Opinion Headless ministry

Bachchan hits back

Amitabh Bachchan has the largest Twitter following in India and the fourth largest in Asia. With 1.88 million followers,Bachchan is widely read. So when he took a potshot at the media in his blog for “habitual misrepresentation”,many people took note. Bachchan was irked because a TV channel took out of context an encouraging remark he had made about cricketer Virat Kohli and implied that he had endorsed Kohli’s rude gesture in showing his middle finger to the crowds in Sydney. In fact,the superstar’s remark on Kohli preceded the finger-pointing incident. Bachchan also wondered why the media should criticise him when he praises his son Abhishek’s performances. He pointed out that a lot of journalists are far more self-indulgent about praising themselves in the media.

Campaigner in absentia

The BJP has no star campaigner in the UP campaign—L K Advani,Sushma Swaraj,Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi are all on a par. Even party president Nitin Gadkari is just one of several speakers. Neither is the BJP projecting a chief ministerial candidate. To single out one leader would only create bad blood among those left out,it is felt. The one exception is Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Posters,cut-outs, speeches and DVDs of the former prime minister have been distributed all over the state. In fact,Vajpayee’s name has been submitted to the Election Commission as one of the party’s campaigners,even though he remains confined to his bed in Delhi. But the BJP successfully used Vajpayee’s image in absentia during the party’s national executive meeting in Lucknow six months back and wants to repeat the experiment.

Uma’s discontent shows

Uma Bharti held a press conference last week to criticise the Congress demand for a special quota for minorities. Earlier,she had protested against Babu Singh Kushwaha’s induction into the BJP. The maverick politician is making noises because she wants it to be known that she is unhappy at the way the BJP is treating her. Bharti has not been projected as chief ministerial candidate,as she had hoped. She has not even been given a ticket to contest the elections from the Bundelkhand region. Bharti was brought into the campaign by BJP president Nitin Gadkari to influence the Lodh and other backward caste votes. But she has not done much campaigning of late,claiming she is exhausted.

Maya’s aide in hot water

UP Chief Minister Mayawati has been forced to clip the wings of her trusted PWD minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui,fearing that she might be confronted with another Kushwaha-style scam. Naseemuddin is Behenji’s adviser for minorities,but for this assembly election,Naseemuddin has had less of a say in the selection of Muslim candidates than in the past. The state Lokayukta N K Mehrotra has issued notices to Naseemuddin asking for his income tax returns and property holdings,following a complaint that the PWD minister and his relatives have amassed disproportionate assets worth crores. The Lokayukta is also investigating the charge that as excise minister,Naseemuddin awarded a liquor contract without a tender. Yet another allegation concerns an education society controlled by Naseemuddin’s family.

Flexing his muscles

The Congress watched from the sidelines as N D Tiwari got embroiled in a courtroom battle over a paternity suit,for which he had to undergo a blood test. Tiwari,who was humiliated,felt his party did not stand by him. He wants to teach the Congress a lesson,particularly with the Uttrakhand assembly polls around the corner. Tiwari’s NGO Nirantar Vikas has been politically active and he has encouraged several independents to fight against the official Congress candidates. The party hastily dispatched AICC general secretary Birender Singh to Dehradun to pacify the former chief minister. It even agreed to give tickets to two of Tiwari’s nominees in the hope that Tiwari,who still has influence in the state,will be mollified.