Shopping for votes

Fed up of waiting for the party machinery to roll in, Congress candidate from Calcutta South Nafisa Ali goes campaigning with party colleague Chandrima Bhattacharya, daughter Tickles and a friend in tow -- to Forum, a shopping mall in an upmarket south Calcutta locality, reports The Telegraph.

Royal way out

Members of the Travancore royal family have never voted in any election so far, reports The Hindu, but it is not due to a lack of faith in democracy.

The singer, not the song

Manish Khullar is the voice behind the BJP's 'India Shining' campaign's theme song, but he says he is ready to sing for any political party if the theme spoke good of the motherland, reports Deccan Chronicle.

Bahu, beti and saas

As Smriti Irani, the BJP candidate from Chandni Chowk moves about campaigning, an awed Gayatri said: ''Jaise TV pe bolti hai, vaise asal mein bolti hai.'' And her teenaged daughter Puja adds, ''She looks far prettier in real life.' The Indian Express hits the campaign trail with the television star.

Tulsi vs Smriti

Meanwhile, another Delhi newspaper, The Hindustan Times, reports that the television star's workers are worried that the crowds that queue up to see Smriti Irani may not end up voting for her.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Barely two months old, Rakshan Achintya, son of Venkatesa Pannaiyar who was killed allegedly in a police encounter in Chennai last September, is the DMK's star campaigner in Tiruchendur constituency from where his mother Radhika Selvi is contesting, reports The Statesman.

Intellectuals rally around Laloo

Madhepura is where the RJD strongman suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Sharad Yadav in 1999. This time, as girds his loins for another battle, support has come from an unexpected quarter: prominent academicians, writers, social activists and artists will go to Madhepura to campaign for Laloo, reports The Asian Age.

Fight for Kishanganj

The Bihar constituency has seen development, yes, but what it is now witnessing is a battle between the BJP's candidate, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, and the RJD's Mohammed Taslimuddin over who is responsible for it, reports The Times of India.

Shekhar eying a return?

Former prime minister Chandra Shekhar's announcement that the next prime minister can be someone not necessarily from the Third Front, and that the Samajwadi Party would join the new combination, has led to raised eyebrows, reports Deccan Chronicle. Was he pushing his own case?

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India Votes 2004 l The Rediff Specials