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Classes vs Masses Delhi: The Iftar
season is the best time to test the political barometer. As the holy month of Ramzan drew
to a close last week, leaders of all hues laid out the choicest dishes to woo those who
matter. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's party at Hyderabad House saw an overdose of
topiwallas, mostly constituents of Chandni Chowk MP Vijay Goel. The next day,
friends-turned-foes Sonia Gandhi and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav vied with each other to
see who could pull in a bigger crowd. Neutral observers who attended both the Iftars came
away with the impression that while the "classes" -- Nawab Pataudi and wife
Sharmila, among others -- turned up at Sonia's party at the AICC office, the
"masses" -- Muslim leaders from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh -- preferred Mulayam's
iftar. Enough to make Mulayam's RLM partner Laloo Prasad Yadav quip: "Khubsoorat
chehre udhar, asli log idhar (Beautiful faces there, real people here)."
Right Gestures
Thiruvananthapuram:
West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu may believe that BJP leaders -- including the
affable Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- should be kept at a distance, but comrade E.K. Nayanar
evidently thinks otherwise. When the prime minister visited Kerala last weekend, such was
the bonhomie between the two that not for a moment did Vajpayee feel that he was in a
state ruled by BJP-bashing Marxists. At the airport press conference just before his
departure for Delhi, a journalist asked Vajpayee whether "the distinguished gentleman
on your right would be included in the Cabinet in the forthcoming reshuffle". The
question stumped those present as it was Nayanar who was seated on his right. But as
Vajpayee chuckled and looked towards Nayanar, the chief minister guffawed and pointed to a
dhoti-clad gentleman standing to the far right. He was of course O. Rajagopal, the BJP
vice-president who was believed to be among the probables in last week's reshuffle that
never materialised.
Chopper Hopper
Bangalore:
Undeterred by the notoriety he and his ministerial colleagues have earned as
"frequent fliers" to countries abroad, Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel is
now acquiring a French helicopter for tours within the state. Patel's jet-setting
indulgences apart, what has fuelled a controversy is the fact that the Public Works
Department is shelling out Rs 24.66 crore for the chopper at a time when contractors'
bills worth Rs 300 crore are pending with it. Says Karnataka BJP chief B.S. Yediyurappa:
"There was no need to buy a new copter when there's already one." But Patel,
recovering from a hernia operation, insists it would help him "function better".
Animal Lover
Bhopal: Like
all good former feudals, Congress leader Arjun Singh is a lover of nature and wildlife.
And like all politicians, he believes he is above the law. At least that's what he must
have thought when he started raising two black bucks in the sylvan surroundings of his
lake-side mansion at Kerwa, near Bhopal. But the Salman Khan case apparently roused Singh
from his slumber and he made a belated plea to the authorities, assuring them that the
bucks were being looked after properly. Last week, the wildlife authorities in Delhi not
only rejected the application, but their counterparts in Bhopal started proceedings to
recover the animals. Whether any action will be taken against Singh is anybody's guess. |
