Former Andhra CEO still busy

He may be out of power, but N. Chandrababu Naidu has little time.

After helping launch a shaky third front, the Telugu Desam boss is scooping up cash for his party at celebrations organised by Telugu associations in the US.

Among his more popular fundraising tools is the “dollar dinner” idea, where the former chief minister wheedles out greenbacks from guests over a sumptuous spread.

In between, he steers the NTR Trust’s plan to set up model schools, an idea Naidu took from political mentor Ramoji Rao. The latter believed such institutions are one of the better ways to help politicians bond with society.

“I visualise political parties to function as instruments of economic and social growth to gain credibility,” Naidu is quoted as having told party workers recently. The man who once called himself the CEO of Andhra Pradesh has taken a leaf out of corporate manuals and set up a research and development cell in the TDP.

Comedy of errors in protest

It was supposed to be a serious street protest but quickly turned into a slapstick spectacle that ended in arrests.

Last month, angry paper- waving ADMK cadres descended on a busy square to rail against a poem in DMK organ Murasoli that they claimed denigrated Jayalalithaa.

As the shrill cries of protest rent the air, suddenly Karunandhi lookalikes, in signature long black glasses, emerged from nowhere. It would have been hilarious, but some protesters had apparently left their funny bones behind.

Some of them who were taking the business a little too seriously almost pounced on them and hurled the choicest abuses.

Things could have taken a turn for the worse, but a senior ADMK leader intervened just in time. “Leave them, let them go. They must have done it out of ignorance,” he told the seething mob baying for their blood. Later, playing to script, the protesters courted arrest.

Party goes on for Boss

Pre-dawn queues and beer poured on life-size Rajni cutouts greeted Sivaji The Boss on its release in June. Now, of course, the party has shifted to other cities.

Since then, watching the movie has been more than entertainment. Ask Chandrababu Naidu, who issued a diktat to his party workers asking them to watch the film.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi, who was treated to a special screening, attended it with his two wives in tow. Rival Jayalalithaa, extended a similar privilege, couldn’t stop raving about the film, Rajni’s 100th. After all, fans had broken coconuts to ward off the evil eye and even sacrificed a goat to win divine blessings.

Last week, the frenzy reached Mumbai, where Rajni invited Amitabh Bachchan, his co-star in Aandha Kanoon, to an exclusive show. Before this, the two had formed a mutual admiration society, lavishing eulogies on each other. Rajni feels Big B is the supreme emperor. The Bollywood titan extols the Tamil star as the baadshah.

Clean-up call

Delhi’s “lifeline” is gasping for breath and it was time to come to its rescue.

The shape-up message was sent by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam last week.

“River Yamuna is the lifeline of Delhi and is threatened not just by pollution but also by encroachment on its riverbed,” the President told members of the Delhi minorities commission who called on him.

He gave the example of a man in Punjab who has cleaned up more than 160km of a river, and suggested that religious organisations could be drawn into the effort.

Delhi: Don’t miss the king of fruits, on display in all varieties, this Sunday. From 9am to 6pm, Delhi’s National Museum will host a festival where mangoes from across the country — and some from abroad — will be available. The festival is being organised by the Delhi Tourism Board.