The Challenger team

Photographs by NEERAJ PRIYADARSHI

Devyani Onial

New Delhi

At 26,Tughlaq Crescent,in Lutyens Delhi,the only sound is of the cuckoo heralding the arrival of summer and inside,the hum of the air conditioning. This is as far as you can get from the heat and noise of election campaigning but this is the centre that holds the BJPs publicity campaign.

The war room was set up last April,gained momentum this January and now in the midst of the elections,is throwing all its energy into the fight. The team is hard at work on an employment vision document that will be released in Gujarat next week. Advanis confidant and former journalist Sudheendra Kulkarni runs through ideas with the volunteers. Somebody suggests looking into how so few people in India find jobs through employment exchanges while another inquires about the design of the document. Team volunteers range from MBA graduates on their summer internships to a real estate professional to a journalist from New Zealand who sees little irony in supporting the Labour Party there and a right wing party here.

The volunteers work out of BJP leader Ananth Kumars house and now also from another,more spacious office at former party president Venkaiah Naidus house close by. Young people sit hunched over computers and words like Orkut,scraps and mailers dominate conversations. The day begins at about 8.30 a.m. and like most workplaces ends at no definite hour. I was pleasantly surprised to see the office. I hadnt really expected it to be this. Its very cordial and professional,just like any corporate set-up, says Harsh Vardhan Chhaparia,25,an IIM-Calcutta graduate who will join a market research firm in July. Chhaparia,who got to speak with Advani over the phone on his fourth attemptmuch to his disbeliefand got an audience with him in Delhi,joined the team in mid-March and like most other out-of-city volunteers,is staying at an MPs house and eating all his meals at work.

There are others who travel a good distance to be at work. Arjun Narayanan is one of them. When my friends heard I was going to intern here,they were taken aback. They were like,Are you going to go to rallies now, says Narayanan,a student at the Birla Institute of Management at Greater Noida,who is doing his summer internship with the BJP. They dont understand that a party has to be governed and marketed like any corporate firm, he adds.

Narayanan is working on the partys social networking site that will be officially launched in another two weeks. Urban India is already responding to the Internet campaign and the hinterland will do so in another five years, says Narayanan,who changes three buses from his Greater Noida hostel to reach his office in two hours.

Then there is journalist Balaji Chandramohan,now based in New Zealand,who is covering the elections for a community-based newspaper back home but is also helping the party in dealing with the international media and in framing responses to tricky questions. The campaign is working overtime now,running the website on Advani and conducting online volunteer programmesthere are more than 15,000 online volunteers across the country. The team is also conducting the AdvaniCampus programme and sending Advanis communications to special groups such as religious leadersthey have sent them to over 10,000 leaders.

And its not all about reaching out to the young urban voter online. ML Mantoo,who worked as adviser to the government on rural development till last year,planted the idea of reaching out to villages. The team has sent out letters to over 120,000 panchayat pramukhs. We sent them letters signed by top leaders, Mantoo says.

Meanwhile,Shakti Poudyel from Manipur’s Senapati district is translating Atal Bihari Vajpayees appeal for vote into Nepali. The letter will later be circulated in Darjeeling. He has just the day to finish his jobhe has a night train to catch back to Manipur to appear for his first year BA exam.

As the election battle hots up,the volunteers are putting all their energy behind Advanis prime ministerial bid. The slogan on the poster outside their office with Advanis photograph sums up their hope: Its possible.

THE JOURNEY

On Advanis 93rd campaign tour of this election season

Neeraj Priyadarshi

At 10.30 a.m.,the chartered flight carrying BJPs prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani takes off from Delhi to Purnia in Bihar. For Advani and his aide of 20 years,Deepak Chopra,this is their 93rd campaign tour this election season. Their day begins at 8.30 a.m. and ends not before 11 at night.

If anything has changed during Chopras two-decade association with Advani,it is his paraphernalia. From a fax machine to two Blackberry phones and a notebook now,Advanis right-hand man is the adept manager who sends responses from the leader to media persons,party workers and followers. During the hour-and-a-half flight to Purnia,he juggles his two Blackberrys,scans all the mails and shoots back responses.

