Lucknownama

Cong’s loss is SP’s gain

Digivijaya Singh,AICC general secretary in charge of UP,may have claimed that many BSP MLAs are in touch with the Congress,but the actual desertions are taking place to the Samajwadi Party. Congress leaders are disappointed. They had thought Rahul Gandhi had infused a new life in the Congress to dislodge the BSP in the coming elections,but traffic in the direction of SP suggests something else. Some Congressmen,however,offer a different explanation why the BSP MLAs are not coming to their party. They say that unlike the SP,no one can be inducted in the Congress by the state leadership. A BSP MLA will first have to contact state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi,who will refer the matter to Digvijaya Singh who,in turn,will have to obtain Rahul Gandhi’s clearance. By then,the matter will leak to Mayawati.

Opportunity counts

Among the four BJP leaders,including two MLAs,who joined the SP last week,the most surprising was the name of former MLA and BJP’s state secretary Gomti Yadav. Although Gomti has seen many ups and downs in his two-decade-old association with the BJP,no one ever thought he could ditch the party. Yadav was elected a councillor of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation way back in 1989. In 1991,the BJP fielded him to contest the Assembly election for the first time and he won. He has been MLA twice. It seems Yadav did not like the move to shift him from his old constituency Lucknow-East to Bakshi ka Talab,which includes a large rural area where the BJP has negligible presence. Apparently,Yadav decided that if he had to contest from Bakshi ka Talab,then it was better to contest as SP candidate because that party is much better placed there than the BJP.

Pre-poll shocker

All eyes are on Animal Husbandry Minister Awadh Pal Singh Yadav. First,the Lokayukta started an inquiry into charges of corruption and now a court has ordered lodging of a criminal case against him in connection with a triple murder. For the BSP,the developments have come at a very wrong time. The minister is the party’s Yadav face and he comes from Etah district,which is considered Samajwadi Party’s area of influence. With elections approaching,the BSP needs Yadav badly. Incidentally,Yadav had been through the Janata Dal,SP and the BJP in his three-decade-long political career before joining the BSP.

‘Sarvjan’ in police

DgP Karamveer Singh is retiring on August 31 but,surprisingly,there is virtually no debate,no speculation over his successor. It is assumed that Special DG (Law and Order) Brij Lal is the chosen one by the political bosses. Asked about any dark horse,a senior IPS officer remarked,“All 12 DG and special DG-rank officers are dark horses.” Brij Lal as the next DGP is seen as the logical extension of the ruling BSP’s “Sarvjan formula” to services. Since Anoop Mishra,who is Brahmin,is Chief Secretary,it is in the fitness of things that Brij Lal,who is a Dalit,should be the DGP.

No luck for Ajit

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh is reportedly disappointed after his recent meeting with Rahul Gandhi to discuss a possible electoral tie-up with the Congress. Ajit Singh wanted a one-on-one with Rahul,but Digivijaya Singh was also present. Worse,Rahul Gandhi spoke very little and it was Digvijaya Singh who did most of the talking.