Lucknownama

Soaring graph

After the announcement of the 51-member state Congress executive,Rita Bahuguna Joshi has emerged stronger in spite of the constant sniping by her rivals. Over 80 per cent committee members are her supporters. Several partymen for whom Congress MPs and Union ministers had lobbied failed to make it. The fact that party chief Sonia Gandhi personally approved the committee shows that Rita Joshi has the high command’s full backing. The anti-Joshi camp in now convinced that she will have a greater say in party affairs in the run-up to the Assembly elections next year. More and more ticket seekers are now flocking to Rita Joshi.

Madam’s ears

Babu Singh Kushwaha may be out,but he is certainly not down. He had to resign from the ministry after investigation into CMO B P Singh’s murder threw up cases of financial fraud in the Family Welfare Department. But those who had written him off got a shock when,at the function held to celebrate the BSP government’s fourth anniversary,Chief Minister Mayawati expressed her gratitude to three men for making the event a grand show. State Advisory Council chairman Satish Chandra Mishra and PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui were the obvious two. The surprise was Kushwaha. Although it was a government event,Mayawati still chose to praise him. Obviously,she wanted everyone to know that Kushwaha still enjoyed her full patronage. And there was a reason for doing this. After Kushwaha’s exit,Siddiqui had emerged as the most powerful man,both in the government and the party organisation. “The CM never allows anyone to enjoy unchecked power. Her statement was also a message for Siddiqui that Kushwaha still has her confidence,’’ said a party leader. Incidentally,Kushwaha is one of the very few men who still has access to Mayawati.

Covert operation!

BJP national secretary Kirit Somaiya may have no specific assignment in UP,but he spends at least one day every week in some part of the state. On the face of it,he is collecting details of financial irregularities in various schemes under the Maya Raj. But BJP leaders believe his real task is to collect feedback about the party’s position at the ground level and inform BJP president Nitin Gadkari. In recent weeks,some state leaders tried to cosy up to Somaiya,but he kept them at a distance.

Comforting Disc

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is a much relieved man after some TV channels played the CD containing Amar Singh’s telephonic conversations with various personalities. Before the CD was made public,Netaji was apprehensive. After all,Amar Singh had been his most trusted man. Who could say what all the CD contained? Now it is clear that there is nothing in the CD that can damage Netaji’s reputation. Rather,SP leaders believe the CD will help them damage Amar Singh in eastern UP,particularly the portions where he is heard speaking to actresses and talking about Amitabh Bachchan. The party’s Muslim face Azam Khan has spoken about playing the CD at their public meetings.

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