After campaigning for weeks, politicians and party workers are now taking the much-needed break. The day after polling was the time to relax or shop for some, while for the others it was an anxious countdown to the counting day that will seal their fate.
Rizwan Arshad, the Congress’s contender from the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency, is apparently catching up on sleep. Syed Arshad, one of Mr. Rizwan’s campaign managers, was shopping in a city mall on Friday. “We haven’t been able to relax in the past two months. So I’m shopping after a long time. I did ask Mr. Rizwan to join me, but he said he wants to catch up on sleep,” he said.
Sources close to the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who contested from Chickballapur Lok Sabha constituency against Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily, said he was spending time with family in Bangalore. “The former Prime Minister and JD(S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda got a massage done and relaxed at home. He is contemplating on taking a break for a week and undergo nature therapy, but hasn’t decided on a place yet,” sources said.
Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have no such luck. Sumit Negi, secretary of AAP’s Karnataka wing, is leaving for Varanasi on Saturday to help in campaigning for the high profile face-off between AAP’s Arwind Kejriwal and the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi.
Mr. Negi, who quit his job as a software engineer to join AAP, says he hasn’t taken a break since the New Delhi elections earlier this year. “It was difficult in South India but once we formed the government in Delhi, people started reciprocating here. We now have five lakh supporters in all, four lakh in Bangalore itself. Many of them are those with regular jobs who help with party activities after work. I don’t know when they take a break,” he said.
Naman Pugalia, assistant to Congress candidate from Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency Nandan Nilekani, said while they are taking some time off, all eyes are now on the results.
