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Journalism of Courage
In verdict season,Joshi to go without a party
On September 24,Rita Bahuguna Joshi will become the first state Congress president in 15 years to complete three years. But instructions have gone out that there should be no celebrations. The same day,the High Court will deliver its verdict on the Ayodhya title suits and a celebration may send out a wrong signal. Since the high command is yet to pick up a new president,Joshi doesnt want a controversy. She is wiser after the experience of her birthday celebrations on July 26. Her supporters had then put up posters and banners congratulating her. Joshis rivals had presented this to AICC leaders as evidence that she was trying to build a personality cult. The stakes are now really big. Incidentally,the last PCC president who lasted more than three years was Mahavir Prasada 1988 to 1995. Between 1995 and 2007,UP had eight Congress presidents.
Cong Dalit face upsets leaders
The Congress wants to make K L Punia the partys Dalit face to counter Mayawati and a move is afoot to appoint him chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Many Congress leaders are upset. Punia had joined the party in 2006 and became MP for the first time in 2009. As Commission chairman,he will have the status of a Cabinet minster,while five Union ministers from Uttar Pradesh are all ministers of state. Among them are three who have been ministers for more than one term. There is lot of heartburn and new alliances are being formed. Beni Prasad Verma,who was never an admirer of Rita Bahuguna Joshi,has now reportedly started backing her for another term. Punia is said to be close to Joshis rival Pramod Tiwari. In turn,Beni expects Joshi to back his case for induction in the Union Cabinet.
The Samajwadi Party faces a strange problem. Who is best suited to articulate its position on the Allahabad High Court judgment on Ayodhya,to be announced on September 24? There is none to match the skills of Amar Singh,who had an uncanny ability to come up with catchy oneliners and couplets to make his point. Nor does the party have a Muslim face since Azam Khans departure. None of those around is comfortable in speaking English and Urdu. The choice is now limited to party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and national spokesman Mohan Singh.
Not my day today!
A BJP spokesman,contacted for some information,came up with a strange reply: Today,it is not my day. What does it mean? Inquiries revealed that in order to avoid ego clashes,president Surya Pratap Shahi has devised a novel way to divide work among six spokespersons and four media coordinators. Hriday Narain Dixit will be the spokesman on Sunday and Monday,Satyadev Singh on Tuesday,Hardwar Dubey on Wednesday,Vijay Bahadur Pathak on Thursday,Rajendra Tiwari on Friday and Manoj Mishra on Saturday. Similarly,Dilip Srivastava will be the media coordinator on Sunday,Narendra Singh Rana on Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday,Manish Dixit on Thursday and Harish Srivastava on Friday and Saturday.
Test match still on?
Will the India vs New Zealand Test scheduled from November 12 to 16 actually be held at Kanpurs Green Park Stadium? The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) office-bearers have been speaking in different voices. Rajeev Shukla,UPCA Secretary who inspected the stadium recently,said: One-fourth of the stadium is dug up. If the Sports department gives us a guarantee that things will be all right within a month,then we will organise the match there. We are waiting for their response. The UPCA Director,Jyoti Bajpai,said: With the construction activity going on,our main concern is who will be responsible if some mishap takes place. However,UPCA Joint Secretary (Administration) Prem Dhar Pathak maintains that Green Park could still host the match. Also,in spite of whatever Shukla and Bajpai may say,the UPCA has sent a request to book the stadium.
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