Clocking InThe party that has really gone out of its way to publicise itself and its symbol (table clock) is Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party since its symbol is virtually alien to voters. So there are hordes of table clock badges and stickers in the tricolours handed out everyday in Mumbai. In fact, at the entrance of their make-shift headquarters in south Mumbai, a thelawalla sits with a large low table displaying the knick-knacks. Sacksful lie in the inner rooms, small and large packets are prepared to be sent to interior areas. Badges have become especially popular. Typically, party leaders at all levels make it a point to have a table clock when they address the press or face TV cameras or speak to party workers. ``We have picked up table clocks by the hundreds. Some people even came forward with offers to give us these clocks,'' says a senior leader.The Letter BombThe Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) seems to be going the Election Commission way, as it was duringthe Seshan days, as the Central Vigilance Commissioner, N Vittal and his colleague, retired IPS official V. S. Mathur, squabble for turf. At stake are the powers to appoint Central Vigilance Officers (CVOs) in Government offices all over the country. Vittal feels that it is his exclusive prerogative, while Mathur is convinced that the appointments to the posts have to be made in consultation. While the fight over the appointments of CVOs has come out in the open there are also rumours of a protest letter penned by Mathur doing the rounds where he is believed to have pointed out that ``you are only the central vigilance commissioner not the chief vigilance commissioner''. Vittal steadfastly denies being bombarded by the letter bomb, but says that the CVO issue has been raised and will be resolved.In With A SongThe Congress, the BJP and the NCP in Maharashtra are going all out to ousting each other. The Congress in its audio cassette, Apna bhavishya apne haath, sthirta ko hi denge saathparodies the song from the Shahrukh Khan-starrer Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as it says Vo paas aaye aur muskuraye, BJP ne jaane kya sapane dikhaye. While the BJP in its cassette BJP ki jai bol praises Atal Behari Vajpayee for the Kargil triumph and lends that dash of patriotic fervour with its opening notes kar chale hum fida jaano tan sathiyon. The NCP in retaliation pokes fun through the song Oye Oye from the film Tridev and blames the BJP Government for the death of jawans in Kargil. Not to be outdone, the Shiv Sena cassette Public Demand through one of the songs Mere paas aao tumhe ek kissa sunaoon from the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Mr Natwarlal taunts Sharad Pawar for repeatedly deserting the Congress for his tryst with the kursi. Another song from Amar Akbar Anthony mocks the trio of Pawar, Anwar and Sangma with ek ek se bure do..do do se teen.The TaximenIt looks as though Election Commissioner M S Gill's appeal for anissues-based election is getting support from unexpected quarters. Such as Mumbai's taximen. In an ad released by the Mumbai Taximen's Union in the pages of newspapers, they want the candidates to take an oath. ``To give an unequivocal declaration,'' states the ad, ``in the following format for establishing their (the candidates') credentials and improving their chance to win polls.'' Other clauses include whether the candidates have criminal cases or charges of corruption (levelled ``by the government or the media''), that they not entertain the idea of defection and fight with vigour to eradicate corruption and eject all those who are corrupt. It isn't clear, however, how many candidates have responded to the ad.Running In With SupportThough her offer to the CPI-M of taking on the Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee in this year's Lok Sabha election did not find many takers in West Bengal's ruling party, India's ace athlete Jyotirmoyee Sikder has been roped in by the Marxists tocampaign for its candidates. And she has started with Haldia, a booming industrial town in north Bengal where the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee, Sikder, has hit the road to campaign for Lakshman Seth, the town's high profile CPI-M candidate and former MP. And in a State bereft of any star presence from the celluloid world, the sprint queen has been able to add colour to an otherwise lacklustre campaign. Says a resident: ``People are thronging in to listen to her. Though Seth has brighter prospects than other candidates if people like Sikder give him support, the CPI-M candidate will be all set to give his opponents a run for their money.''Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay in Calcutta, Smruti Koppikar in Mumbai, Anuradha Shah and Saikat Datta in Pune, Swati Chaturvedi in Delhi
