By Nora Chopra
Congress worker Kanojea helpe Mohd Yusif big time
Mohd Yusif, a barber was allotted space by NDMC behind Press Club of India to earn his bread and butter from 1990. He has been paying rent regularly and has never been defaulter. Many members and staff of Press Club of India are his regular customers. Many politicians who stay nearby off and on visit his place for hair cutting and shaving. Recently NDMC has asked him to vacate this place in name of Sachh Bharat Abhiyan. Suresh Kanojea, a Dalit by birth, an alumni of Kirorimal College, an active member of Congress Party and National President of Akhil Bharatiya Dalit and Muslim Mahasangh took the initiative and brought to the notice of Ms. Chanchal Yadav, Secretary of NDMC appealing to do justice to Mohd Yusif as other vendors near Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan who do not pay any rent and are at the mercy of NDMC officials. Kanojea’s letter has brought positive response and Yusif has been reallocated his old place to work upon. A big help indeed.
Mulayam’s second wife called Kaikeyi in UP
Sadhna Gupta, the second wife of Mulayam Singh Yadav, is fast becoming famous as Kaikeyi in Uttar Pradesh. She was the second wife of King Dasarath and the step mother of Ram. She got Ram banished for 14 years of Sanyas to get her son Bharat the throne of Ayodhya and be the successor to King Dasarath .When Mulayam was told that Sadhna was being called Kaikayi by the people of his state and particularly by supporters of Akhilesh,. Mulayam is said to have said that Kaikayi was after all the wife of Dasarath and the step mother of Ram. It was Ram’s duty to obey her and Ram did that by accepting the 14 years of exile.
Priyanka Gandhi to be involved in poll campaign
The Congress finally used its last trump card Priyanka Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh on Monday this week for the first time. Priyanka officially attended and chaired the review meeting of the Uttar Pradesh PCC. Along with Ghulam Nabi Azad, the general secretary in charge of UP. Equally important was that her brother Rahul Gandhi was in Delhi but not present at this review meeting. Rahul Gandhi’s yatras have made no impact at the ground level and that the Congress is unlikely to get even 50 seats out of the total of 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh assembly. The Congress leadership had no option but to field Priyanka in the election campaign now. The Gandhi girl had been attending Congress meetings unofficially and has given her suggestions but on Monday the meeting was different. She officially attended the meeting. In the meeting she asked every PCC member to air their views freely. Every member was given a chance to speak and the gist of their speeches made it clear that the condition of the Congress organization is not good. Priyanka listened to them attentively and asked them for suggestions. The general opinion was that unless there is some alliance, the party is unlikely to get more than 50 seats. Meeting was attended by 8 vice presidents and eight secretaries of the PCC. plus big leaders like AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, PCC chief Raj Babbar CM candidate Sheila Dixit, campaign committee chairman Sanjay Singh and even Pramod Tiwari The meeting is indicative of the fact that the Congress president Sonia Gandhi has to get full involvement of Priyanka in the UP poll campaign..
Mulayam seeking to unite all Lohiaites under one umbrella
Despite Samajwdi Party being in total shambles in the aftermath of the Mahabharata in the Yadav parivar, efforts are on to form a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh poll. Mulayam dialled the RJD leader, the jat supremo Ajit Singh and invited him to join hands with the SP. Putting all the blame on Ram Gopal Yadav for rejecting his overtures earlier, Mulayam is supposed to have reminded the jat leader of his close association wiith his father Charan Singh. On Wednesday evening Shiv Pal Yadav, now the state president of the Samajwadi Party called on the JD(U) leader K C Tyagi and Sharad Yadav to invite them for the 25th anniversary of the foundation day of the SP. The function will be held in Lucknow on November 5. Besides JD(U), Shivpal has extended invite to all the parties with roots in the socialist party founded by Ram Manohar Lohia ,the leading socialist leader of the country. Besides JD(U), Shiv Pal also met the RJD leader Ajit Singh to invite him for the function. Besides JD (U) and RLD the invites will be given to Nitish Kumar and RJD. All these parties are offshoots of SSP. By doing this Mulayam wants to bring all ex Lohiaites on the same platform. This would be a show of strength. By doing this, Mulayam wants to prove to both his support base Muslims and the Yadavs that he continues to be strong. This is also being seen to be giving signals to the Congress not to take him lightly. .
Amar Singh aims to be SP leader in Rajya Sabha
Ram Gopal Yadav’s loss can be Amar Singh’s gain. He is lobbying to become the leader of the Samajwadi Party. Amar Singh who has now become famous as a great conspirator knows well how to get even with his enemies. He is a very happy man. He has succeeded in banishing Mulayam Singh Yadav’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav from the Samajwadi Party. Ram Gopal was opposed to giving entry to the wily Thakur in the party. Ram Gopal was also opposed to giving him Rajya Sabha seat. But after he failed in stopping Mulayam from giving Singh the Rajya Sabha seat, he had the consolation of not giving him the chance to speak in the house as he was the leader of the party in Rajya Sabha. But now with Ram Gopal thrown out of the party for six years, Amar is likely to succeed him in the Upper House as the leader of the party but other SP MPs are heard ridiculing the possibility. (IPA)