Rajasthan polls: This magician is campaigning for Congress; wants to vanish BJP

Jaipur, Dec 4: Political parties would have loved to vanish their opponents had it been possible. But politics is not such an easy game as it deals with hard reality. But here is a magician who is able to do the trick for one party and that is the Indian National Congress (INC) in the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan on December 7.

Jaadugar Gopal, a magician who is practising since 1972, is not politically impartial and he has no problem exhibiting that either. An old aide of Rajasthan's two-time chief minister Ashok Gehlot and also one of the INC's tallest leaders in the state, Gopal is a supporter of the Grand Old-Party and is campaigning for the 'Hand' in Jodhpur with his magic tricks which is a unique thing. One of his campaign tricks is to vanish a flag of the BJP inside a magic bag and replace it with that of the INC.

Gopal learned the magic tricks from Ashok Gehlot's father who was also a magician

Gopal learned his magic tricks from Babu Laxman Singh Gehlot who himself was a renowned magician. "I was with Babu Laxman Singh from 1974 to 1976 when he died," Gopal was quoted by The Quint as saying. Ashok had also assisted his father in magic and has done only one show which was in 1978, Gopal said, for he joined politics after that.

"Asok ji does one magic very well. He changes a lit candle stick into flower which is also one of his favourite tricks," Gopal said, adding that though as the chief minister of Rajasthan (1998-2003, 2008-2013) Ashok did not do much f for the art of magic but one of his key contributions have been to take the art to foreign countries. Ashok had also shown a couple of magic tricks at the all-India magicians' meet in 2002, Gopal said.

It is also said that Ashok had performed magic in front of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi when they were kids and also former prime minister Indira Gandhi, whose eyes had caught the leader's organisational skills during the East Pakisan crisis in 1971.