Gul Panag speaks out on her electoral war with Kirron Kher

Blame it on micro-blogging, but there is a Twitter war on between two Bollywood actresses of different generations; but both sharing the common trait of dimpled cheeks. Kirron Kher who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from Chandigarh and Gul Panag who is contesting on an Aam Aadmi ticket from the same city landed in Chandigarh at around the same time only to get embroiled in a war of words. Apparently Gul tweeted, “Doubt if I’ll have the energy to run around like this and serve my people when I’m 60. I guess that’s why there’s normally a retirement age.” To this Kirron Kher retorted with sufficient sarcasm saying, “For me life starts at 60 and I have the blessings of my 101-year-old father to fight this contest and emerge victorious.” When contacted Gul said, “I’ve no idea where, when and how this started! My Twitter page is open to the public. I’ve nothing but the deepest love respect and admiration for her.” Explaining that her comments on the retirement age did not mean to cast aspersions on Kirron Kher’s abilities Gul says, “I was speaking only for myself and what this election campaign means to me. My stamina energy and vigour are coming in handy during these times of rigorous campaigning.” Gul says she is up from 5 am traveling and connecting with people till late in the night. “I really don’t think I’d be able to do these 25 years from now. I am working 20 hours a day and surviving on only 3-4 hours of sleep. This is why I am grateful for my stamina that I’ve cultivated through my marathon runs.” She filed her electoral papers on Friday. “It’s a tough battle. We (the Aam Party) lack the means, monetary or otherwise, that the other two parties(Congress I and BJP), have in abundance, so we can’t afford to buy loyalty.” Gul says she’s fighting a battle on behalf of a party that means to bring about a change. “This is a fight to clean out a system which has given durability and sanction to the two well-entrenched national parties (the Congress I and the BJP). The two parties are fighting tooth and nail to preserve their monopoly that we are determined to eradicate.” Gul is currently surrounded by like-minded supporters in Chandigarh. “I’ve lots of friends and family who have travelled down from all over the world to help me fight this battle to clean up the country’s politics and so I can’t afford to slip up. I’m actually overwhelmed by the support to this movement.”