Lucknow Nama: CBI scare

Exit polls may have predicted a hung Assembly,with the Samajwadi Party emerging as the largest single party,but the SP headquarters have started getting all kind of requests. Many of these are from SP workers,each highlighting his long association with the party,sometimes going back several generations,and seeking favours. Many of them request for the withdrawal of criminal cases which,they claim,were lodged against them by the BSP government for political reasons. Behind the flood of these applications is an announcement by party president Mulayam Singh Yadav that false cases lodged against SP workers will be withdrawn.

Race for RS

Speculation has begun in the SP about who will be sent to the Rajya Sabha in the election scheduled for March 30. There are many lists of probables,but two names are common in all. These are former fisheries minister of West Bengal Kiranmoy Nanda,who is often seen at Mulayam Singh Yadav’s residence,and actress Jaya Bachchan.

While Nanda is party general secretary,Jaya is member of the party’s national executive. Mulayam had nominated her in 2010 also,but she turned down the offer. It is generally believed that Netaji will persuade her this time.

The idea behind sending these two to the Rajya Sabha is to project an all-India image of the party.

Missing the point

Mayor Dinesh Sharma’s extensive campaigning in all nine Assembly constituencies of Lucknow district has troubled local BJP MP Lalji Tandon’s camp. Sharma reportedly plans to contest the 2014 Lok Sabha election. So,wherever he campaigned,he talked less about the the BJP’s policy and programmes,and more about himself. “He would say that that voters could trust him as he is always available in the city,” a source said. Tandon senses danger.

Lightweight puzzle

Senior Congress leaders were taken by surprise when,instead of a party heavyweight,Youth Congress president Tarun Patel arrived with Rahul Gandhi in a chopper at a public meeting in Thakurdwara in Moradabad district. Sources said Tarun was asked to join Rahul at a public meeting in Srinagar area of Lakhimpur Khiri. From there,he accompanied Rahul and Kanishka Singh in the chopper. No one knows what they discussed on the way,or why Rahul asked Tarun to accompany him. Since Tarun has not spoken about it,many party leaders are on tenterhooks.

Quick thinking

In the din of a public meeting in Saharanpur on February 26,a gesture of Sonia Gandhi passed unnoticed. Among those present was former MP Rashid Masood who suddenly complained of chest pain. A doctor travelling with Sonia Gandhi checked him and it was decided that he needed urgent medical attention. Sonia Gandhi immediately asked for arranging an air ambulance. Rashid Maood was flown to Delhi and hospitalised for a detailed check-up. Sources said that,luckily,the problem didn’t turn out so serious as was initially feared.