Delhi Underground: No practice, only preaching

Same difference
After a nukkad natak, organised by the AAP in Rohini, was delayed, several in the audience moved to another nukkad natak organised by the BJP in neighbouring Avantika. After listening to three speeches, a woman said, “Oh no, Rakhi Birla is not here. So this must not be AAP. But they say the same things. Without the candidates, how can we tell the difference?”

Missing muffler
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who has earned the nickname ‘mufflerman’, was seen without the accessory at a jansabha in Chattarpur. Quick to realise that his trademark muffler was missing, he called out to a party worker, who handed him a muffler. After carefully wrapping it around his head and neck, he began the address.

Correct term
At a roadshow in Dwarka on Saturday, Kiran Bedi was wearing a shawl. When one of her aides remarked that it looked similar to “Kejriwal’s muffler”, she promptly corrected him. “It’s a shawl, not a muffler,” she said.

Keeping busy
Busy campaigning with BJP chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi in his former constituency Krishna Nagar, Harsh Vardhan is finding it hard to devote time to his parliamentary constituency, Chandni Chowk. The BJP is trying to send out the message that every vote to Bedi from Krishna Nagar will be equivalent to a vote for Harsh Vardhan. “I could only make it to the candidate’s nomination in Chandni Chowk. I wish to devote some time there as well,” Harsh Vardhan said.

Polls hinge on palak
On Wednesday, three-time MLA from Trilokpuri and Congress member Brahm Pal began his padyatra across the constituency. During his rounds, he came across a vegetable vendor and asked him for votes. After Brahm Pal left, the vendor, speaking to a customer, said, “We will definitely vote for the Congress. If they come to power, palak will become Rs 20 per kg.” The woman replied, “If the BJP comes to power, palak will become Rs 10 per kg.”

Slip of tongue
At a jansabha in Chattarpur on Saturday, supporters of Arvind Kejriwal kept addressing him as pradhanmantri (prime minister). They were soon corrected and asked to address him as mukhyamatri (chief minister).

Last-minute entry
At Kiran Bedi’s first roadshow in Rohini, before she was announced the CM candidate, BJP workers kept trying to explain why area MP Udit Raj’s was absent. But pictures showed him at the venue. “He was balancing himself at the end of the first row on the truck on which Bedi was standing. He joined the roadshow in the Rohini market, and was hoisted up. He did not give any intimation to organisers otherwise we would have waited for him before starting the roadshow,” a party worker from Rohini said.

Freedom of speech
While AAP founder member and senior leader Shanti Bhushan’s views on Kiran Bedi evoked another controversy last week, some leaders in the AAP ranks were unfazed by these reports. Claiming that Bhushan was not an active member of the AAP and was free to speak his mind, an AAP leader said, “On a lighter note, Bhushan was also closely associated with the BJP. His views should come as no surprise.”

Wall climbing
With the AAP not granting tickets to a section of its former MLAs, senior leader Ashutosh seemed to have drawn the ire of a former MLA at a rally in Rohini. Surrounded by the former MLA and his supporters, Ashutosh was heckled and had to scale a wall to escape.

Drinks’ break
While Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was being questioned in connection with the alleged murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, inside the AATS office in Vasant Vihar, television reporters waiting outside found a new way to pass the time. Aware that Tharoor would be inside for a long time, several reporters went to the closest liquor shop to buy drinks. Many spent the time sipping their drinks and munching snacks , while keeping an eye on the AATS office gate, waiting for it to open.

Sahzia’s fan club
Recent BJP entrant and former AAP member Shazia Ilmi was spotted surrounded by fans at the Jaipur Literature Fest on Saturday, far from the electoral fray in Delhi. Once she managed to pull herself free and head towards the lunch tables, she was overheard telling a friend, “Yes, yes. These must be the people who have been watching the news, you know.”