Gagged netas stay home, hone strategies in the middle of high-octane LS election

LUCKNOW: What do you do when you aren’t allowed to speak (in public)? Well, you stay home and strategise if you are a seasoned politician like Mayawati.


Not just the BSP chief, Union minister Maneka Gandhi and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan — who have also been served the EC’s gag order for making loaded speeches — are staying indoors. Officially, they are unwinding. Maneka, for instance, is “reading books”. But, it is an open secret that no leader will let a minute go unused in the middle of a high-octane election.

So, while UP CM Yogi Adityanath, among the four barred from campaigning, hopped temples and visited Dalit homes on Wednesday, Mayawati stayed home in Lucknow to manage the upcoming phases of polling.

The BSP chief who has had to give an all-important alliance rally in Agra a miss on Tuesday is expected to travel to Bihar on Thursday after 6am, once the 48-hour ban on her is lifted. “Two days is a lot of time to waste in the middle of an election. Behenji was home, but held meetings with senior party members and zonal coordinators. She was busy strategising for the next phase of polling,” said a BSP member.

Union minister Maneka, on whom the two-day ban from campaigning will be lifted at 10am on Thursday, stayed home in Sultanpur. Sources said she took a break from “a very hectic schedule” and was seen reading a book.

“Her (Maneka’s) nomination needs to be filed on Thursday and a little time was spent on preparing for that. Otherwise, she took it easy these past two days,” said a party source.

Khan, who was campaigning in Rampur when the EC served its order, has been the mystery man these past couple of days.

Fasahat Ali Khan Shanu, his media coordinator, revealed that Khan had not “left his house to meet anyone and is likely to remain indoors” till the ban on him was lifted at 6am on Friday.