Kolkata confidential

Done with media
On the campaign trail,CPM candidate from Barrackpore Tarit Baran Topdar says he has a policy of not commenting on his adversaries. It seems,however,that the CPM strongman who has held sway since 1989 does not baulk at calling the media names. At public meetings,the media gets lambasted for poor and biased reporting. This,at a time when every candidate is vying for prime time slots and more eyeballs. Reporters tried to talk to him after one such on-stage outburst. “So you remembered just four days before the polls that I am campaigning? You mediapersons will write only what your editors tell,so what is the point of sharing views with you?” he shot back.

‘Childish’ blunder
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat landed into a major embarrassment when organisers of a Gujarati community meeting in Kolkata lauded him not for his political work,but for him and his wife Brinda Karat not bearing a child. During the programme an orgainser was heard saying “Karatji and Brindaji’s contribution to India is vast. Both of them decided not to bear any children and sacrifice their lives to work for the country. Imagine how they sacrificed their future children,for the future of the country.” As Karat looked on in surprise,the speaker went on to talk about Karat’s personal life much to the embarrassment of everyone present.

Red blanket
Mamata Banerjee does not like anything red. Recently during an interview,she was heard saying that she does not like the red colour even black tea,locally known as Lal Cha. She spoke candidly about her dislike for bright red colour. Interestingly the interviewer,too,was wearing a red shirt. “However I do not dislike everything that is red. See you are wearing a red shirt,but I am talking to you?” she said. Banerjee however clarified that her dislike for red has no connection to the Red CPM,but who’s buying it.

Lost in translation
Of late,top CPM leaders of the state are switching to Hindi during their speeches in rallies. Especially in Hindi belts like Rajabazar,Burrabazar,Howrah,Barrakpur and other areas,leaders like state secretary Biman Bose are seen talking in Hindi. However,since they are not adept in Hindi,the endeavour is much to the amusement of the audience. The audience mostly laugh through the Hindi part of such speeches. Recently people standing near him were unable to stop laughing. “What language is he speaking? Is it Bengali or Hindi or a mix of both,” said one.

Advani rubs it in
Both BJP workers and politial observers were wondering why prime ministerial candidate L K Advani gave slip to the most important constituencies of the state so far as the BJP is concerned. First Darjeeling,where the party is almost sure to win secondly Krishnanagar,where the party has mounted the toughest fight. Advani,in two legs of his trip,addressed rallies at four costituencies —Uluberia,Barasat,Kolkata North and Dum Dum and except at the last,the party could not muster to fill up even one fourth of the grounds. Grapevine has it that BJP candidates for Darjeeling and Krishnanagar — Jaswant Singh and Satyabrata Mukherjee — are regarded as men of Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Cho sweet!
The sweetmeat shop owner at Berhampore,who had presented a 11-kg Chhanabara to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi,met Berhampore MP Adhir Ranjan Choudhury’s house next day to thank him for the opportunity to present the gift to Gandhi. When Choudhury wanted to pay him,the man sprang up and said: “I got a lifetime opportunity to serve the first family of the country and please don’t bring money here.” Before Choudhury could say anything the man walked off.