The Tulsi saga: Some goof-ups, some disorder

JALANDHAR, AMRITSAR: : Television actor Smriti Irani was out to woo voters in Jalandhar and Phagwara with her reel experience. Speaking at public meetings in support of BJP and Akali Dal candidates, she doled out experiences from her tele-serial in good measure to her audience, with majority being women. She said she wept in the serials as a mother whose daughter had been raped or as a wife whose husband had been killed and the same was happening in Punjab. The government was “killing farmers and girls are not safe”, she said. Saying she understood the pain of people in Punjab, she said it was because of the “atrocities of the Congress rule”. She goofed up when talking about local issues, notably when talking about the long pending Satnampura railway overbridge. She said the railway overbridge and the flyover on GT Road towards Nawanshahr bypass have been pending for years. The fact is the flyover to Nawanshahr bypass was started recently. It is only the Satnampura overbridge has been pending since long.

Meanwhile in Amritsar, she refused to partake in a road show following “misbehavior” by some party workers. Irani, who arrived for the road show in support of the party candidates at Ram Bagh, after addressing a gathering at Katra Baghian, had to jostle with the party workers gathered there. She was shoved around by fans and also reportedly lost her mobile phone in the melee. This angered Irani, who warned of forfeiting the show if order was not ensured. “If you really want to shove and push somebody, then do it with the Congress,” she told party workers. However, later, she left the venue in a huff. Her mobile was traced following several announcements in this regard after she left the venue.

Tiwari bids farewell

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari on Friday bade farewell to the media community after releasing the poll manifesto of the ruling Congress party here. Tiwari said that he would not be returning as Chief Minister even if Congress returns to power in the state. He further said that it was his last interaction with media before the assembly elections scheduled for February 21. The Congress promised in its manifesto to again resolve the issue of permanent capital of the state within one year of coming back to power. It also promised to set up a legislative council (Vidhan Parishad) having 31 members in the state besides giving employment to 6.5 lakh unemployed youth in the state. All these promises were earlier made by Congress in 2002, but remained unfulfilled.

All for women, with certain exceptions

BHOLATH (KAPURTHALA): It could be the woman power. Bholath has more women voters (57,044) than men (52,835) for this poll. And all the meetings of SAD candidate Bibi Jagir Kaur in this constituency in Kapurthala district have seen a large female audience. Bibi’s supporters ask women voters to vote for Bibi in the name of sex and also speak against Sonia Gandhi in the same breath. They say there is no good in strengthening the hand of Sonia Gandhi, who is “na Jatti te na Lubani uhni vote kade lai pani (Sonia Gandhi is neither a Jat nor Lubani, so why caste your vote for her party)”. These supporters not only assure vote for Bibi, but also present her bagful of money for campaigning. On an average, Rs 5 to 10 lakh is being spent daily. But Bibi has her answer ready. “I don’t know from where all arrangements are being done for the rallies and meetings. Party workers arrange everything themselves. I think I would not spending even Rs 10 lakh on my campaign,” she says.

Home delivery, and that too free

Jalandhar: SAD (B) supremo Parkash Singh Badal only promised it but some candidates have already started delivering it. If Badal promised flour at Rs four per kg and dal at Rs 20 per kg to the poor if elected, some candidates of various parties have already started delivering atta and dal to people at their doorstep and that too absolutely free of cost. In the three constituencies of Jalandhar, some candidates have been supplying bags of atta and other eatables to voters’ houses by assigning the task to some local shopkeepers. A shop owner in the Rama Mandi area said, “I was asked by one of the candidates to supply atta and dal to the houses. It is good business these days. And because I am doing it myself nobody can point a finger at the candidate.” A woman voter in Madrasi Mohalla admitted she was happy that her family did not have to go to the market to purchase these items. “We have promised to cast our vote in favour of the candidate who is doing this for us,” she said. She even offered to have some delivered at the correspondent’s house.

Shopkeepers too are happy as all they need to do is supply bags of flour to people’s houses and the bills are cleared by the parties and candidates in no time.

A star-studded finale

In the last leg, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal will campaign for the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal)-Bhartiya Janata Party alliance in Punjab, Anil Sareen, the secretary of the Punjab BJP, said on Friday. He said Hema Malini would campaign in Nangal, Garshankar, Dasua, Ludhiana, Fazilka and other places on February 9. Sinha will campaign in Morinda, he said.