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BIRTHDAY
BOY
HYDERABAD:
It could not be better for Telugu Desam Party supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu.
As the first day of the five-phase polling in the country, when half of
Andhra Pradesh went to vote on April 20, coincided with his 55th birthday,
he made a final fervent appeal for votes. "The victory of the TDP
in the election would be the biggest birthday gift for me," declared
Naidu in his bid for a second coming at the polls as the party chief.
True to his style, shunning ostentation, the birthday celebration was
low key but party men persuaded Naidu to cut a cake shortly after midnight
on reaching the temple town of Tirupathi while on his election tour. The
other half of the state – 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly constituencies
– go to the polls in the second phase on April 26.
In a text book perfect campaign, the TDP is using all means at its command
to wean voters. This includes distribution of cash and liquor and among
those caught were a minister and a TDP legislator. The techno savvy Naidu
is also using e-mail and SMS in order to make a personal appeal to voters.
And in that final call to voters he displays his penchant for acronyms.
At least till polling is over, a vote for TDP is a vote Towards Development
and Progress.
Blue Lotus
PONDICHERRY: Rajnikant fans in Pondicherry may be disappointed
that they were not invited to the nomination filing of BJP candidate Lalitha
Kumaramangalam, but the lotus blooming on Pondy walls have the hues -
blue, and white- of the Rajni flag. Cashing in on the situation, a couple
of cinema halls have also re-opened the cans of old Rajni movies like
Pandiyan.
Nothing
Official About It
Pondicherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy is know for his simplicity - riding
a bike to his office and sipping his morning tea from a kiosk et al. But
when the chief minister decided not to use his official vehicle till the
elections get over, every minister was put in a fix. The chief minister
has been travelling by an ordinary Ambassador car, forcing ministers not
to use their official vehicles even for official purposes. "This
is too much," says a minister, pointing at the state cars gathering
dust in the Assembly garages.
Fruits
and Vegetables
If the Pondicherry voter has been rescued from probable confusion, the
PMK has been relieved of great anxiety. In the 1999 elections, an independent
was allotted the `apple' symbol, which clashed with PMK's 'mango' symbol.
The PMK was a worried lot when they found not just `apple,' but a `brinjal'
too in the list of symbols on offer. The party quickly moved the election
authorities and got the "other fruit and vegetable" removed.
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