Surprise visitor

Walking into Vigyan Bhavan’s plenary hall, wearing his trademark whites, veteran lyricist, director, screen writer, producer and poet Gulzar took many by surprise Friday.

Walking into Vigyan Bhavan’s plenary hall, wearing his trademark whites, veteran lyricist, director, screen writer, producer and poet Gulzar took many by surprise Friday. Not many were expecting 2013’s Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner to turn up for the rehearsal of the 61st National Film Awards, which are to be conferred Saturday. But here he was, keenly checking out his front-row seat in the hall, exchanging greetings with fellow award-winners, giving sound-bytes to the electronic media, and happily posing with all and sundry for photographs. And when somebody accidentally knocked off his nameplate from his seat, and many people reached out to pick it up, the octogenarian quipped, “Koi na koi toh mujhe utha hi lega.”

Time out

Election fever has gripped the nation but it seems the Prime Minister’s family is taking out time for cultural events. Prime Minister’s wife Gursharan Kaur was spotted Friday evening at the Kamani auditorium, enjoying an Odissi dance performance by children trained by Ranjana Gauhar, a well-known name in classical dance. Kaur stayed for a while and even distributed certificates to children before a quiet exit just after 8 pm. Backing off

While the Congress was never keen to use PM Manmohan Singh extensively to campaign for the party, partly due to anti-incumbency, its decision to back off after planning his rallies in Punjab beguiled many inside and outside the party. Congress strategists claimed his rallies in Punjab, including one in Amritsar on April 24, had to be cancelled due to his engagements elsewhere, but the arguments have few takers. Grapevine has it that the party developed cold feet as Narendra Modi’s rally in Amritsar the next day would have drawn comparisons in terms of their respective popularity. The PM was not very keen either, said a party insider.

REINFORCEMENT, FINALLY

After having left its candidate Ajai Rai to fend for himself so far in Varanasi, the Congress is finally sending reinforcement to boost his high-profile battle with Narendra Modi. Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik is camping in the temple town and Union ministers Kamal Nath and Anand Sharma are also said to be on their way to Varanasi. The party leadership is, however, yet to respond to Rai’s pleas for a rally by either Sonia or Rahul Gandhi in Varanasi, although the BJP’s PM candidate has decided to campaign for the party candidate in Amethi, Rahul’s constituency.

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