Police a Tired Lot

Two BJP Bigwigs in Two Days

For the last three days, I am in Nanded. Like other class C cities in the Maharashtra, Nanded is also agog with the talk of elections. There seems nothing else to discuss for media except the political gossiping and guessing games. Unfortunately though, the public is not concerned much with the goings on in that field. They are more concerned with the heat created by sun rather than the election fever. The mercury here has almost touched 42 degrees Celsius and it is still only the first week of April. The summer season lasts till the June 7th and as happens each passing year, the rising temperature will post new records.

Thanks to the strict implementation of the code of conduct for polls, or the fear of it at least, has kept the poll frenzy to the minimum. The posters, loudspeakers, party workers visiting the households several times in a day and vehicles studded with stickers and posters…all these visuals are not there on the streets this time because nobody wants to offend the election officers.

Today, L. K. Advani addressed a rally in Deglur, some 100 kilometres from Nanded. The rally was attended by a large gathering, we were told by local people. I was in Deglur today morning itself. I could sense the enthusiasm in the local people with respect to this rally. But I suspect how many people actually turned out at the site. One reason why Advani might have decided to hold a rally in this small town with population barely touching a lakh (0.1 million) is its proximity to the Andhra Pradesh. Deglur is a boundary town between Maharashtra and Andhra. It has a sizeable population with people knowing Telugu and some towns in Andhra are barely two hours away from here.

A large number of policemen were deputed in the town for the security arrangement of the BJP leader. The police personnel were brought here last night. The rally was scheduled in the morning 9:30 am but was started only in the afternoon. It was over at 3:00 pm and poor policemen were relieved in 4:00 pm. But they were not supposed to enjoy their freedom as Narendra Modi, another VVIP is in Nanded tomorrow to address another election rally. Some policemen were heard talking to their colleagues deputed at the airport for the next day. The rally will take place at Guru Gobind Singh Stadium.