A anxious crowd awaits Bhai Gopi Chand as he criss-crosses the Gurgaon constituency on his campaign trail.

In a constituency which has over 2,90,000 voters, it is a race against time for all candidates. But Bhai Gopi is very fortunate for it is not the first time he is going back to the voters after 5 years. To every village, every sector, every dhani, which he has visited many times during his 5 years as an MLA, it seems that it is less of him asking for support and more of an opportunity for supporters eager to their show their enthusiasm for him. Every where I followed him, I could see him getting energized as he saw the "josh" of the crowds that gathered to receive him.

As you can see from Bhai Gopi's schedule published on the site there are meetings scheduled every hour or half-an-hour, but what is missing is the tens of meetings and trips that get squeezed into the empty (and not so empty) gaps. Bhai knows that it is personal interaction with the citizens, in small and large groups that matters most and that is what he seeks.

A crowd of the village elders listens to the MLA who always stood shoulder to shoulder with them thru thick and thin, through oppposition and administration, and who has now returned to their midst for their blessings.

Rushing from one meeting to another, from one rally to another, seeking blessings from the elderly, and resetablishing bonds with supporters and well-wishers, seems to invigorate Bhai.

And every time he reminds them about the Chashma symbol, and that is on the top of the voting machine. The symbol is number 1, and the party behind the symbol has today made Gurgaon NUMBER 1. And that is where it should stay - at Number One.

Chashma, yani Spectacles.

This is not a new contest he reminds the crowds. It is now definitely a two-way race and his opponent was in power/MLA/Minister for over 15 years - and what does he have to show except empty promises of what he will do. The track-record is weak but the promises are galore. And without batting an eyelid Bhai Gopi tells people to evaluate his 5 years and his opponents 15 years - and see which indicates the path to a brighter future.

And what a whirlwind he has been this five years. What the crowds vouched for, and I can second, is that:

• There was easy access to Bhai. Bhai has not only travelled to every village, every dhani, and every sector, asking residents about what the government could do for them - he could be reached at his house or on the road by everyone.
  Bhai saab addressed both small and intimate gatherings of supporters, as well as large and mammoth rallies.

• Work has been done, and promises have been kept: No one can deny the developement work that has propelled Gurgaon to the NUMBER 1 City in India, and so the opponents either try to divert the discussion elsewhere, or start poetical but confused monologues about the "meaning" of developemnt.
• The scope of development has been broad and deep: The day Bhai Gehlot won the last elections he declared that he was the representative of "all" Gurgaon and not only those people who had voted for him. And he proved his words in deed too. Ask him and he can roll of projects and work in every sector village, and down to even the dhanis and firnees.
• Inclusive Nature: Unlike the other candidates who either disparge the newcomers to Gurgaon, or those who have isolationist streaks like the Shiv Sena - Bhai has a very inclusive outlook. He knows that we need employment generators and we need to prepare Gurgaonites with education, infrastructure, and opportunity to become manpower and brainpower needed by them.

And his style seems to have touched many hearts. Everyday I see living proofs of them on the campaign trail, and I fear that he has touched my heart too making it hard to maintain journalistic integrity with which I had begun this journey with him ...