Profit 038; Loss

Early last year, when Congress candidate Madan Mohan Shukla, contested against her for the Rajya Sabha seat, he was flicked aside on technical grounds by the state8217;s returning officer. His nomination papers were rejected for not filing his education qualifications. A stubborn Shukla challenged Bachchan8217;s nomination saying she was ineligible too as she was chairperson of the UP Film Development Council UPFDC, and could not hold two offices of profit in government.

It was a trifling problem as far as the loyalists were concerned8212;Bachchan filed an affidavit claiming she had already resigned from the post and that the state government had accepted her resignation. Soon after she became MP, Bachchan cheerfully became chairperson of UPFDC again. Unfortunately for them, it is this very sweetheart arrangement which will become their undoing 8212;by resigning before her nomination, Bachchan had inadvertently acknowledged the UPFDC post was an office of profit.

But convention and propriety were no hindrance either8212;two days ago, when an undeterred Election Commission forwarded its recommendation to the President of India for Bachchan8217;s disqualification, the state government passed a resolution in the Assembly denotifying 79 public bodies as offices of profit, including the UPFDC, with retrospective effect from 2002.

Legal experts, however, believe it has come too late8212;the EC has already given its order and if approved by the President, Bachchan could face disqualification for six years, from the date of her expulsion, under the Representation of People8217;s Act 1951.

SO, how did this thrilling and exhilarating roll come to such a threatening end? Like her colleagues, Jaya Bachchan too cannot be blamed for seeing a Congress conspiracy everywhere. Despite its oft proclaimed secular credentials, the SP had an unhindered run under the BJP-led NDA rule, but ever since the Congress-led UPA Government came to power, it has been a party under siege. After the first UPA snub when Singh was brushed off as a gatecrasher to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi8217;s inaugural party the SP had refused to agree to a pre-poll secular alliance, it has been a downward spiral again.

It was not long before Bachchan herself was drawn into the fire 8212; after she publicly criticised the Gandhis for dumping them when they were down and out. To her shock, Rahul Gandhi lashed out calling her a liar, and said it was the Bachchans who had switched loyalties. Finally, it was left to a sober statement from Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya8217;s superstar husband to come to her rescue when he said relations between the two families today were one of raja ruler and rank public.

BUT despite the riveting Gandhi-Bachchan soap, Jaya Bachchan has impressed her party with her steady commitment and dedication to her job as Rajya Sabha member. Colleagues marvel at her regular attendance in the House and her informed intervention in debates8212;she has asked 115 questions, they trill, and piloted two significant bills, on video piracy and, education for the girl child.

On the party front, Jaya has conscientiously and honourably followed party diktat to attend public rallies in the deepest corners of UP heartland, and has been a star crowd puller.

She has thrilled party rank and file by attending party national executive meetings, whether in Chitrakoot or Saifai, giving a shot of glamour to these humdrum events. Her loyalty to Singh and Yadav has been unflinching8212;she has not forgotten their timely and critical intervention to save the Bachchans from near bankruptcy and solvency. For the moment, it seems, the Bachchans, Yadavs and Singhs, will swim together or sink together.