Pune Beat

At the party’s national convention in Panchmari, the party has bestowed its confidence on the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. Adik said the convention also helped in reinforcement of the party unity and discipline. All the differences among the party leaders in the State are sunk, hence no one should claim any political right on a particular region or territory. Such claims would be considered as a challenge to Sonia’s leadership, he said. He said the organisational structure of the party had weakened considerably under the leadership of former prime minister Narasimha Rao, but now that the situation has changed the party would not have instances where rebels try to work against the official candidates in the elections.

Making a scathing attack on the functioning of the BJP-Shiv Sena government in the State, he alleged that the law and order situation in Mumbai had deteriorated and there was no growth of industries. He claimed that the Congress will be able to get a clear majority in the ensuing elections. The independents have realised this and are eager to switch over to the Congress but the party leadership should reject them, Adik said.

The Congress will be holding a convention in March in Mumbai to discuss the problems faced by the tenants and the slum dwellers. The convention will be inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi, Adik said.

Pu La on the Net
The State’s favourite personality – the octogenarian humorist par excellence Pu La Deshpande – will now be available at the click of a mouse. Just log onto punenet.org/pulabahurupi80/ to capture the essence of the veteran writer’s life and works in bytes.

Pune Net- an organisation working on the Internet – has launched a website devoted to Deshpande who is fondly called `Pu La’ on the occasion of his 80th birthday. Efforts have been undertaken by a team including journalist Meera Joshi, Satish Jakatdar, Prasad Mirasdar, Devvrat Bapat, Shailesh Khot, Parag Sane, Subodh Sonawane and others to prepare the website, a statement issued here stated.