The delimitation process threw up a new challenge for Congress MP Sachin Pilot, who is just one parliamentary term old. As he pitches for a second term in the Lok Sabha from unfamiliar turf, Krishnakumar P shadows the young MP and discovers that he has grown into a seasoned politician.
The boyish looks are gone. So is the innocence. In looks and demeanor, Sachin Pilot 2009 is starkly different from the charmer who stood for election from Dausa, a constituency his parents represented in the Lok Sabha. And he sure knows how to work the crowds. How to appear accommodative in the presence of community elders. How to send a strong message to the odd one who sounds a discordant note.
Pilot is campaigning in rural areas outside Ajmer in Rajasthan. Just before noon, his tidy entourage of just four cars reaches Naseerabad. This meeting is with Rajput community leaders.
After the initial rituals of applying the tikka and tying the safa (turban)), the community leaders speak. They had not delivered enough votes in last November's assembly election for Congress candidate Mahendra Singh. With Singh present, the community leaders are clearly uncomfortable.
Image: Sachin Pilot lends an ear to the villagers' problems in Naseerabad. Photographs: Krishnakumar P.
Also see: 'The language of politics has to change' | India Votes
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