| Published on 09-09-2008 In General |
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BJP's Delhi dilemma
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Both the BJP and the Congress have kicked off their electoral campaign in election-bound Delhi. Going by the sheer headcount, the BJP show, sponsored by chief ministerial hopeful Vijay Goel was a runaway success with LK Advani exclaiming that he had never seen so many people gathered in the capital's Ramlila Maidan, the Congress show was a damp squib.
Yet a section of Delhi Congress wallahs could barely hide their glee. The reason was not too difficult to fathom. It was organized by Sajjan Kumar, a bete noir of Delhi CM Sheila Dixit. The chief minister's camp ensured that none of the top Congress leadership which lives in the national capital shows up.
Goel's meet too had notable absentees but they were second-rung. Sushma Swaraj had cited an earlier engagement while Arun Jaitely excused himself on grounds of rushing to Calcutta to attend a media baron's funeral. Venkaiah Naidu's face adorned the posters on the dais, though the man himself was missing.
Interestingly, it is not the Congress but the BJP that is finding it difficult to declare its chief ministerial candidate for Delhi. The Congress has realized that the only way it can retain Delhi is with Sheila Dixit. The BJP is searching for a strong leader to trump her. Apart from Goel, names of state unit leader Harsh Vardhan, Delhi MP and spokesman VK Malhotra and BJP general secretary Arun Jaitely are doing the rounds. But BJP insiders said Jaitley, who is best poised to take on Dixit, is reportedly not keen at being sidelined from central politics.
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Shourie Say's so
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The Indian delegation was in full force at the 50th anniversary of the Ramon Magsaysay award held in Manila recently. To celebrate the moment, all the previous winners were invited as well. So Arun Shourie, M.S Swaminathan boarded a plane which was also carrying special invitees to represent the youth contingent. There was adequate blend of political colours. AICC spokesman Manish Tewari sat on the same side as Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi, political aide of BJP president) Rajnath Singh. The two young men who spent their time lobbying against each other in Delhi put aside their differences in foreign shores.
However trust Arun Shourie to provide the voice of dissent even in an academic discussion. He created a stir by questioning the very basis of GDP in measuring the quality of life by pointing out that a person may add to the GDP by cutting trees and selling them but that does not necessarily mean that he is adding to the quality of life. Shourie had the last word.
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Tata—Modi--- sweet things
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Narendra Modi is counting on old Parsi-Gujarati ties to bag Nano plant in Gujarat. Modi who was in Delhi to take on the UPA-Congress on matters of national security was asked if he has approached Ratan Tata offering Gujarat soil for the car plant. Instead of replying directly, Modi narrated a story. He said centuries ago when Parsi traders arrived at a Gujarat port, they sent a glass of milk to the then Gujarat rulers. The milk was returned after mixing heaps of sugar. It signaled welcoming gesture to Parsi traders. Modi seems to be hoping to spread bit of that sweetness even now.
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Seat sharing battles
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The Congress-Samajwadi Party may have inched closer but their Thakur components are still at war. AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh can not get over the past when Amar Singh was a lowly Congress man. On the other hand, the Samajwadi party general secretary wants to assert his acquired position as first among equals. When the duo sat across negotiating table, the old hostilities rekindled. A reference to the past led to a verbal duel. Diggy raja observed that Samajwadi Party's adamant attitude in 2007 resulted in Bahujan Samaj Party getting power in country's most populous and politically significant state. Digvijay cited Laloo Yadav's example to advance how the RJD got a share in UPA cabinet. Amar retorted quickly that it was the Congress that kept the SP out of UPA government. Moreover he said Laloo gave the Congress fewer Lok Sabha seats yet Digvijay's party swallowed humiliation. He said if he replicates 'Laloo formula' in UP, the Congress will get far less.
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Moily, the letter writer
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Veerappa Moily has begun a practice of writing two letters a week to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The communication draws party chief's attention towards various organizational matters. So far, the arrangement has worked well but old-timers are getting skeptical. They feel the media committee chairman should draw a lesson from the fate of Arjun Singh who was known for excessive letter writing skill. Arjun, who is in a bit of political wilderness now, had used letters to give a torrid time to P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri. What is also interesting is the fact that pen-pushing Moily was a staunch critic of Arjun's letter politics then.
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Venkaiah's Ground realities
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BJP's Venkaiah Naidu has a sense of humour and a rare ability among politicians to laugh at himself. Naidu was in Jaipur recently to assess assembly poll related preparations. He constantly heard leaders of all hue and shade underlining the need to give tickets to those with ears to the ground. However Naidu misunderstood the constant reference of 'zamin,' zameeni haqiqat' etc. as something to do with the land. At a meeting, he wondered aloud why BJP in Rajasthan was so obsessed with land and land-related issues. State leaders denied the charge but Naidu went on reminding about the 'zamin' references. When it was explained, he had a hearty laugh.
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Monica's friends miss Big Boss
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Women prisoners in Bhopal Central Jail wanted to see their former inmate Monica Bedi in "Big Boss II". However they could not as jail manual restricts their access to Doordarshan.
In Big Boss, housemate Monica had revealed details of her past and romance with gangster Abu Salem. Monica was remanded in Bhopal Central Jail between December 4, 2006 to July 16,2007. She was arrested along with Abu Salem at a Lisbon shopping mall on September 18, 2002 following an Interpol red corner notice issued at the behest of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). She was acquitted due to lack of evidence against her from a Bhopal court and later in another case for possessing a passport from Hyderabad on forged documents under section 420 (cheating), 120 B criminal conspiracy) and section 12 of the Passport Act.
According to jail insiders inmates who shared cell with Monica were extremely keen to watch her narrate her own story on how her past kept coming back to remind her of the harrowing times she's been through.
Monica who was considered as 'b-grade' actress in Bollywood before she got caught in legal hurdles is trying to pick up threads once again and moved to Mumbai from hometown Hoshiarpur, Punjab. She is currently staying at Mulund in suburban Mumbai, drives her own car and yet to have a full-time secretary. In 1992 when Monica traveled from Norway to study English Literature in England's Oxford University, she met with Bollywood film actor-producer, Manoj Kumar. But it was during the making of another movie that the young starlet reportedly saw the ugly side of Bollywood. She reportedly suffered from a film producer who was subsequently killed, allegedly by the underworld shortly after the famous killing of Gulshan Kumar.
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Conditional "sanyas"
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Uma Bharti has a proposition for L.K. Advani. The sanyasin is prepared to take political sanyas provided the BJP's prime ministerial candidate follows her. Uma says if BJP wins in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh during November polls, she will spend rest of her life in Kedarnath. But the firebrand leader has a string attached –Advani will have to take political sanyas if his party fails to retain these States.
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Enemies in Delhi, friends at home
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Union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh is never short of bad-mouthing the left but when it comes to home turf Bihar, the RJD leader is not averse to the idea of joining hands with comrades. The Lok Sabha MP from Vaishali, Bihar insists that his differences with the left over n-deal and UPA functioning will not have a bearing on 'strategic alliance' in Vaishali where he is counting on left's support to get another lease in parliament. |
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