Campaign trails that travel beyond state borders

For the candidates of the Jalore-Sirohi seat, campaigning in the constituency is not enough. To tick all the boxes right, the canvassing has to go beyond the state borders.



A major chunk of people from Jalore and Sirohi either work or have business in Mumbai and

Gujarat

, and they also have a hold over the communities back home.

Since February this year, even before the tickets were announced, sitting MP Devji Patel was busy in organizing public functions and meetings outside the state where the natives live. He has made several trips to Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Malad in Mumbai to reach out to his voters.

“It is necessary to reach out to them. There are people who also invite us. Mind you, people living away from Jalore and Sirohi are in touch with their villages and they call us from time to time to check on various infrastructural works and their progress,” said Patel.

People from the constituency have formed associations in other states and often invite elected local representatives to be part of their functions.

Not to be left behind, Congress candidate Ratan Devasi has also drawn up plans to hold similar meetings in Maharashtra and Gujarat. “It is very necessary. Here, it is believed that one member of each family is living outside the state. As part of my campaign. I will be visiting Ahmedabad, Surat, Deesa and some parts of Mumbai,” said Devasi.

This not a strategy for

Lok Sabha

elections alone. Candidates who contested in the state assembly polls last year had also done the same to reach out to their voters living outside the constituency.