When Advani is not immersed in his book,1,000 years,1,000 people,he passes on some clippings from the international press for Chopra to scan. The 63-year-old Chopra accompanies Advani to all public meetings and rallies,is always ready with bits of information Advani may need to incorporate in his speeches and after the rally ends and the crowds disperse,even sprays fragrance on him.

At Purnia,we hop on to a helicopter and make our way to Arariathe first stop of the day where Advani will address a rally. Chopra remembers how 20 years ago,he had organised Advanis first rath yatra. It was while accompanying his wifea Sindhito the communitys social gatherings that he first got to know the leader. I was overwhelmed by Advanijis persona and ideology and decided to work with him. That was the first time he was contesting the Lok Sabha polls from the Capital, says Chopra,who left his job as general manager of a firm to assist the leader. Two decades later,as the BJP leader makes what many consider his last prime ministerial bid,Chopra is still with Advani.

The family front

In Gujarat since a fortnight,Advanis family campaigns on his home turf

Amrita Didyala

Ahmedabad

Entering Bungalow no. 5 at Vraj Vihar on SG Highway,one expects the usual political chatter,for this is where BJP prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advanis family has been camped since April 8 to campaign for him. But even with over 20 guests in the housewhich belongs to a party workerthe stress of impending elections and aggressive campaigning is nowhere to be seen. An LCD TV is showing breaking news,with no one paying attention. Newspapers are scattered on tables as party workers sit around cracking jokes and help themselves to home-cooked food. People greet you even though they dont know you.

When Advanis son Jayant introduces The Sunday Express team to his mother Kamala Advani,the first thing she says is,I dont talk politics and I dont talk to the media. She does ask us if we want a cold drink or chhas,though. As she busies herself attending to her guestsmostly party workersher daughter-in-law Geetika Advani joins in and says she finds campaigning interesting. Dada is very hard-working. I am very positive about the results and Im hoping the margins go up drastically, says Geetika,who got married to Jayant a little ahead of the 2004 elections. When Dada is here the campaign really picks up, she says.

The Advani family has campaigned in all five elections the BJP leader has contested in,in the last two decades. Jayant and his sister Pratibhawho campaigned in Narayanpura,Sabarmati and Ghatlodia constituencies last week and is campaigning outside the state noware the active campaigners in the family while Geetika and Kamala prefer to be backstage. The day typically begins at 9 a.m. for Jayant,who spends at least eight-nine hours campaigning and another three-four hours attending public functions and yuva and mahila sammelans.

Kamala,who goes along for some campaigns,cooks breakfast,lunch and dinner for the family. When we finally get to talk to her,she says again,I never speak to the media. Even at mahila sammelans I never give any speech. I take care of Advaniji and his food, she says,adding,Is ghar mein sirf mera chalta hai (I hold this house together). Rather unaffected by the political dazzle around her,she says she doesnt worry about the electoral outcome. Jo hona hai hone do (let whatever happen), she says.

When we are ready to leave,she insists that we have lunch. Main kabhi kisi ko bina khana khaye nahin jane deti jo khana khane ke time pe aata hai (I never let a guest go without eating if he comes at lunch time), she says. The spread includes kadi,rice,roti,aam ras,papad and sweets. Kamala suggests we try the kadi,which,Jayant explains,must be eaten with rice and not roti. Just when a young party worker boasts about how much he is capable of eating,a thali full of king-sized laddoos is passed around and he is laughed at for not taking one. Another party worker points to his rock band T-shirt and says,I am here to tap the younger generation since you guys have grown old.

After addressing a sabha in Santej village in Gandhinagar district on Thursday,Jayant goes door-to-door campaigning in the New Ranip area on Friday amidst cheering crowds and children wearing Modi and Advani masks. Vote dene zaroor jayen aur Bhajapa ko vote dein. Upar se pehla button, he says. As a group of kids wearing Modi masks blurt out,Advaniji zindabad,vote for Congress,party workers look perplexed but Jayant corrects the children with a smile and moves on. He loves campaigning for his father,more so because of the trust he has in him as a leader,Jayant says.