Partymen fight for every inch of space

The poster war between the RJD and the BJP on Tuesday was so intense that there was virtually a fight for every inch of vacant space. Spotting a BJP poster over the banner of Rabri Devi and Lalu Prasad seeking support for the Raj Bhavan March, a group of RJD workers removed the BJP banner from a roundabout on Fraser Road. Of course we had better days when the entire city used to be painted green,” a senior party worker said. During the Lalu and Rabri era, the RJD workers had a free run in taking over hoardings and virtually every space available in the city. “The huge posters in the Income Tax roundabout prove that the situation has reversed now because all the hoardings have been taken over by the BJP,” a worker of the RJD said, stressing that the party had to fight for every inch of empty space to put up its posters and banners.

 

A to Z of scams

JP MLC Harendra Pratap proved to be the entertainer while the party leaders were awaiting the arrival of L.K. Advani at Gandhi Maidan on Tuesday. Pratap said he had created a new chronology of A to Z for scams in the country. “A for Adarsh Housing, B for Bofors, C for Commonwealth, D for DDA (Delhi Development Authority), E for Enron, F for fodder, G for 2G,” he started. Pratap went on till the letter O and insisted that he could continue till Z. “If anyone wants to publish a book on alphabet-learning, these scams can be used. To make it more practical, pictures of personalities like Suresh Kalmadi and A. Raja can be put in the book,” he said. With new scams surfacing on a regular basis, Pratap should not have any difficulty in compiling his book “A to Z of scams”, a BJP leader said.

Doing fine in Maharashtra

The Congress MP, Sanjay Nirupam, pledged that he would intensely tour remote corners of the state within a year to strengthen the party in the state but politely turned down the suggestion to contest polls form Bihar, his home state. “I am fine in Mumbai,” Nirupam said. Reviving the Congress to a level where Nirupam can come back and contest polls successfully does not appear to be possible in the near future, a senior Congress leader said. He pointed out that Bihar had been a happy political ground for Sharad Yadav and George Fernandez, but not for Congress leaders of other states. Not a single Congress leader would like to come down to Bihar from outside to contest elections. “In fact, many Bihar Congress leaders would prefer to contest polls from Maharashtra,” he added.

 

Supporters march, Lalu in jeep

The route of the RJD’s Raj Bhavan March was from Gandhi Maidan to R-Block, a little over 2km. But the RJD chief Lalu Prasad came out of his air-conditioned car and hopped on to an open jeep. “Laluji must be getting old. The last time he hit the road, he walked a few kilometres,” an onlooker said. The RJD leaders said it would have been difficult for Lalu, having Z-Plus security cover, to walk with the crowd with security guards. But the NDA leaders were amused. They pointed out that both Lalu and his ally Ram Vilas Paswan had been in power for so long that they have forgotten to fight street battles.