Lucknownama

No prize for guessing
The buzz in the Congress is that Rita Bahuguna Joshi is getting a second term. Even her opponents seem to be convinced that she is going to stay. Party sources said Sonia Gandhi’s re-election as party president is going to be held on July 25. Thereafter,she will recommend the names of state presidents. Since Joshi is in Sonia’s good books,it is assumed that the Congress president would recommend her name. Also,it is learnt that most of those who were considered as alternatives to Joshi are out of reckoning. Jitin Prasada is reportedly not keen to take up the job,P L Punia has a controversial past,and there are doubts about Raj Babbar’s ability to take everyone along. The only option left is Salman Khurshid,a past president who brings along the advantage of belonging to a minority community. But Joshi’s plus point is that she has been an active president,always ready to participate in protests and agitations against the BSP government.

No bowing out for pranam
When Nitin Gadkari became BJP president,he put an end to the practice of partymen touching leaders’ feet. In UP,Surya Pratap Shahi also made it clear that he did not like the practice,which reeked of obsequiousness and sycophancy. At a lunch hosted by Shahi last week,however,every time a senior leader arrived,BJP workers were seen rushing to touch his feet. None of the leaders made any effort to discourage the practice. In fact,one of them even voiced his unhappiness when a worker greeted him with a namaste. The poor worker promptly made amends by bowing down to touch the leader’s feet. Old habits die hard!

The Royal (baton) mess
The visit of the Queen’s Baton Relay team members to Sahara Shaher on Saturday left the district officials fuming. The team carried the ‘baton’,although Sahara Shaher was not on its itinerary. A day before,Sahara had sent out invitations stating that the ‘Queen’s Baton Relay 2010” will be visiting Sahara Shaher and Subrata Roy,chairman of Sahara India Pariwar,will carry the baton. Soon after the baton left the K D Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium for its next destination,Rae Bareli,news came that the ‘baton’ had reached Sahara Shaher. The officials who were supposed to make arrangements for the baton’s journey on the pre-decided route were angry. Lt Gen (retd) Raj Kadyan,head of the Queen’s Baton Relay Team,blamed the confusion on “misunderstanding and lack of communication between the state administration and the relay team”. There was nothing wrong in taking a ‘prototype’ of the baton to Subrata Roy as he was the head of the protocol sub-committee of the Commonwealth Games,he argued. Very well. But what prevented the relay team from clarifying the matter in time?