INDIA's political parties are nothing if not innovative when it comes to wooing voters, writes Rahul Bedi in New Delhi. The centrist Janata Dal party has trained around 100 parrots to carry its message of stability in preparation for this month's general election.
Trained by a troupe of stage artistes at Patna, capital of the eastern state of Bihar, the parrots have been taught to repeat "Vote for Janata Dal, vote for Laloo."
Mr Laloo Yadav, chief minister of Bihar, also leads the Janata Dal, which, with regional allies, is the third largest political grouping in the upcoming poll. The other two are the ruling Congress-I and the largest opposition party, the Hindu fundamentalist BJP.
The parrots will be released a few days before the first of four days of voting, which starts on April 27th and ends next month.
The Janata Dal is also planning a series of street plays and puppet shows to lure voters across Bihar's 54 parliamentary constituencies, most of whom are illiterate. Bihar has the second highest number of parliamentary seats of all 25 Indian states.
Political parties in India's capital of New Delhi and the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are hiring professional wrestlers to guard candidates, intimidate people into voting for them and, if necessary, even "capture" a polling booth or two to stuff ballot boxes with pre stamped ballot papers.