Sena MLA tails BJP

AURANGABAD: After serving as a Shiv Sena MLA for two terms -- one term as a cabinet minister -- Chandrakant Khaire is finally beginning t...

AURANGABAD: After serving as a Shiv Sena MLA for two terms — one term as a cabinet minister — Chandrakant Khaire is finally beginning to realise the restricted appeal his party has when it comes to Lok Sabha elections.

Khaire, who much against his wishes has been made to contest the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency (against A R Antulay), finds campaigning more comfortable in the company of the BJP. Not surprisingly, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s life-size portrait that hangs in his office almost dwarfs that of Bal Thackeray.

Khaire’s eagerness to remain in the shadow of senior BJP leaders has however led to some embarrassing moments. For, while the BJP is not unwilling to let Khaire nibble at the Vajpayee pie, it is careful to guard against election observes including his campaign expenses in their accounts. So, when Khaire sent a note to Gopinath Munde saying he would like to be at his side at Munde’s press conference, Munde would have none of it. “No. Stop Khaire. This is a BJP press conference.”

So,when Pramod Mahajan came down next to address a press conference, Khaire simply made his entry unannounced. For a moment, Mahajan was nonplussed. In a flash, he stood up and declared the conference closed!

AURANGABAD: BSP Kanshi Ram never misses an opportunity to visit Aurangabad, the crucible of Maharashtra’s Dalit politics. Kanshi Ram, whose party has failed to get the kind of following it enjoys in the north, recently addressed a public meeting which was attended by about as many people as his securitymen. Even before the local press got to know and reached the venue, Ram had taken off in a private plane to Nanded for another meeting.

But it turned out that Aurangabad was better. When the aircraft landed at Nanded, the pilot came out to declare his VIP passenger’s arrival and looked around for the welcome party. There was none. Worse, Ram couldn’t even take off in a huff. Another aircraft carrying government officials was ahead in queue. So he had to cool his heels alone for half-an-hour at the airportbefore he was airborne again.

Manoj Kumar