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This is an archive article published on October 7, 2013
Lucknow nama:Poor timing
Lucknow Nama: News and Views from Lucknow
Written by Express News Service
Lucknow | October 7, 2013 10:49 AM IST
5 min read
5 min read
The four-year jail sentence to Rajya Sabha member Rashid Masood has come at a wrong time for the Congress,which does not have any other Muslim leader in western UP and had pinned high hopes on him for the Lok Sabha election. Worse,Rashid Masoods nephew Imran Masood,who is regarded as a youth face in the region,has left the Congress and joined the SP which has named him as its candidate for Saharanpur.
With the RLD losing its Jat-Muslim equation,the Congress has decided to deploy all its strength to ensure the success of Rahul Gandhis first pre-election rally in Aligarh. All senior leaders are camping in the region and the district units have been asked to mobilise crowds. Senior party leaders say the rally would give them a feel of their ground in the region post-Muzaffarnagar violence and Rashid Masoods disqualification.
Fast friends<\b>
Minorities Affairs Minister Azam Khan has suddenly developed a friendship with Akhileshs uncle and PWD Minister Shivpal Yadav. He visits Shivpal at his residence and even moves out for official meetings of ministers in Shivpals car. At the last cabinet meeting,Azam arrrived and even left with Shivpal in the latters vehicle. SP leaders are amused over this sudden change in Khans behaviour since he came under attack of opposition parties after the Muzaffarnagar violence.
Tech for harmony<\b>
BJP MLA Sangeet Singh Som has been booked under the IT Act,allegedly for inciting riots in Muzaffarnagar by downloading and sharing a video. Additional District Magistrate of Muzaffarnagar Indramani Tripathi has used the same technology to download a song from the movie,Ek chadar maili si,to spread the message of communal harmony. The song goes: Mandir,masjid,girjaghar ne baant diya bhagwan ko,dharti banti,sagar banta,mat banto insaan ko. Tripathi set that song as his caller tune after the riots. The song has impressed many,including Minister of State for Minority Welfare Chitranjan Swaroop,who shared the song using bluetooth .
In defence<\b>
BJP leader in the Legislative Assembly Hukum Singh has become the partys voice on Muzaffarnagar riots. Hukum,with three other party MLAs,is named in an FIR lodged against delivering provocative speeches in a mahapanchayat before the riots. Singh first defended himself and other party MLAs in the Assembly and before the media. Senior party leaders talked to him over the phone and met in person to get details. Recently,Amit Shah,party general secretary in charge of UP,asked him to narrate the sequence of incidents at a meeting of former MPs,MLAs and other leaders in Lucknow. The next day,the party organised an open talk with him at the central office in New Delhi on the theme Muzaffarnagar riots the truth where Singh was asked to speak before party workers,media and others.
cold shouldered<\b>
Ambika Choudhary,whose wings were clipped after his portfolio of revenue was changed with the less important backward class welfare,seems to have lost place in the good books of SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam constituted a harmony committee of 10 ministers,headed by Shivpal Yadav,to monitor relief operations and the damage control exercise in Muzaffarnagar. Ambika,who was not included,tried to use his contacts for gaining entry in the committee. However,a stern Mulayam rejected the suggestion on the ground that already a minister from Ballia district,Ram Govind Choudhary,is in the committee and there is no need for another.
In oblivion
Rajaram Pandey,who was sacked from the ministry by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,is yet to realise that he is no more a minister. During the assembly session,Pandey always sat on a seat reserved for ministers and is still clinging to the ministerial bungalow. He also makes it a point to visit the Chief Ministers office during cabinet meetings.
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He sits in the waiting area during the meeting and later emerges along with other ministers. At the last cabinet meeting,the Chief Minister ordered that no one except the ministers will be allowed entry in the Chief Ministers office. Pandey arrived as usual but was stopped by security officials. Unfazed,he waited near the lift for two hours for the meeting to be over and become part of the ministers returning from the cabinet meeting.
Common cause<\b>
The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress may be political rivals,but their leaders exhibited unusual camaraderie in Aligarh. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a rally at exhibition ground on October 9. BSP leaders also approached the district administration for the same venue for a meeting on October 8.
Their demand was,however,turned down. BSP leaders raised a hue and cry. Later,both Congress and BSP leaders in Aligarh consulted each other and jointly met the district administration with a request to grant permission on October 8 for BSP and Congress on October 9.
The administration allowed both parties to hold their rallies on the same venue on consecutive days.
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