Sharad Yadav
SHARAD YADAV’s search for a party has got him embracing different election symbols. Following his split with Nitish Kumar, he staked claim on the name and “arrow” symbol of the JD(U). When the EC rejected his claim, he started operating with the nomenclature of JD(U)-Sharad. In the Gujarat Assembly elections, he and his followers came under the banner of the Bharatiya Tribal Party with the “autorickshaw” symbol. In the Karnataka Assembly polls, it is the Lok Awaz Dal with the “blackboard” symbol. In the meanwhile, a new party, Loktantrik Janata Dal, is a work in progress.
Coming Clean
UNION MINISTER Uma Bharti, who previously held the portfolio for water resources and Ganga rejuvenation, has in the past made several statements regarding her resolve to clean the Ganga. Last year, she said she will give up her life if that is what it took to clean the river, and fast unto death if plans to clean the Ganga did not start by October 2018. On Thursday, when asked at a press conference if she won’t even visit the Ganga till it is clean, Bharti clarified she never said she won’t visit till it is clean but that she won’t take part in the Ganga Arti till it is clean.
Operation Karnataka
The BJP leadership unleashed its full might on the last day of campaigning in Karnataka. To see that no area is left untouched, 19 Union ministers, three chief ministers and senior general secretaries spread out across the state on Thursday. This was apart from the hundreds of party workers from Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana who campaigned in the state. Party chief Amit Shah, who covered almost all constituencies in the past few weeks, did a roadshow in Badami, one of the two constituencies of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.