Speakers without voice

New Delhi (PTI): The people have spoken and the Speakers have been stunned into silence.

Lok Sabha Speaker Murli Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena led the beaten brigade by losing from the Sena stronghold of Mumbai Northcentral. He was gagged by Eknath Gaikwad of the Congress.

Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed was faithful to his boss in defeat, too. The Congressman, who won Lakshadweep for a record 10 terms, was left stranded on the tiny island, losing by a mere 71 votes to his Janata Dal (United) rival.

other Congressman and former Speaker Shivraj Patil was turfed out of his eight-term fief of Latur by political greenhorn Rupa Patil Nilangekar, the daughter-in-law of former Maharashtra chief minister Shivajirao Patil Nilangekar.

Patil’s party colleague and twice Speaker, Balram Jakhar has been defeated from Churu in Rajasthan for the second time.

The only former Speaker who bucked the trend was P.A. Sangma, who retained his traditional seat of Tura in Meghalaya. But he may yet join the distinguished list as some time back he had declared he would resign his seat if Sonia Gandhi becomes Prime Minister.

Uttar Pradesh Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi of the BJP and his fellow partyman and Maharashtra Legislative Council chairman .S. Pharande have also followed the national trend.

Hat-trick club

Srinagar (PTI): Omar Abdullah has become the fourth politician from Jammu and Kashmir to join the elite club of hat-trick makers in the Lok Sabha as he retained the Srinagar-Budgam seat.

The National Conference president, who made his debut in 1998, has held sway over the seat since then.

The elite club of the state is headed by Congress stalwart and former governor Mohammad Shafi Qureshi who won from Anantnag in 1967, 1971 and 1977. His party colleague and erstwhile ruler of the state Karan Singh and Saifuddin Soz, a Rajya Sabha member of the Congress, are the others to achieve the feat.

Thin line

Bangalore (PTI): One vote decided the fortune of the candidates in an Assembly constituency in Karnataka. Dhruvanarayana of the Congress was declared elected after he secured 40,752 votes, one more than A.R. Krishnamurthy of the Janata Dal (S) at Santhemaranahally in Chamarajnagar district.

Fatal defeat

Hyderabad (PTI): Defeated Desam candidate K.M. Rehmatullah allegedly committed suicide in his house in Anantapur district on Friday, police said. The 34-year-old, who contested from the Anantapur Assembly seat, shot himself in his bedroom with his licensed revolver.