LALU PRASAD YADAV, 61
RASHTRIYA JANATA DAL CHIEF

All in a day’s work: The man who would be kingmaker again spends around 8-14 hours a day canvassing for his party and alliance partners. Lalu Yadav boards the chopper every day between 9.30 am and 10 am and addresses some 8-12 election meetings every day. For constituencies in and around Patna, he prefers to campaign by road, and carries on late into the night.
Poll diet: Lalu is not a fussy eater and loves his litti and sabzi with ghee. He has his lunch in his chopper, while flying from one rally to another. He snacks on cashew nuts and drinks green coconut water to keep himself cool. Dinner is a traditional north Indian meal of chapati and sabzi.
Workout: Laluji hates workouts. After a hectic day of campaigning, all he needs is a full-body massage with mustard oil from his favourite masseur. “A bath and this massage is enough to get me going again,” he says.
How many hours does he sleep?Between 4-6 hours.
Health nags: None, apart from acidity and gas. Perhaps the bilious battles he has been waging with Congress and Nitish Kumar are to blame.
Energy boosters: Lemon tea.
Campaign coolers: Green coconut water.
What he can’t say no to:
Prasad offered by villagers.
What keeps him awake: Khaini and paan.
Unwind: Takes short naps between meetings.
—J.P. Yadav

Rahul Gandhi, 38
AICC general secretary

All in a day’s work: Compared with mother Sonia or his sister, who are up by 6 am, Rahul is a relatively late riser. He gets up at 7 or 8 am and begins work around 9 am. Over the next 12 hours, he attends four to five public meetings or addresses rallies attended by thousands.
Poll diet: Has no specific poll diet. Breakfast is fruits and a sandwich. He has both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food but prefers the former. He loves paranthas and has them with sabzi or a non-veg dish for lunch and dinner. He does not carry his food and eats whatever party workers offer.
Workout: He is a sports and fitness freak. Every morning, he does yoga and in the evening, he is either cycling, swimming, running (that too, for seven kilometers!) or hitting the gym where, we are told, he does everything from cardio to crunches. But during election, he has limited himself to doing only yoga.
How many hours does he sleep? Rahul makes sure he gets eight hours of sleep.
Health nags: None.
Energy boosters:
None.
Campaign coolers: Lots of water.
What he can’t say no to: Chocolate. He keeps them in his kurta pockets and often has them during meetings.
What keeps him awake: A cup of chai recharges him on a tiring day.
Unwind: He reads non-fiction and political books.
—D.K. Singh

... contd.