Day of rest and family time for mayoral candidates in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: After two-weeks of hectic campaigning and Thursday’s polling activities, Friday was a day of rest, prayers and some family time for all the candidates in the fray for the mayoral post in Lucknow.

“It gives me immense pleasure when my 3-year-old granddaughter Tara plays with me, hugs me. After two weeks of exhaustion, I spent time with her. It was like a part of me that was separated came back to me again,” said Vandana Mishra, the SP mayoral candidate who returned to her original routine of social work, reading and writing. “Earlier in the day, I had a relaxed breakfast followed by meeting people who talked about different issues,” she added.

AAP mayoral candidate Anju Bhatt spent the day reading Sunderkand, the fifth book in the Hindu epic Ramayana, which she had been unable to do for the last few days due to her campaigning. Her day started as usual, with a morning walk and yoga. After cooking breakfast for her family of three-- husband Vishal Bhatt and daughter Aanvi-- and then helping Aanvi with English and Mathematics, she checked up on her team members before going for lunch and shopping.

BJP candidate Sushma Kharakwal said: “I could not give a minute to my family members due to the hectic schedule. Today after performing daily prayers, my whole family sat and had breakfast together. I played with my granddaughters-- Aradhya and Anaya, who are five and three years old, and listened to their complaints of not giving them time. I promised them that I will always make time for them. Later, I visited Chandrika Devi Temple in BKT and performed pooja with local MLA Yogesh Shukla.” BSP candidate Shahin Bano said: “All family members gathered and had biryani for lunch. Besides, we have also arranged for the recitation of the Quran for peace among communities.”

Sangeeta Jaiswal, Congress mayoral candidate, said: “I started my day with a morning walk, tended to my garden, offered prayers at the home temple. Later, I prepared lunch for my family, and we all sat down to have a meal together.”