Delhi polls: How Kejriwal, Shah and Bedi kept pace with their lives during a ... - Economic Times

Delhi has been bombarded by the assembly poll campaign for the last few weeks. News channels transmitted the drama and rhetoric nationwide as leaders of BJP, AAP and Congress advised voters to make a discerning choice. As the Capital queues up before polling booths today, ET takes a look at how Arvind Kejriwal, Amit Shah and Kiran Bedi kept pace with their lives and how they maintained a punishing schedule while leading a gruelling campaign

Arvind Kejriwal: Meditation, home food, sips of warm water and muffler

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has been packing in 15-16 hours of work in the run-up to the assembly polls, a punishing schedule that is all the more arduous given his health problems and calls for a host of precautions.

For starters, Kejriwal ensures he gets at least six hours of sleep. "A good night's sleep is very important to me. That's because I'm working the rest of the time," he tells ET.

He begins his day at 5.30-6 am with two hours of meditation, which, along with a shot of insulin, helps keep his blood sugar levels and respiratory problems in check.

While the activist-turnedpolitician is not fussy about his meals, he has an aversion for oily and spicy food. Breakfast is, hence, always simple and is usually had at about 8 am.

What follows is a roller-coaster ride, with new twists and turns every other day. Usually, though, he devotes the first half of the day to meetings with volunteers, party leaders and strategists held at either his residence in Ghaziabad or constituency office in Vallabhbhai Patel House in the heart of the Capital. Requests for media interviews are also taken care of during this time.

After about 3 pm, he hits the campaign trail in his silver Toyota Innova, which was donated by a party supporter. On average, he addresses three-four jan sabhas or public meetings in a day, each in a different constituency. In the past two months, according to his associates, the AAP leader has addressed close to a hundred such meetings and over three lakh people through jan sabhas. Campaigning usually lasts for a gruelling five to six hours. Kejriwal almost never leaves his home without three things these days -homecooked lunch (usually his favourite meal of daal chawal), two flasks of lukewarm water and his muffler.

On a hectic day he has his lunch and, sometimes, even dinner in his car while travelling from one meeting to another. "That's because he needs to have his meals on time to keep his sugar levels from dropping. The lukewarm water and muffler is for his sore throat," says a close aide, who does not wish to be identified.

There's little respite from work even when he is on the move. The AAP leader is constantly occupied with his smartphone when he's not distracted by journalists interviewing him in his car, planning his next day's schedule, checking Twitter for news, gossip (he follows the Lutyens' Spice handle) and controversies, returning missed calls and replying to pending text messages. His aides also keep him posted about latest opinion polls flashing on news channels, interview requests from media houses and updates on the rival BJP and its chief ministerial candidate.

He usually calls it a day at around midnight, leaving him with little time to spend with his family these days. "I am physically exhausted. I've been doing this for the past three months. Maybe I'll get a little rest after the polling day," he says.