Lucknownama

New Lesson learnt

The removal of Minister of State for Revenue Vinod Kumar Singh alias Pandit Singh for virtually abducting a CMO is weighing heavily on Samajwadi Party legislators and ministers. History-sheeter MLA Abhay Singh was approached by a supporter with a complaint that the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) of Faizabad had not accepted his recommendations for transfer of teachers. The supporter asked Abhay to give the BSA a bit of his mind. But the MLA reportedly got furious,and reprimanded him telling him to remember Vinod Singh’s fate.

Listed channels

Only four persons in the Samajwadi Party are authorised to speak to the media: party president Mulayam Singh Yadav,Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav and state spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary. Yet,Ram Asrey Kushwaha,another general secretary,is a regular on TV. The media cell of the party,therefore,discreetly told the TV channels to contact only the authorised persons for the party’s view,whenever necessary. For the next two days,Kushwaha was not seen on the TV. The third day,however,he was there on the Lok Sabha TV. Apparently, Lok Sabha TV is not on the regular list of the party’s media cell and,therefore,did not get the message.

Maya Avatar

When BSP president Mayawati called a meeting of the party’s national executive to decide on continuation of support to the UPA government,party sources said this was the first time that the executive was given such an importance. So long as Mayawati was the chief minister,she used to take decisions unilaterally,they pointed out. Also new was Mayawati asking BSP leaders to avoid nepotism. Citing BSP founder Kanshi Ram’s example,she said that none of her relatives will ever get the party ticket to contest an election. However,in the Assembly elections,the same Mayawati had fielded relatives of several leaders. Obviously,the loss of power has made Mayawati democratic.

Kalyan trick

Former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh is yet to rejoin the BJP,but party leaders are already following his ideas. BJP national president Nitin Gadkari had to address a rally at the Devikund ground in Deoband,but half the ground was empty. When Gadkari saw it from his chopper,he got disappointed. So were party leaders Vinay Katiyar and Laxmikant Bajpai who were accompanying him in the helicopter. Then,Bajpai remembered a trick Kalyan Singh had once used in similar circumstances. The pilot was asked to hover over the area around the venue thrice. The trick worked and hordes of curious people packed the ground in no time.

Ideal idol

The theft of an idol from Deokali temple in Ayodhya is giving sleepless nights to police and the administration. Since Deokali is known as ‘Kuldevi temple’ of Lord Rama,the sentiments of the locals are involved. BJP MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Aditya Nath and local BJP leader Lallu Singh,who lost the Assembly election after 21 years,are fanning the issue. Sources said Lallu Singh is trying to mobilise the sadhus,taking advantage of the fact that Pawan Pandey,the young SP MLA who defeated him,does not associate himself with ashrams and akharas in the holy town. On the other hand,Yogi reportedly wants to make Deokali temple part of Devipatan peeth,which is associated with his Gorakhnath peeth.

Vacation mood

The BJP has launched a campaign against the Congress. Mamata Banerjee has announced that she will launch an anti-Congress campaign on November 17. But the Congress is unmoved. Earlier,the party had the excuse that they had given a six-month grace period to Akhilesh Yadav government. That ended in September. Now,the party has decided to devote the next one and a half months to strengthening the organisation. That means no other activity before the end of November,while other parties use the Congress as a punching bag.