He’s a versatile actor and is now looking to bring his onscreen persona to politics. Batting for the ‘incorruptible’ Narendra Modi, and slamming opponents — the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party — Paresh Rawal, BJP’s face from Ahmedabad, is speaking the language of a neta, already.

Is it true that you are joining hands with Narendra Modiji in Gujarat as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Ahmedabad?

Yes, it’s true. I’ve decided to get into active politics on Narendra Modiji’s request. I don’t know how successful I will be, but I’ll give it my best shot. I don’t believe in half-measures.

If I am not mistaken you were all set to play Modi in a biopic?

Yes! I am playing Modiji. They are working on the script. It was written and then re-written. Until I feel the script does justice to his life and politics I won’t venture into it.

You are such a busy actor. How will manage to find the long hours that elections demand?

You are right. Time management would be a devil of a problem. Luckily, I have a good network in Gujarat. I am on good terms with some of Modiji’s party workers. They will be more than happy to help me out. They are honest people.

Would you be dividing your time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad?

I won’t have to be present in my constituency regularly. But at the same time I will be there far more than people expect because I have a deep cultural connection with Gujarat. On an average, I am in Gujarat at least three to four days a month for my shows. Even without a political career I spend about a month and a half per year in Gujarat. Whenever I am in Gujarat for my shows I can put aside time to work for my constituency.

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The EC notice says Shah had prima facie violated provisions of the model code of conduct that restrain parties and candidates from any activity that could aggravate communal hatred, personal attacks on rival party leaders and making appeal to communal feelings to secure votes.

The EC has directed Shah to reply to its notice by 5pm on April 9, failing which it would decide the matter without any further reference to him. Quoting from Shah’s speeches in Shamli on April 3 and in Bijnore and Muzaffarnagar on April 4, the EC said they prima facie violated sub paras 1, 2 and 3 of Para 1 of the model code of conduct.

Shah had, while addressing a predominantly jat gathering in Bijnore on April 4, said, “Mayawati, to appease a community that oppresses you and rapes your women, gave its members 19 poll tickets….You tell me, can we raise our honour by mingling with a community that kills our men, our youth?” The BJP leaders, who is a close aide of Narendra Modi, further said that “when Modi becomes PM, “Mulla” (Muslim cleric) Mulayam’s government in UP would fall on its own the very next day”.

On March 4, Shah exhorted jats in Muzaffarnagar to “save their honour”. “You have been treated as second-class citizens. If you want to set aside self-respect and practise casteism, I cannot say anything…One who cannot guard his honour is useless,” he said. On April 3 in Shamli, Shah said, “This is the question of honour of Western UP. It is time for revenge now… batons, guns and swords belong to a bygone era. These days you take revenge by pressing the button (on the EVM).” He further said that though nobody wants riots, “when justice is not done to all communities equally, people are forced to take to the streets.”

The EC said the three speeches prima facie attracted sub paras 1, 2 and 3 of para 1 of the model code. While sub para 1 says no party or candidate shall indulge in any activity that aagravates existing differences between communities, sub para 2 debars personal attacks on political leaders. Sub para 3 says there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.

The EC action follows a formal complaint against Shah by the Congress. The BJP, on its part, has stoutly defended Shah, saying that his remarks had been twisted out of context.

Correspondence between the then Union Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, and the Empowered Group of Ministers on Coal (EGoM) reveals Mr. Chauhan lobbied for the Mahan coal block being granted environmental clearance, enabling Essar Power and Hindalco to start work.

The documents do not suggest Mr. Chauhan was in any way involved in the coal allocation scandal, but do demonstrate how pressure was mounted by the State government for rapid clearance of the controversial project despite serious ecological concerns.

“The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has personally spoken to me twice on clearing the proposal [most recently on June 30, 2011] on the grounds that it would boost economic activity in the State,” Mr. Ramesh had written to the EGoM.

Mr. Chauhan had also sat on a fast in February last, protesting against the Centre’s delay in clearing the Mahan block, which was identified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as a no-go area.

The fast was called off just 20-minutes after it was started, following an assurance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A release issued by the State government on June 30, 2011, acknowledges that Mr. Chauhan did push for faster clearance to the Mahan block.

However, the documents The Hindushow Mahan was not the only block for which Mr. Chauhan had urged the Centre to intervene. In November 2007, he reportedly requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allow Reliance Power Ltd. to use surplus coal from the captive blocks of the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project being set up by the company in Chitrangi tehsil of Singrauli district.

The PMO had referred the matter to the EGoM, which recommended that the company be allowed to use surplus coal. Thereafter, permission was granted.

While Mr. Ramesh refused to comment on the issue, phone calls to Mr. Chauhan’s office were not answered.

MoEF opposes the proposal

The correspondence also reveals that the MoEF was against granting Stage-I clearance to the Mahan block as it would “open the doors for other coal blocks to be mined and would fragment an area very rich in forest cover.”

The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), after visiting the Mahan forest area and considering the proposal four times, stressed the need for further detailed environmental impact assessment studies.

In particular, the FAC found the quality of forest and tree cover much higher than claimed by Essar/Hindalco and the State government. Moreover, it also found that the “Mahan coal block was located in the catchment area of the Rihand reservoir and that there was a high degree of probability of excessive siltation due to denudation of the slopes and hills when they are mined for coal.”

