Kushwahas Fall from grace continues

BSP general secretary Babu Singh Kushwaha,once the most trusted aide of Chief Minister Mayawati,has fallen out of favour.

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BSP general secretary Babu Singh Kushwaha,once the most trusted aide of Chief Minister Mayawati,has fallen out of favour. In April,he was stripped of his ministerial berth after the murder of Lucknow Chief Medical Officer B P Singh and the subsequent surfacing of a financial scandal in the family welfare department. Now Mayawati has told BSP MLAs that they should get in touch with state party president Swami Prasad Maurya or PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddqui if they have any issue to discuss. Before his fall from grace,Kushwaha was her pointsman for MLAs. Now,even his men are being overlooked in the selection of BSP candidates for the Assembly elections. Rajdeo Singh,Sushil Singh and Jitendra Singh Babloo,close aides of Kushwaha,are believed to be out of the reckoning for the elections.

Ahead of assembly polls,the two-way traffic

The imminent elections have made turncoats out of several leaders. It started in a trickle,with three BSP MLAs joining the Samjawadi Party over the last two months. Then last week,the BSP announced the induction of seven SP MLAs in the party,but the fact is that all but two were for all practical purposes already in the BSP. Two days later,it was a BSP MLA who crossed over to the SP,along with two of the BJP. None of the turncoats has resigned his Assembly seat; nor has the BSP or the SP asked them to quit. SP leaders often fulminate against criminal activities of BSP MLAs but they presented Guddu Pandit,a BSP MLA whose name has been linked to criminal activities,as a political trophy.

Uma the outsider is BJPs woman for the occasion

In the short time since her return to the BJP,Uma Bharti has surprised party leaders in UP with her unmatched energy. In the last two months,she has visited 36 districts,held meetings with party functionaries in eastern UPs seven districts during a tour from July 26 to 30,and tried to boost their morale for the electoral battle ahead. She has rented a house in Lucknows Indira Nagar and plans to move in this week. Many BJP members are upbeat but some fear that given her aggressive style,Bharti may become a parallel power centre and this may do more harm than good. Others think that her high-profile campaign may give a handle to other parties to target the BJP for bringing in an outsider to lead its campaign.

Screening first: Govt goes fussy about Aarakshan

The UP government seems to be wary of Prakash Jhas Aarakshan. First,Lucknow University cancelled a student interaction with its cast,including Amitabh Bachchan. After the venue was changed,the police blocked the programme,citing its sensitive subject. Next,the Department of Entertainment Tax asked Jha to show the film to officials before its release on August 12. Jha says the film is neither anti-Dalit nor anti-reservation,has been cleared by censors and cannot be shown before its release since it is the subject of litigation. S K Dwivedi,entertainment tax commissioner,insists they have the right to ask for a first view because of possible opposition to the film from certain groups.