Saturday’s catch

BJP got its day’s share as actor Pankaj Dheer of Mahabharata’s Karna fame joined the party on Saturday. Also present was ex- cricketer Mohinder Amarnath, already a member, who was paraded to “refresh the memory”. In Bangalore, Deepak Divekar, actor and a lookalike of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, joined the BJP

Congress found an unusual friend in former Union Minister and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani on Saturday when he shared dais with Congress leader and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal. Jethmalani attacked the nda Government’s “feel good” and “India Shining” campaign, Jethmalani said he was amused by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s “cruel joke” as these could be discovered only in expensive posters issued at the cost of tax payers. But Ram must spring a surprise so Jethmalani offered himself as the unified Opposition’s candidate against the Prime Minister in a one-to-one contest. Sibal, however, was non-comittal. ‘‘We welcome whoever comes forth to defeat the NDA government,’’ he didn’t exceed his party brief.

JD(S) chief former prime minister Deve Gowda welcomes V. Srinivas Prasad to the party in Bangalore on Saturday. Prasad quit from his office of Union Minister of State for Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs to join Gowda