Lucknownama

Ties of tradition

It is no secret in the BJP that Murli Manohar Joshi,MP from Varanasi,wants to contest from Lucknow in the next Lok Sabha elections. But party president Rajnath Singh has indicated that may not be easy. In an interview on a TV channel last week,when asked about the party’s candidate for Varanasi,Rajnath said that no person could represent the tradition and the historical and religious culture of Kashi (Varanasi) better than Joshi. Party insiders says Rajnath himself is planning to move from Ghaziabad to Lucknow.

Touchy subject

Some time ago,Mulayam Singh Yadav had tried to communicate with visiting party workers from Tamil Nadu in English. But his son and CM Akhilesh Yadav,who is an engineering graduate,seems to be touchy about Hindi. Akhilesh was the only person at the convocation of Babsaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University who delivered his speech in Hindi. President Pranab Mukherjee,Governor B L Joshi,Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Jitin Prasada,University Chancellor N L Lakhanpal and vice-chancellor R C Sobti,all spoke in English. One wonders what language Akhilesh would have used in his aborted presentation on Mahakumbh at Harvard Business School last month.

Musical chairs

Due to a tussle between Revenue Minister Ambika Choudhary and former minister Narad Rai,Ballia district has been witnessing a game of musical chairs for the post of district magistrate. In the last one year,the district has seen four DMs — Madhukar Dwivedi,K Vijayendra Pandian, A V Rajmauli and S N Srivastava. Ambika Choudhary manages to get as DM the officer he wants,but Narad Rai ensures Choudhary’s nominee does not last long. Basti has now been without a DM since April 18. Fed up with the rivalry,the SP leadership has asked them to name a consensus candidate. Until then,Chief Development Officer Heeralal will continue as caretaker DM.

Making an entrance

Sarika Baghel,RLD MP from Hathras,whom the SP has named as its candidate for Agra in the Lok Sabha elections,recently registered her presence in the city of Taj with a bang. Accompanied by her husband Devendra Baghel and father Mahendra Singh,she visited the district. Her first victim was Additional Municipal Commissioner K P Tripathi who was curtly told to spend the money only on her recommendation. Next,it was Agra Development Authority Secretary Ravindra Singh,who was asked to take sanction from her before doing any work. Sarika also visited the office of Torrent power distribution company and rebuked officials for complaints against them. She left with a warning: Netaji has sent me here; do anything but Agra seat has to be won.

look who’s talking

BJP vice-president Uma Bharti has backed the remark of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has “no faith in parliamentary traditions” and “no respect for democratic institutions.” Uma argued that the UPA government deliberately delayed the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railways Minister Pawan Bansal in order to ensure disruption of Parliament. But what is Uma Bharti’s own record of respect for democratic institutions? She is an MLA from UP but in the last 14 months she has rarely attended Assembly.

Meaningful gesture

After four Dalit men from Gammanpura village in Sambhal district went missing (they were later found murdered),local BSP leaders visited the village to show solidarity with the families. Party general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui also went there and the party gave Rs 50,000 each to the families. This is the first time the BSP has given financial help to anyone from party funds. A leader said the rare gesture was a bid to address resentment among supporters who,after the BSP’s ouster from power,had started to expect that the party would be as much accessible and helpful as other parties.

Wrong timing

While the SP was wooing Brahmins by organising Parasuram Jayanti on Sunday,some in the gathering wondered what would happen if any of the speakers recalled the story that Parashuram had wiped out Kshatriyas from the face of the earth. “After the exit of Raja Bhaiyya from government,the Rajputs are anyway unhappy with us. Now the party is celebrating Parashuram Jayanti,” said a party leader. The fears almost came true when SP’s Faizabad district president Jai Shankar Pandey started to narrate the tale. But after hints from helpful quarters,he changed track and added that Parashuram was not against Kshatriyas but against evil.