Lucknownama

Take & give relief

WHEN the Information Department summons reporters for an “urgent press conference by Chief Minister” at 10 minutes notice,one expects something really important. So it came as a let-down when at an “urgent press conference” all that the Chief Minister did was to receive a cheque of Rs 1 crore from the representatives of Kripaluji Maharaj for Uttarakhand relief work. Some media persons asked about the status of the case against Kripaluji Maharaj’s ashram in Pratapgarh where a stampede had left many dead in 2010. But Akhilesh Yadav scuttled the issue by saying that the press conference was only about the relief money given to the UP government.

Candidate Akhilesh

SOME prankster applied in the name of Akhilesh Yadav for Teachers Eligibility Test from Etawah,complete with the Chief Minister’s photo. His father’s name was given as Mulayam Singh Yadav and the date of birth July 1,1973. The Primary Education Department issued the admit card with roll number 2110100207. When the incident came to the notice of local officials,they informed the Secretary of Basic Education. Special attention was given to room number 6 at Government Inter College,Etawah,which was the centre allotted to Akhilesh Yadav. But the candidate did not turn up and was marked absent.

10% honesty

LAST year,it was PWD Minister Shivpal Yadav who,at a meeting with officials in Etah,asked them “to steal as long as they work hard but not indulge in dacoity”. Now,it is the turn of Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar,Minister of State for Small-Scale Industries. During an inspection at Kanpur,Gangwar reportedly told officials about complaints of sub-standard construction work and asked them to restrict their commission to 10 per cent so that the quality of work was maintained.

Benevolent Rajnath

WHILE the UP leadership of the BJP spares no opportunity to criticise Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,party president Rajnath Singh is indulgent. Asked to comment on the performance of the Akhilesh government last week,he said,“I cannot criticise Akhilesh because he is like a child to me. Had it been a government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav,I would have criticised it.” He also asked the state BJP not to politicise the issue of Uttarakhand flash floods. Before Rajnath’s visit,state president Laxmikant Bajpai,senior leader Kalraj Mishra and others had accused the Akhilesh government of not making serious efforts to rescue the people from UP missing or stranded in Uttarakhand.

Beni vaani

IN the past,when Congress MP and Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma made controversial statements about SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav,he used to find supporters among his partymen,who believed that this keeps the party in focus. However,his recent statement alleging selling of the party tickets and Congressmen betraying their own party in the Assembly elections has isolated Verma. For,it is a known fact that a large number of party tickets in the 2012 Assembly elections were given to those who had joined the Congress from other political parties and on Verma’s recommendations. Only one of such candidates won. Congressmen see Verma’s latest statement as an attempt to clear his name by throwing mud at others before the Lok Sabha elections.

Change unchanged

BSP chief Mayawati had claimed that the candidates declared for the Lok Sabha elections will not be changed the way it was done during the Assembly elections last year. But the tweaking of the list of candidates has already begun. Udayan Sharma,whose name was announced for contesting from Mathura,has been replaced with Yogesh Dwivedi. Sunil Mishra,whose name was announced for Kannauj,has been replaced with Nirmal Tiwari. While many feel this may confuse the voters,hardcore BSP men argue that the candidates have been replaced with people from the same caste so it will not make any difference.

Azam gate

OLD gateways often become symbols of a city’s identity. At Rampur,people rued when over 100-year-old Topkhana gate of Nawabi era was demolished one night. Officials said that it was dilapidated and had become dangerous. In its place,a new gateway will be built. After approval from Urban Development Minister Azam Khan,who is the local MLA, a proposal has been sent to the state government for constructing a bigger and grander structure which will be known as the Gateway of Rampur.