Lucknownama

Sitting pretty

It is over a year since the BSP lost power,but the party still occupies the largest office in Vidhan Bhawan,which is meant for the ruling party. The spacious hall of the office is used by BSP leaders for holding press conferences. Party MLAs and MLCs gather there to have lunch. Officials say the BSP had taken the office from the Samajwadi Party soon after coming to power in 2007. Now,the Samajwadi Party could pretty well ask the BSP to vacate the office,but is managing with a comparatively smaller office because it does not want to irritate the main opposition party.

Identity ‘crisis’

Members in the state Assembly were taken aback when Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey got up and announced that he was going to read a condolence message on the demise of Naseemuddin Siddiqui. It took a while for the Speaker to realise that his announcement had been mistaken. For,members know only one Naseemuddin Siddiqui,who is the BSP general secretary and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council. Pandey promptly cleared the air that he was referring to Naseemuddin Siddiqui who was an independent MLA from Kanpur in 1969.

cause for concern

Congress member Daljeet Singh,while speaking on the cut motions of the Transport Department,demanded relief for tractors used in ferrying sand from river beds. “Sir,you can levy double the road tax on trucks,but exempt tractors as they are operated mostly by poor farmers,” he requested. After him,Raghunandan Bhadauria of the BJP raised his voice in support of truck operators. “Sir,please provide relief to truck drivers as they are hardworking,” Bhadauria urged. Daljeet Singh is a sand contractor in Bundelkhand while Bhadauria is a transporter owning a fleet of trucks.

Two is a crowd

Two senior leaders at a BJP programme are two too many. The state BJP leaders,who had invited Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia for their Naari Raksha Sankalp Rally,learnt this last week. Sources said both leaders had confirmed participation,but two days before the programme,Vasundhara told state party president Laxmikant Bajpai that she had changed her mind. Apparently,Vasundhara opted out because she felt that with Sushma around,there would be confusion about who is the chief guest.

Cable guy

People in Rampur these days are surprised about a local cable TV channel,named Jauhar News,which airs mainly news and features about Minorities Affairs Minister Azam Khan,who is the local MLA,and his projects. Even local journalists don’t know much about the channel as its reporters are hardly seen in the field. Nor do district officials.