By 8 am Lakma Ram Koli is up and ready to begin with his campaigning. With only five days left before campaigning comes to a close on Friday, the Congress’s nominee from Reodar still has a lot of ground to cover.

“On a daily basis I attend twenty campaign meetings which go up till 10 in the night,” he says seated in the front seat of a Mahindra Bolero with a Congress flag fixed on the bonnet that serves as the campaign vehicle.

Dressed in a white kurta pajama, Koli directs his driver to stop at every 500 meters to greet people on both sides of the road. At some places where there is a group of people standing he gets out of the vehicle to meet them. “I am Lakma Ram Koli, the Congress candidate. Please vote for me,” he says with folded hands.

The campaign meetings

The campaign meetings are decided a day in advance with the party’s worker in the panchayat to be visited. This is done so as to ensure that it is easier for the party worker to gather all the prominent people of the area for the meeting. When the candidate reaches the said panchayat, he is welcomed by the village elders, one of whom places a pagadi (handed by a party worker) on the head of the candidate. This is followed by garlanding of the candidate by other residents of the village. Once the gathering has taken its seat around the visiting party, one of the candidate’s associates (usually the best speaker) introduces the candidate to the village and tells them why they should vote for him. His speech is followed by that of the party worker from the village who sings paean to the candidate. The meeting finally comes to an end with the speech of the candidate who usually sticks to a checklist of things that he would do if elected. Before and after the speeches, pamphlets listing out the party’s achievements and the party manifestos are distributed in the gathering. Also, the children are given caps with ‘Vote for Congress’ printed on them as the candidate and his men leave from the village.     

Ghar ka Dhikra

For the candidate’s campaign managers ‘Ghar ka dhikra’ (the local lad) is their strongest campaign pitch. “The congress for the first time has given a ticket to a local resident of the area, so it is only obvious that it has to be emphasized,” said Lakha Ram Chaudhary, one of Koli’s associate.  Koli, who hails from Dholpura, in Reodar block, has been its sarpanch for ten years. “He is your ghar ka dhikra and will be available whenever you will need him,” the party worker tells the people.     

State government’s development records

Since Koli is fighting elections for the first time from the Reodar assembly constituency, the incumbent government’s development works is his other campaign pitch. “The Ashok Gehlot government is the government of the poor and farmers. Look at the kind of work it has done for you. Please vote for me to let him continue doing the good job that he is doing,” he says at one of his campaign meetings. Another recurring theme of his campaign is the availability of 108 ambulances in the area. “You make a call and the ambulance is at your door step,” he says at another campaign meeting.

Adding spice to poll speeches 

It is interesting to note how, in the campaign meetings, the candidate’s supporters invoke funny anecdotes (facts and fiction) to put their man in good light or to attack their opponent.  Sample some of these.  

“Obama is god but when our prime minister Manmohan Singh walks into his room, he gets up to greet him and when he leaves, Obama walks up to his car to open the gate. Lakma Ram (the congress nominee) is a small worker of this Manmohan Singh.”

“You have heard a lot about Narendra Modi. His party says if you vote for the BJP here, Rajasthan too will become like Gujarat. But do you know that Modi’s party is the party of the Adani and Tata. It is not the party of the poor. It is not your party. The Congress is your party.”
 

“Do you know that Narendra Modi owns 400 sets of clothes. Imagine the time he must be wasting in changing clothes almost ten times a day. If he wastes so much time in changing clothes how would he get the time to run the state?”

"So many Congress leaders have sacrificed their lives for the country including many in the Gandhi family. But do you know of any BJP leader who has lost his/her life for the country. They (BJP leaders) have not even lost their fingernails.”

Protests from villagers

While most of the campaign meetings are stage-managed by party workers, who ensure no uncomfortable questions are asked from the candidate, sometimes they go badly against the script. At one of the meetings the gathered crowed heckled the Congress candidate, demanding to know what his government, which has been in power for the last five years, had done about the scarcity of water and non-existent electricity in the village.  “The power supply here is so erratic and does not last more than three to four hours. Also there is no water supply here. So please tell us will this change if we vote for you?” a farmer shouted at the candidate. 

Godmen and cashing in their popularity

In this part of Rajasthan, godmen holding camps and delivering sermons to huge gatherings is a common sight. If the candidate visiting a village encounters such a camp, he ensures that he sits along with the godman for a few minutes listening to his sermon and paying his respect. With so many voters gathered under one roof, it helps the candidate to introduce himself and his agenda.