Rajasthan parties lure voters with ganja, gutkha

JODHPUR: In Rajasthan, use of opium-based narcotics to welcome guests on special occasions like marriage and child birth is part of local tradition.

However, with the campaigning for assembly polls in full swing, use of narcotics has become indispensable for politicians and their campaign managers to lure voters.

While the choice of drugs offered by political parties may vary from region to region, the aim is one — to solicit their support.

Campaigners of a national party candidate in Sekhawat region were seen handing out marijuana-filled smoking pots to village elders and youth.

“If we do not offer such things, they will all go home and our efforts to gather them here will go to waste,” Chak Mithai village panchayat member Lakhan Singh said.

Singh and his colleagues said they had procured 3 kilos of ganja to last through the poll campaign. Their political rival offered gutkha pouches to lure ladies, youth and elders.