From The India Gate: Kannada in Delhi Durbar, Ooty tour plan leak and more
There is a lot that happens behind the scenes in the corridors of power. Opinions, conspiracies, power games and internal wrangling galore in the political space. Asianet News Network’s massive ground presence taps into the pulse of politics and bureaucracy across the country.
FollowPECKING NETAJI
Honchos of the Samajwadi Party break into a cold sweat whenever his Twitter chirps. But after a hiatus of relief -- during the days when this leader went to jail for spewing political venom on brahmins and pandits -- the SP leadership is a worried bunch again. For, he is back with a bang, that too within a day of his release.
Though Samajwadi Party removed him from its media cell with a view to preventing the use of the official handle as a tool, Netaji resorted to his personal handles to continue casting aspersions on upper castes. Maybe it is time to clip his wings, feel critics.
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SAFFRON HALO
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav's gimmick to please the political gallery met with an unexpected googly from 'Behenji'.
Akhilesh recently launched a poster with the caption 'I am Shudra'. The move stems from an ongoing row over quotes from Ramcharitmanas. But Akhilesh's stay in the limelight as the "poster boy" was short-lived.
'Behenji' countered this by quoting Baba Saheb and the Constitution. She reminded Akhilesh that the days of 'chaturvarna' were over, and the Constitution had given a contemporary classification to all.
A stumped Akhilesh immediately resorted to the time-tested defence strategy of terming her a BJP lover, something even the BJP would find hard to digest.
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LION’S SHARE
His father's roar can still rock not just Bharatpur but even the Chief Minister's office. But the son of this Rajasthan minister does not consider him the king of the political jungle.
The junior and his wife have always expressed their allegiance to the Young Turk, who is hoping to get into the pilot's seat in the coming election. The fact that his father is a minister in the Gehlot Cabinet didn't stop him from joining hands with the Gujjar leader.
The last straw was his recent tweet where the son said, "there is only one lion in the jungle, and everyone knows who it is", in a direct reference to the leader who is a persona non grata for his father and the CM.
'Diya tale andhera' (there is darkness under the lamp) is the whisper when Congress workers refer to the unperturbed stand of the son against his father’s might.
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DERAILED TOUR
Rajasthan's powerful woman Mayor's plan to placate her warring councillors with a tour to Bengaluru and Ooty was scuttled at the last minute.
This Congress Mayor, whose proximity with two ministers is well-known, drew flak from her own party councillors for flaunting arrogance and attitude.
The Corporation, with over 100 wards, is the biggest civic body in Rajasthan. With many Congress councillors refusing to take up cudgels, madam sensed danger.
She made plans to facilitate a tour of Bangaluru and Ooty for them. But the plan was dropped after none other than Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot threw a spanner at the eleventh hour.
It is said that one of the Congress councillors was behind the 'leak' of the proposed 'tour de Ooty' plan to the Opposition, eventually ending up in louder chaos that attracted CM’s wrath.
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LINGUA FRANCA
It is a practice among north Indian netas to greet regional audiences in their native lingo for an instant connect. This trick is showcased mostly during election campaigns, where mascots are imported for a bigger impact.
But a reverse osmosis of sorts was seen in Delhi recently when Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw greeted the media with 'Namaskara'. He went a step further and asked: "Chennagiddeera" (Hope all is fine). Mediapersons assembled there were naturally surprised at the Kannada greeting that too at a press meet organized to brief on Railways’ component in the Union Budget.
And they cannot be blamed for interpreting this gesture as an attempt to filter any residual impact of recent attempts to impose Hindi in southern states. Karnataka, like Tamil Nadu, had witnessed stiff opposition to national leaders' attempts to preach and promote the benefits of Hindi as the national language.
Thankfully, national leaders have now started showing their love for Kannada in Delhi Durbar. Will we soon hear a Tamil Vanakkam is the buzz in Delhi media?
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RESORT REVOLUTION
Resort tourism has become a euphemism for attempts by political parties to prevent horse-trading. But Kerala CPM is facing a different concern because of tourist resorts.
More dirt hit the ceiling recently following an expose that CPM's young leader Chintha Jerome and her family were staying in a tourist resort for years. Chintha is one of the youngest state committee members and chairperson of the State Youth Commission.
She was in the news recently for embarrassing mistakes in her PhD thesis and for demanding huge salary arrears at a time when Kerala is reeling under financial crisis. Though it was alleged that Chintha was staying at a friend’s resort in gratis, she denied it all and said a monthly rent of Rs 20,000 was paid for the cottage. Those apprised of the tariff of cottages in tourist locales of God’s Own Country may flock to this address given the dirt-cheap rate card.
Meanwhile, another resort row that left an egg on CPM's face is refusing to die down. Despite the best attempts by party leadership, the war of words between Kannur strongmen E P Jayarajan and P Jayarajan is still on. In the state committee meeting the other day, P Jayarajan reiterated his allegation that E P had huge investments and vested interests in a luxury ayurveda resort in Kannur. EP's son and wife are directors on the board. Though it was rumoured that CPM had constituted a probe panel to look into the allegation, party general secretary M V Govindan denied it and blamed it all as media fiction.
