Lucknownama

Beware of Beni

The Congress high command’s decision to allot districts to six Union ministers from UP has made two of them uneasy. Salman Khurshid and Jitin Prasada’s parliamentary constituencies have been given to Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma,who has a habit of shooting from the hip. What if he spoke against the ministers in their constituencies? Last month,Verma had spoken about how statements about quota-within-quota for Muslims and Batla House encounter by senior party leaders had damaged the Congress in the Assembly elections. Though he did not name anyone,it is a known fact that Khurshid had made those statements. The ministers are now keeping their fingers crossed.

Kalyan overruled

Former CM Kalyan Singh has clearly lost his clout in the BJP. He was keen that Bhagwan Singh Shakya,a Congress leader who was minister in the Kalyan government in 1997-99,should join the BJP. Shakya reached the party office in a cavalcade of over a dozen SUVs. Kalyan Singh was on way to welcome him when direction came from Delhi that Shakya should be stopped. Sources said that party general secretary Varun Gandhi scuttled Shakya’s induction. For,Shakya reportedly wants the BJP ticket for Lok Sabha election from Aonla where Varun prefers Samajwadi Party rebel Dharmendra Kumar Kashyap,who had joined the BJP in a rally in Bareilly in May.

Stealing the show

BSP chief Mayawati knows how to spoil the show of her political rivals. On Saturday morning,she hurriedly called a press conference exactly at the time when CM Akhilesh Yadav was to start the distribution of laptops at Isabella Thoburn College. Many TV channels preferred to cover Mayawati’s press conference live instead of the laptop distribution. When the event actually began,Akhilesh was left to defend his government against Mayawati’s allegations that the SP government was wasting public money on the publicity of its laptop distribution scheme and that the law and order had deteriorated in the state.

Pre-poll prayers

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad visited Mirzapur on Friday to seek the blessings of his guru Tantrik Narain alias Pagla Baba. Sources said Lalu had last received Baba’s blessings in 2004 before he was inducted in the UPA government as Minister of Railways. He stayed in the ashram for nearly three hours. His wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi talked to Pagla Baba over Lalu’s mobile phone. Lalu later visited Vidhyavasini Devi Temple and offered prayers.

Magic remedy

Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rajendra Choudhary,who is also the state spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party,was convalescing after a surgery. So,he did not attend office for nearly 15 days. Since he is the lone spokesperson of the party,reporters were finding it difficult to get official party comments in his absence. A report was floated that in view of Choudhary’s illness,the SP leadership was considering appointing a co-spokesperson. The news had instant effect and Choudhary promptly returned to the party office for his regular briefings.

Room relief

When newly made cabinet minister Kailash Yadav’s staff started looking for an office room befitting his status,they zeroed in on the room of retired IAS officer SAT Rizvi on the seventh floor of Bapu Bhawan. A demand was placed before the government to get the room vacated “immediately”. Rizvi had been given the room as he was heading some inquiry committees and commissions,including the one to probe the demolition of Parikalp Nagar Colony during the Mayawati regime. Files were searched and it came out that the time period of the last inquiry had ended on July 20. But no one could gather the courage to ask Rizvi to vacate the room. However,much to everyone’s relief,Rizvi himself decided to vacate the room since none of his inquiries were pending.