Band, baaja turn poll darling in final countdown

NEW DELHI: As the last 48 hours of campaigning get over, old is becoming gold in east Delhi. Autos and vans bearing posters can be seen weaving through the traffic on Vikas Marg even as candidates hop from one nukkad meeting to another, trying to reach out to as many people as possible. These vehicles blare out the latest songs with lyrics favouring their candidate.

With the polling day nearing , candidates of various parties are resorting to oldfashioned techniques to make the most of the last few hours of campaigning.

So while Congress’ Arvinder Singh Lovely in Gandhi Nagar has a series of meetings through the day—one at a local m a s j i d and another at a local leader’s house—in neighbouring Krishna Nagar, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan is hoping to make up for his constituency visits through n u k k a d meetings with the business community. Vishwas Nagar’s Aam Aadmi Party candidate, Atul Gupta, meanwhile, spent Saturday afternoon doing the rounds of the various apartments in the society colony of Patparganj.

Members of political parties across the spectrum admit that the last two days are intense, and most candidates prefer tried-and-tested ways of appealing to the people. “Nukkad meetings are the most effective. Participation of local community leaders becomes vital at this stage,” says an insider in the Congress team.

Door-to-door canvassing, which marks the early days of campaigning, is no longer seen. “You are meeting many people for the second time so you have to reiterate why voting for a candidate will make sense,” says a party worker at Vardhan’s office. It’s more difficult in Vardhan’s case, says the party worker, as the Krishna Nagar sitting MLA has been busy campaigning in other constituencies as well as the CM candidate.

It’s not just meetings that gain importance. Requests for repairs of overflowing drains or broken roads are also attended to quietly. While the code of conduct says that no work can be undertaken that would affect the election process , the reality is different. “Local leaders bring such requests from residents who have been faithful to the party or are showing interest in the candidate or the party. These requests are taken up at the earliest,” said the insider.

Meetings with the old and women in local banquet halls pepper a candidate’s itinerary. In addition to padyatra, visits to a local temple or mosque helps in widening the support base, the source added.