The A-Z of Lok Sabha Elections 2014

How the polls and our political leaders have added to our vocabulary

A  is for aam admi who held up his voter card or inked finger while standing in long queues to show ‘the world’s largest democracy’ was at work

B  is for behen, who stole the limelight

C  is for crony capitalism, an accusation to be thrown at others while flying in a corporate jet

D  for Digvijay Singh, who tried to steal the limelight

E  is for exclusive interview; two by Modi, granted to Madhu Kishwar, Smita Prakash; one by Rahul Gandhi, granted to Arnab

F  is for #Feku, cousin of #Pappu

G  is for ‘Gujarat Model’ of development, mysterious, undefined, but a model

H  is for hashtag, the real winner of the elections, leading to endless merriment

I  is for ink, to be thrown on approachable leaders

J  is for Jasodaben

K  is for Kejriwal, who made it to Time’s 100 most influential

L  is for Lali, auto driver. Refer to K

M  is for model code of conduct, followed neither in letter of spirit

N  is for NOTA, or None of The Above, which made its debut in voting, and gave Indian voters a real alternative

O  is for opinion poll, not to be confused with opinion

P  is for polarizing. As pointed out by Modi, not to be confused with people sitting on poles

Q is for Qureshi, mysterious meat exporter

R  is for Robert Vadra, both noun and verb, an election issue

S  is for Shahzada, a prince in Urdu, representing the son of rulers; to be used with correct dose of sarcasm. Also, S is for selfie, to be shot with discretion

T  is for Tsunami, comes after Wave

U  is for U-turn. Go to K.

V  is for Varanasi, a scared place for Hindus, and PM aspirants

W  is for Wave, whether real or not will become clearer. Also, W is for Women whose safety and empowerment is an electoral promise made by all

X  is for Xavier’s College, Mumbai, whose Principal added to the buzz

Y  is for Yoga, practiced to stay fit during campaigning

Z  is for zoo, of panic-stricken rats, and other animals