,before whom she could air her grievances, but she has no listening post in the Gandhi family with whom she can let off steam. Though the AIADMK may have offered token apologies and a shawl two days after Jayalalitha stood up Sonia at what was billed as their joint rally, Jayalalitha is still nursing a grievance. Last week at a meeting in support of the of Congress candidate T. Ramamurthy, Jayalalitha simply pointed a finger at the TNCC president and remarked 8220;vote for him8221; without even mentioning his name!

Missing faces

The second rung political leaders, such as Murli Manohar Joshi, Khushabhau Thakre and Uma Bharati in the BJP, George Fernandes in the NDA and Rajesh Pilot, Madhavrao Scindia and Pranab Mukherjee in the Congress, are not very visible outside their home turf in this campaign. Candidates are increasingly reluctant to invite politician orators since the cost of their public meetings in the constituency is added to their poll expenses, which are scrutinised by the Election Commission.Candidates feel that film stars are better value for money, which is why both the Congress and BJP have commandeered aircraft for campaigners like Dilip Kumar and Shatrughan SinhaIncidentally, the 75-year-old Prime Minister has drawn up a very grueling schedule for himself. He will be addressing three meetings daily for the next month, with only one day of rest every fifth or sixth day. In all, he is scheduled to address some 160 meetings.

Chief coordinator

Out of the BJP8217;s five general secretaries, K.N. Govindacharya, Sumitra Mahajan, Sanghapriya Gautam, Narendra Modi and Venkiah Naidu, Govindacharya was thought to be the first among equals since he has direct access to the top ranks of the RSS. But of late, it is Naidu who is in the forefront. Naidu is in charge of the Prime Minister8217;s election tours and a key coordinator on all issues between the Prime Minister8217;s Office and the BJP. He is the only one of the five secretaries who shares a good rapport with Vajpayee as well as with Advani andparty president Khushabhau Thakre.It was Naidu who woke up the PM in the early morning to explain that the party was keen to field Sushma Swaraj, who is not on the best of terms with Vajpayee, from Bellary. One of Naidu8217;s duties is to draw up the constituencies where the the BJP would like the the PM to visit.

Incidentally, Bellary was on the party8217;s proposed tour list for August, but it was scratched out by the PMO.