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Journalism of Courage
Rajnath Singh and Lalji Tandon had warrants against them, and the police in Saharanpur have picked up the technician who recorded the infamous BJP election CD. All three protest that they were involved only incidentally. It was the brainchild of Alpana Talwar, chief of the Uttar Pradesh BJP’s cultural cell and Manoj Mishra, who was removed as party spokesperson after the controversy. Both are protégés of former speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi, who had seen the CD. Complicating the picture is the fact that a BJP secretary in Delhi had introduced some additions to the CD. Actually the same CD had been released last year at the party’s national session council in Lucknow without any hue and cry. It was re-released after minor changes. The leaking of the contents of the CD was an inside job, presumably because of infighting. Only party faithfuls had actually seen the CD.
Media memo
Journalists on the Congress beat have complained against the party’s media department to Sonia Gandhi. The letter, signed by some 35 correspondents, was triggered off because journalists were irritated over the run-around they were given last week while seeking the party response to the Allahabad court judgment depriving Muslims of minority status in Uttar Pradesh. Media in-charge Janaradhan Dwivedi, when approached for a quote directed correspondents to try Satyavrata Chaturvedi’s or Abhishek Singhvi. The former, however, declined to speak on a legal issue. The latter was not at home, since he was flying back to Delhi from Mumbai. The media managed to get hold of a non-spokesperson, Kapil Sibal, for a quote only late in the evening.
The incident comes in the wake of strained relations between Dwivedi and his team. Two of the media team, Mukul Wasnik and Chaturvedi, have made known their unhappiness by staying away from briefings. One is a party general-secretary, the other a former general-secretary. Neither relishes reporting to one they consider their equal.
Will she, won’t she
Although Jayalalithaa had agreed to attend a joint rally organised by Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, there was scepticism in Tamil Nadu as to whether she would actually show up. The imperious Jaya is not used to sharing the dais. The only exception she makes is for the prime minister or the president. The SP rally dais was hardly an exclusive affair. In fact, it was more like a railway platform, what with the two Jayas (Prada and Bachchan), Bangarappa (a known bugbear of Jayalalithaa’s), Chandrababu Naidu, Mulayam, Amar Singh and others occupying it.
Jaya’s no-show at Bareilly led to several cynical “I told you so” remarks. But Jaya had a genuine reason for her absence. The evening before, she had rushed to the outskirts of Chennai, where 16 people were killed in a blast. She slipped and sprained her ankle. Her party people insist that Jayalalithaa had even perfected her 10-minute speech in Hindi. In Tamil Nadu, at a marriage mela the next day a limping Jaya regretted that she could not make it to UP andsaid she would show up for the last round.
Blocked romance
The romance between a senior Congress politician and a Pakistani TV anchor has run into a roadblock, after the politician’s wife complained to Sonia Gandhi. The Indian high commission in Pakistan has been instructed not to issue a visa to the lady. To make doubly sure that the TV personality does not enter India a lookout circular has been issued at all airports against her.
