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 Back in the Reckoning
Delhi: It's been a long time since
Sitaram Kesri has had reason to be happy but the grin on his face these
days stretches from ear to ear. Shunted into oblivion by Sonia Gandhi,
Chacha was in and out of hospitals and nobody seemed to notice. Last week,
Sonia showed she still cared. At her anti-BJP rally, attended by the
Congress top brass, Sonia began her speech by addressing "Adarniya
Kesriji (respected Kesriji)". Chacha was thrilled and his supporters
were ecstatic. Chacha's term in the Rajya Sabha is to end next month and
given the Congress' strength in the Bihar Assembly, re-election is
difficult, unless of course Laloo Prasad Yadav comes to his aid. But then
isn't Kesri Laloo's chacha too?
Cackle, Cackle
Lucknow: Saraswati Pratap Singh and Markandey
Chand are ministers in the Ram Prakash Gupta Government and neighbours on
Mall Avenue in Lucknow. But their relations are far from neighbourly.
Reason: Singh's backyard poultry farm. Every morning, Chand's slumber is
disturbed by the cackle of hens, and umpteen requests to Singh to
transport the birds elsewhere have gone in vain. Last heard, Chand was
looking for a transfer of residence.
Intelligence Failure
Delhi: For a man with a sharp memory,
L.K.Advani recently forgot, of all things, his 35th wedding anniversary.
Until daughter Pratibha called to say she had fixed up dinner at a club.
But as he prepared to leave, the home minister was surprised to find that
a banquet had been readied in his backyard. Soon relatives and friends
began to drop by. Obviously Pratibha had planned a surprise. "It was
the biggest Intelligence failure after Kargil," was all Advani could
say.
House Full
Patna: They failed to keep Nitish Kumar out
of the chief minister's office. But the Laloo Prasad Yadav-Rabri Devi duo
has decided to keep him out of the chief minister's house at least. "Rabri
Devi is my bhabhi and has a right to stay there," Nitish declared
chivalrously, but added, "I only wish she told me how long she
intends staying there." Having lived under that roof for over a
decade, Rabri is in no mood to tell.
CONFESSIONAL
Four times in the past, Om Prakash Chautala came
in through the backdoor to assume office as Haryana chief minister. This
time it is legitimate.
You expected the INLD-BJP alliance to do better.
A. Yes. But there were two reasons why we didn't. First the wrangling
over seat-sharing by the BJP sent wrong signals to the voters. Secondly,
our overconfidence.
The INLD has got a majority on its
own. Do you need the BJP?
A. The mandate is for the alliance which is based on mutual trust and
principles.
The BJP blames you for its terrible performance.
A. They went to the polls as a divided party. They had more rebels,
they criticised me at their public meetings. That did not do the alliance
any good.
Does the comfortable majority mean that the era of "aya Ram gaya
Ram" politics is over?
A. That chapter is closed for good in Haryana. Voters have taught all
defectors a lesson.
How is Chautala of 2000 different from the Chautala of the '90s?
A. As different as one should be after a century. We learn from the
past. I've been given a chance to undo my mistakes.
-Ramesh Vinayak
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