NEW DELHI, November 17: Beware of the khooni panja (bloody paw),'' says Kirti Azad, the BJP candidate from Gole Market as he points towards the Congress symbol. ``These are the people who burn their brides in a tandoor not far from here.'' The crowd from the Valimiki basti near Mansingh Road listens spellbound. ``This basti is his bastion. Sheila Dikshit will be stumped here in Gole Market,'' says M. Gopal Krishna, president of the New Delhi branch of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha.``Sachin Tendulkar will be here and probably even Mohammad Azharuddin,'' speculate the residents of Darbhanga colony, located behind the Akbar Road residence of the Chief of Air Staff, as Azad's entourage stops here. A jeep full of youngsters chanting pro-BJP slogans precedes his car. The youths are all wearing bandanas made of BJP flags and busy dancing to the beat of a drum.Azad gets off his car and walks to an old woman standing alone in a corner. ``Ma, your son is here,'' he says, bending down to touch her feet. `` Ma teri seva ki hain, ab mewa khila (I have served you, now give me the fruit).'' She promises to vote for him.As Azad walks ahead, several women come forward to garland him. The men rush to shake hands with him. ``Who got you water and power connections?'' he asks. ``You Kirti,'' the crowd screams in response. Azad moves on.Cricket figures prominently in his conversations and impromptu speeches. ``I am a sportsman - a cricketer. It's just that my field has changed, but I still play a professional game,'' he says as he goes around in his open jeep. Youths run to greet him and the elderly wait to bless him. ``Come, sit with me and smoke my hookah,'' an octogenarian sitting on a charpoy tells Azad as he bends to touch his feet. Despite having a pack of Benson & Hedges cigarettes in his car, Kirti tries the hookah. And coughs for the next 10 minutes as the strong tobacco hits his throat. Then, he moves on to another colony.``Kirti, the Congress pays us for putting up their banners and flags. Why don't you?'' says a woman at the Darbhanga camp. ``Take the money and don't feel guilty about it. It is your own hard-earned money,'' he answers. The crowd cheers. ``For the past 50 years, the Congress took your money and stashed it in foreign banks. Now, if they are returning your money, take it. It is like a bank returning your money with interest. But let me serve you again,'' Azad adds.Mansions on one side and jhuggis on the other - it's the same scene on Akbar Road, Aurangzed Road, Mansingh Road, Jamnagar House. ``This area has a large number of jhuggis. The laws framed by the Congress governments in the past don't allow me to get you all that you want. But aren't I doing my best for you?'' he says. ``Haven't I got you the blue permits, slabs on the pavement, sulabh toilets. Send me back to the Assembly to complete all the unfinished work.'' The crowds chants: ``Vote for BJP. Vote for Kirti.''Azad tours his constituency from seven in the morning till almost midnight. ``I am young, energetic and a sportsman. I have the stamina. I will keep working for you, but you must press the right button on November 25. Just press the first button and strengthen the PM's hands,'' he says before driving off to another colony. ``Stress on the fact that he is coming to my constituency tomorrow. Tell the retired people that I am their son, I got them pension. In government colonies, say that it is the BJP government that extended the retirement age by two years. And then pray, God will do the rest,'' he concludes praying at yet another temple in a Valmiki colony.
