General Elections 2014: Day 28

The Covert Rivalry
The Covert Rivalry

General Elections 2014 Diary -  Day 28

Remember yesterday we began with war of words. Looks like today is going to be no different. We are helpless at the hands of our leaders who are so witty and comical in their remarks.

Look at this irresistible quote by Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, “We have given full support to Modi to freely roam, campaign and sell his lies in the huge planes funded by his rich friends. Our only reservation is with his credibility.”

Now, could we have begun this piece with any other quote?
Singhvi was referring to the allegation levelled by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi against who-so-ever-it-may-concern about the conspiracy behind the delay of his flight. Modi alleged that his helicopter was not allowed to take off at Delhi and other places, resulting in him reaching at the rally venues horribly late. He also added that such indirect measures should not be taken to stop any politician. Modi now wants the Election Commission to investigate the delay.

In another interesting verbal attack, Modi took on the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The story goes that the Akhilesh-led Samajwadi Party had requested few Gir lions from Modi in 2012, which were duly given to him. But now Modi has been tom-tom-ing about it and taking digs at Akhilesh Yadav. For instance, at Bareilly he said, “Your Chief Minister was asking us for lions. We gave them lions, thinking they may draw some strength from them. But they could not handle the lions of Gujarat.” Earlier he had said, “Akhilesh might have thought that since Modi roars like a lion, if he gets lion he would also roar like him.” Reacting to this, Akhilesh said, “We have the lions and do not need any from Gujarat. So far, we had requested only a hyena.” Sly hyena from sly Modi? Was that what he meant?

The Gandhinagar constituency has woken up to huge billboards featuring veteran BJP leader L. K. Advani. Advani has won from Gandhinagar for 16 years, but had never been promoted and featured the way it is being done now. But what is the use? Everyone knows that he is a tiger with no teeth. Addressing his first rally in Maharashtra, Advani said that Modi would form the government at the Centre and that would change the face of India. He also added that Modi had accompanied him in the Rathyatra in 1990 when he demanded a Ram temple to be built in place of Babri Masjid. Was he praising Modi or adding fuel to the fire?

With actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani being pitched against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, she is all praise for Modi. She said he is a thorough gentleman and takes everyone along with him. When questioned about her earlier threat to fast over Godhra riots, she said it was extremely uncharitable of her to publicly protest against Modi. Now, is this an example of ‘Changing colours when things are in favour’.

Things are certainly looking up for illiterate actor-turned politician Rakhi Sawant. She recently declared that her assets are worth 15 crores.

Misa Yadav, head of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and daughter of Lalu Prasad Yadav will be taking on two leaders whom she has always addressed as chacha. One is Ram Kripal who defected to BJP after Misa was given the Pataliputra ticket. He will be now contesting from Pataliputra on BJP ticket. Contesting against both of them is Janata Dal (United) leader Ranjan Yadav who was once a minister in the government headed by RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav. The way politics can divide people!

Talking about dividing people, tomorrow Modi and JDU leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will be addressing rallies at Nawada – standing merely 25 kms apart. There were good times between both of them till Nitish decided to end his 17-year-old alliance with BJP over its decision to project Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate.

Campaigning in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi asked the crowd loudly, “Who beats you up in Mumbai? The Shiv Sena and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).” Poor people in Bihar, they were once again reminded of the humiliation they sometimes have to face outside their state. Rahul Gandhi continued, “Your Chief Minister is an opportunist. When the Gujarat riots happened, he was in the NDA. But now when the elections are near, he says he is against communal forces.” He went on to add that “Bihar does not need a Gujarat model. Like BJP’s ‘India Shining’ bubble had burst in 2004, Gujarat’s development that the party is harping about will also soon burst.” Rahul Gandhi is trying to gain some ground in Bihar after getting into an alliance with RJD.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal reacted to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s statement where she had said that governance was no child’s play. Kejriwal said that she was referring to Rahul Gandhi and not him and added that she should not have said that about her son. He may look like a child but he is 43 years.

AAP candidate from Amethi, Kumar Vishwas, has declared that the people in Amethi knows who to vote for. He said, “Rahul Gandhi was already an actor and now we have another actor Smriti Irani from the BJP. Rahul Gandhi is an MP from Amethi and has been elected in 2004 and 2009. I have stayed for 40 days in Amethi and Amethi has already decided who they want.” Uuuuufffff…tauba…..the confidence that these politicians exude!!! Masha allah! Riding on the confidence, AAP has decided to field a real estate developer Rituraj Mehta against Advani.

Apart from the confidence the parties are trying to gain from people, there are few activities in progress to improve the people’s experience during elections. Like Chief Electoral Office in Kerala has launched a ‘Find your Polling booth’ option. People have to just click on it to locate their polling station. But it is Lucknow which takes the cake. Polling in Lucknow may after all be a very cool affair with kiosks coming up that will sell cold drinks, momos and wafers.

The General Elections 2014 is bound to be a different affair altogether and we cannot afford to miss the drama and the fun. So, stay tuned with us as we cover the developments every day.

Related Information

India Elections 2014

Parliamentary Election 2014

Parliamentary Election Results

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Results

Gandhinagar Election

Bihar Lok Sabha Elections

Bihar Lok Sabha Election Results

Amethi Election