Lok Sabha polls: Issue of farm loan waiver takes new turn in Madhya Pradesh

Congress President Rahul Gandhi at a public rally on Wednesday announced the names of some of the beneficiaries of the state government's farm loan waiver scheme

In Madhya Pradesh, the issue of farm loan waiver is taking a new turn every day. On Wednesday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi (pictured) at a public rally announced the names of some of the beneficiaries of the state government's farm loan waiver scheme. Two names were highlighted. One was that of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's brother and the other his uncle's son. Gandhi said Chouhan's brother Rohit Singh and his uncle's son Niranjan Singh had also availed of the loan waiver scheme. However, on Thursday Chouhan hit back at the Congress, saying that no member of his family had filled up the form requesting a loan waiver.

Too filmy for politics

Film actors and actresses have added a lot of glamour to election campaigning even when they are not the candidates themselves. But sometimes things can go a little too far. Suresh Gopi, once a super star in Malayalam films and a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Thrissur, found himself being trolled mercilessly on social media for his "filmy" mannerisms during his election campaigns. In one of his speeches in Thrissur, imitating a style that solidified his position as a bankable star in the Malayalam film industry, he said, "I want this Thrissur. You should give me this Thrissur. I am taking this Thrissur". Apart from online criticism, he has also been harangued on the phone, with some callers asking him to leave some land free to bury the dead.

Tagore song in Gujarati

A Trinamool lawmaker found a novel way to strike a chord with Kolkata's Gujarati voters. While campaigning for his party's candidate in Bhawanipore, which falls under the Kolkata South Lok Sabha seat, Ashim Kumar Basu broke into a Tagore song, in Gujarati, before the crowd. He chose the right day, May 9, when Rabindra Jayanti is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The Kolkata South seat is a Trinamool stronghold; it voted for Mamata party in every election since 1998.