WATERED DOWN The rains lashing most parts of the state over the last few days have,for the time being at least,muted the cry for drought relief and the associated politics. The Opposition was making claims that districts and talukas had been selected as drought-hit just because a few ministers hail from there and had their eye on Central funds. Two trips to the Prime Ministers office by state government representatives had proved futile,with no announcement of a package. The Congress and the NCP have been in a contest over who can ensure such a package. The chief minister has met the Prime Minister and the empowered committee on drought headed by the NCPs Sharad Pawar. SENA vs SENA Protecting the Marathi manoos vote bank in Mumbais heartland Dadar,Prabhadevi is at the centre of the opposition to a proposed new list of structures for the heritage tag. The Shiv Sena and the MNS are competing to prove who can protest the loudest against a tag that will come in the way of redevelopment. Earlier this year,the MNS had swept the region in the civic elections and left the original tiger wary. It is to regain its foothold that the Sena has brought back an old hand,Sada Sarvankar, into its fold. The Thackeray cousins have refrained from calling each other names. LAST RITES Days after Vilasrao Deshmukh died,Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre caused sharp divisions within the party with a decision to keep the urn in district offices after immersing the ashes. Several leaders stayed away from the function that involved a prayer meet and the immersion. The current chief minister was among those who did not attend the immersion,though he attended a prayer meeting organised by the Deshmukh family the same day. THE EKTA POSTER The success of Ek Tha Tiger provided the Shiv Sena,which uses the tiger as its symbol,an opportunity to exploit. It embarked a poster campaign by tweaking the words into Ekta Tigeralong with pictures of Bal Thackeray. In Marathi,ekta means both sole and lonely. The move backfired because of the twin meanings. The party had aimed at promoting the leader as the sole tiger fighting for the causes of locals,but it was the lonely meaning that came across after Raj Thackeray had stolen a march over his uncle with a rally over the Azad Maidan violence.
