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| Heavy burden |
All work and no play may not make the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Arun Jaitley a dull boy but it certainly leaves him with very little time to enjoy his holidays. The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha prefers to pack his bags for a much-deserved break every summer but as luck would have it, the BJP plunges into a crisis whenever Jaitley goes missing. A few years ago, when he skipped the executive meet in Patna because he was abroad, his party ran into problems with the Janata Dal (United)’s Nitish Kumar. Poor Jaitley had to take time out of his cruise, dial Patna and make peace with Kumar. This time too, he managed to fly to London only after making sure that the sulking and rusty louh purush, LK Advani, withdrew his resignation. In fact, Jaitley had been hard at work, trying to smoothen the patriarch’s ruffled feathers even a day before his trip. But as soon as he left, new clouds gathered on the horizon with the Bihar chief minister threatening to call off the alliance with the BJP in Bihar. Given how things are in the parivar, it is unlikely that Jaitley will have much time to savour London’s pleasures.
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It may appear that the Advani-Modi battle has left the former with egg on his face. But the Advani camp insists that the senior leader has not returned empty-handed after the drama in Goa where the new iron man — the chief minister of Gujarat — replaced the original louh purush as the party’s main contender for the prime minister’s chair. Apparently, even though he was outmanoeuvred by Modi, Advani has managed to check the rise of Suresh Soni, a key functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, who has been instrumental in projecting Modi as the first among equals. In the recent past, Soni has proved to be a thorn by Advani’s side on quite a few occasions. When Nitin Gadkari was removed as party president, Advani wanted Venkaiah Naidu to step into Gadkari’s shoes but Soni managed to scuttle Advani’s plans. Then again, Advani threw his weight behind Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the CM of Madhya Pradesh, so that the latter could earn himself a berth in the party’s high profile parliamentary board. Much to Advani’s horror, Soni stepped in again and ensured that Chauhan, who in the BJP is seen as someone who can pose a challenge to Modi, does not get a seat at the high table. A miffed Advani is now supposed to call on Mohan Bhagwat to discuss his problems with Soni.
However, Advani does not find himself alone in his battles with Soni and Modi. He has behind him the ‘MP brigade’. Apparently, BJP leaders from Madhya Pradesh are delighted with the turn of events and have decided to side with Advani. Sushma Swaraj, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and Vidisha MP, supports Advani. Ananth Kumar, the party gen-sec from the same state who is often complimented as the modern-day ‘Hanuman’ to Advani’s ‘Ram’, remains loyal to him. Uma Bharti, too, is known to be close to Advani, while Shivraj Singh Chauhan seldom misses an opportunity to declare that Advani is his mentor. There are now whispers that Advani may be offered a Lok Sabha seat from Bhopal. That might mitigate Advani’s worries. After all, his spat with Modi has not only threatened his prime ministerial ambitions but also made his seat in Gandhinagar unsafe.
He may be the chairman of the AICC media department but Janardhan Dwivedi — popularly known as Sonia Gandhi’s Hindi teacher — remains obsessed with his twin loves: Ram Manohar Lohia and the Hindi language. His face lights up when anyone broaches either of his pet subjects. In fact, his sermons in Hindi often last for hours. Unsurprisingly, he has been invited to address the Hindi Samiti in the United Kingdom. He is scheduled to visit a university in Warsaw next, lecturing students on Indian tradition and modern vision. Unfortunately, Dwivedi’s preoccupations, his critics argue, are also the cause of the party’s media cell being in a shambles.
Esha Gupta has bagged an opportunity to play the lead opposite Saif Ali Khan. Esha who? She is one of those actresses who has not quite made it to the A-list yet but her friendship with ‘Begum Bebo’ — Khan’s wife, Kareena Kapoor — has paid handsome returns. Esha and Kareena spent some quality time together while shooting for Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh, and thanks to Kareena, she has now been signed by Sajid Khan in a plum project.
Kareena may be happy with the turn of fortune in her friend’s life. But one wonders what Saif — who has had an indifferent run in the box office — has to say about his wife’s choice.
FOOTNOTE
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Indian politicians are renowned for their eccentricities. For proof, one only has to look in the direction of J Jayalalithaa. The Tamil Nadu CM has got a special chair made for herself. The chair was flown from her home state to the capital when she had flown north to attend a meeting at the Planning Commission. An hour before the meeting, an advance team comprising over 10 AIADMK workers trooped into the Yojana Bhavan with the chair. They were posted to look after the piece of furniture till their boss arrived on the scene.
The word is that Amma is not comfortable sitting on any other ordinary chair. That is perfectly understandable, given our politicians’ love for the kursi.