In 2010, the Mahan forest area was identified as a “no-go” zone based on a joint exercise carried out by the MoEF and the Central Mine Planning and Development Institute Ltd. of the Ministry of Coal.

In his letter, Mr. Ramesh argued against clearing the Mahan block as it was a “biodiversity rich area and would destroy good natural forest cover and interfere with wildlife habitats.”

He further pointed out that Essar and Hidalco’s power plants (to which the coal block would be linked) were not supercritical units that generate 5-8 per cent lesser carbon dioxide emissions and were only subcritical ones.

Mr. Ramesh said he was “not entirely clear why such a good quality forest area should be cleared for such a partial requirement,” since “by Essar’s own admission, the Mahan coal block will meet the requirements of the two 600 MW for 14 years only.”

Mr. Ramesh suggested the Sohagpur coalfield in Shahdol district as an alternative linkage to the two power projects.

However, the EGoM granted the clearance in May.

“Dr Singh will play a major role in AAP’s anti-corruption campaign and bring good governance and swaraj to common man, the party’s state head Ashok Jain said.

Dr Singh is likely to be filed by AAP from Jaipur seat in upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Dr Singh has received several awards, including NRDC, B C Roy, National Academy of Medical Sciences, and highest merit cash award from the Government of Rajasthan in the field of Asthma and respiratory ailments.

Former superintendent of Sawai Man Singh hospital, Virendra Singh is contesting from Jaipur on Aam Admi Party ticket. His name was announced by the election core committee of AAP in New Delhi on Saturday along with candidates on four other seats in Rajasthan.

Singh had joined the party two weeks ago after he took VRS from the post of medical superintendent. Since he joined the party he has been actively campaigning in city, meeting people and sharing the ideology of his party. Singh was also very active on the social media.

“This ticket is awarded to the people of Jaipur,” said an elated Singh. “The city’s infrastructure is in ruins. My first priority besides our nationwide fight against corruption of all forms is to develop the cultural heritage of this city,” he said. He has promotion of medical tourism also on his agenda. Jaipur is a prominent seat for main parties like Congress and BJP which are yet to declare their candidates.

The party declared candidates for two seats each in Assam and Maharashtra, three each from West Bengal, Gujarat and Chattisgarh, one each from Odisha and Kerela and 15 seats from Karnataka.

With this list, the total number of candidates declared by the party has gone up to 317.

From Hassan, a seat represented by former Prime Minister and Janta Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, the party has fielded Santhosh Mohan Gowda.

From Bellary, a seat represented by BJP’s Shanha. J, Shivakumar Giriyappa Malagi will be in the fray on AAP ticket.

Saraswati Nanda will take on sitting MP Kalikesh Singh Deo from Bolangir in Odisha.

The ninth list of 30 candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the Lok Sabha elections is announced. With this list the total number of candidates declared by the AAP so far is now 317.

The candidates from the Congress, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are all Yadavs though their caste may or may not have been the reason they were picked for the constituency adjoining Delhi.

The Congress has named three-time legislator Rao Dharampal (a Yadav). Ajay Singh Yadav, a six-time legislator from Rewari and at present a cabinet colleague of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had wanted the seat for his son, Chiranjiv Rao.

Outgoing MP Rao Inderjeet Singh, also a Yadav, recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party after serving the Congress for more than three-and-a-half decades.

Political scientist and AAP ideologue Yogender Yadav was the first among the four main candidates to start his election campaign in Gurgaon.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has fielded Zakir Hussain, a Meo, as a Muslim in this region is known.

All the four heavyweight candidates will seek to woo the nearly 180,000 voters of Gurgaon for the April 10 ballot.

Gurgaon voters are spread over nine assembly segments. Gurgaon and Badshahpur segments have the highest number of nearly 600,000 votes.

Other assembly seats in the constituency include Pataudi, Rewari, Bawal, Sohna, Ferozepur Jhirka, Punhana and Nuh.

The Gurgaon Lok Sabha seat is Ahir-dominated (Yadav and Rao), with more than 500,000 voters. Meos make up nearly 450,000 voters.

The INLD hopes to rope in the Meo votes along with the constituency’s nearly 150,000 Jat voters besides others, said its spokesman R.S. Dahiya. The INLD has traditionally relied on Jat support.

The BJP feels that Rao Inderjeet Singh is bound to gather immense support as he has always raised his voice in favour of southern Haryana.

Besides, it feels the appeal of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will sway the voters.

The AAP, however, thinks that it will be the biggest beneficiary of voter disenchantment with the political class.

“We are fighting for the rights of aam aadmi (common people and against corruption,” AAP activist Om Prakash Yadav told IANS.

“The Congress and the BJP are two faces of the same coin. People all over Gurgaon are supporting us from the bottom of their hearts,” he added.

Yogender Yadav, known as a confidant of AAP leader and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, hails from Saharanwas village in Haryana’s Rewari district. Yadav has been building up support among all sections of voters in Gurgaon, including young professionals who work and live here. He has been going to villages in the constituency for weeks.

The AAP is also banking on what it feels is mass disenchantment vis-a-vis corruption charges plaguing the Hooda government and the image of the Kejriwal-led party as a fighter against corruption.

The Congress is equally confident about Rao Dharampal’s victory. “We are prepared and will win with the help of traditional Congress votes and personnel relations with people,” a Congress leader said.

“We will fight the election on the strength of development work done by the Hooda government in the last 10 years,” he added.