Competitive concerns

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) effect is spreading rapidly. After competitive politics over power tariffs for consumers, politicians are now competing over their concern for homeless people and their plight on cold winter nights. Last week, AAP leader and Delhi's Women and Child Development Minister Rakhi Birla (pictured) did the rounds of night shelters in the national capital to gain a first-hand experience of the condition of the homeless. Soon after, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna did the same in state capital Dehradun. The chief minister was accompanied by local MLAs and other officials. The key difference was that in Birla's case, the media was not invited, whereas Bahuguna followed all the formalities of publicity, including taking along a camera man and issuing a press statement.