Lucknownama

Last week,Chief Minister Mayawati did a few unusual things. One of these was attending her office first on January 7 and then again on January 9.

At last,CM in office
Last week,Chief Minister Mayawati did a few unusual things. One of these was attending her office first on January 7 and then again on January 9. Unusual,as she prefers to operate from her residence. Those who have been watching her say this was perhaps the first occasion when she spent so much time in her office. The development has had some sobering effect on the babus who assumed they were the real bosses on the fifth floor. As a Hindi proverb goes,a camel gets a true idea of its height when it passes by a mountain. Here,the mountain came down to show the camels their actual size. Now,the speculation is why Mayawati did the unusual – spending almost the entire day in office on January 9. Is this going to be a regular feature? Does it have something to do with the feedback she had received from her one-on-one meetings with party MLAs on January 7? Or does it have something to do with reports of two rival power centres in the CMO affecting work? No one knows except behanji.

Where is the alliance?
Will the series of offensives by Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Amar Singh against the Congress jeopardise the electoral alliance of the two parties? Many believe that Singh is just playing a game of brinkmanship because the Congress ambitions had skyrocketed after its electoral success in Rajasthan and Delhi. The SP leadership feels the Congress was further emboldened by the support among minorities for Union Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulays remark over the death of Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare in 26/11. But,for all the noise that Singh is making,the SP knows where to stop,said a senior party leader. The proposed alliance is not merely to fight the challenge from BSP,but also for ensuring a political future for SP yuvraj Akhilesh Yadav,who will contest the Lok Sabha election from two constituencies,Kannauj and Ferozabad,he added.

Know your alphabets
Lalta Prasad Mishra,who is likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Kaiserganj as the BJP candidate,has a unique style of campaigning. Mishra moves in a fleet of SUVs,each carrying the poster of a letter of the alphabet. Another large poster on the back of each SUV proclaims he is the BJP candidate from Kaiserganj. The SUVs move in strict alphabetical order. It was an amusing sight for morning walkers as the fleet came to a screeching halt near HAL township on Lucknow-Faizabad Road on Sunday morning. The state BJP leadership is also amused over Mishras style and his zeal. The party hasnt announced its candidate from Kaiserganj,but Mishra has already undertaken three whistle-stop tours of the sprawling constituency,spread over Barabanki and Bahraich districts. The BJP leadership is,however,confident that Mishra will be a strong candidate,against two Rajputs SPs Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and BSPs Ajay Pratap Singh alias Lalla Bhaiyya. In the 2007 Assembly elections,Lalla Bhaiyya was elected to the Assembly from Karnailganj in Gonda district. Later,he resigned from the Assembly and his sister was elected in the by-election. As for Brij Bhushan Saran Singh,he won the last election as BJP candidate,but defied the party whip to vote against the UPA government in the trust vote. BJP workers ransacked the houses of other MPs who had betrayed the party,but not Singhs. The reason was simple: Singh is a don who cant be trifled with. Will Mishra settle the score?

Make the boss happy
A motorcyle showroom in Chinhat and a bike service station in Indira Nagar have become hotspots for the employees of the LMC. They not only prefer these establishments,but also recommend these to everyone. No,it has got nothing to do with the quality of service. The owner of both establishments is a close relative of a senior IAS official who wields considerable clout these days. As a sanitation and food inspector remarked,Woh bade adhikari ke relative hain. In se sambandh ka bane rehne ka matlab hai saahab ka aashirvaad bana rahega. (He is the relative of a senior official. If one has good rapport with him,the boss will be happy).

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
city
lucknow