CHINESE WHISPERS
A last-ditch effort?
Many were surprised when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati (pictured) was seen last week celebrating rakshabandhan with Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Prakash Chautala’s son Abhay Chautala. Efforts by the largely Jat centric INLD to be seen close to Mayawati are being interpreted as a last-ditch effort by the party to come back in the reckoning in Uttar Pradesh after a decade-and-ahalf of being in the wilderness. The Balmikis account for about 19 per cent of the Scheduled Caste votes in the state. The last time INLD joined hands with the BSP, the results were worth the effort. The INLD, known as Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) in 1998, won four of the seven Lok Sabha seats it contested in Haryana, while the BSP won Ambala (reserved) seat of the three it contested.
No deal
A discussion, a dinner and then a movie date. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reportedly tried every trick in the book to persuade ex-colleague and erstwhile journalist Ashutosh to change his mind about leaving the Aam Aadmi Party. It was in end-June that Ashutosh communicated to his boss his decision to move on. When discussions fell through, Kejriwal reportedly took Ashutosh out for dinner, where the party’s top leadership, including Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Gopal Rai, were present. The CM, his deputy and Ashutosh even watched a recently released movie, Mulk, with their families, but to no avail.
All’s well
A routine traffic stop in Bhopal turned out to be a social media spectacle just before rakshabandhan. A traffic rule violator was stopped outside the Vidhan Sabha in Madhya Pradesh's capital city. The offender claimed he was the brother-in-law of state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and threatened to call him. The entire incident was filmed by passers by and traffic cops and at some point it was uploaded on social media. While the nature of the traffic offense could not be ascertained, the video showed traffic slowing down on the busy road as cops and people gathered around the key actors. Later, when Chouhan was told about the episode, he said: “I have crores of sisters in MP and I am a brother-in-law to many. Let law take its course”.