Villain of the Piece
For the Samajwadi Party rank and file out on the power zone of Lucknow, protesting, the biggest ‘villain’ of the piece is Amar Singh. The Thakur is being blamed for creating a rift in the Yadav clan, filling up ‘Netaji’ Mulayam Singh’s ears, and profiteering too. Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, now named second-in-command, bitterly related how the fortunes of the party was changed within a hour, by a ‘mischievous outsider’. Old scores are being settled on all sides though. If disgruntled uncle Shivpal, Mulayam’s other son, Pratik, the sacked-and-reinstated minister Gayatri Prajapati, are seen to be on one side, with Singh as the pitchfork, Prof Ram Gopal, Naresh Agarwal and Akhilesh with wife Dimple is on the other. The internal power struggle has ensured, wily Mulayam is back in command, just the way Singh had wanted it.
Wooing with Samosa
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother, Shivpal, has suddenly grown in stature, pitted against the CM and nephew Akhilesh Yadav. Shivpal, no doubt, has been helped by a grateful media. Through out the family drama, Shivpal made sure the TV crews keeping vigil outside his door was provided with endless rounds of tea, hot deshi ghee samosa and mineral water.
RSTV: Leftward tilt
The Modi government is rather discomforted by the tone and tenor of Rajya Sabha TV. Particularly, the discussions anchored by Left leaning panelists, ‘intellectuals’ and experts. But the channel insists, it does get right-wing opinion makers on every show. There’s a catch though, unlike the screaming channel, RSTV allows all sides to air their views without interruption. If any change happens, it will happen once Vice President Hamid Ansari’s term in 2017, and the RS gets a new chairman.
Going going gone
The Congress fiasco in Arunachal Pradesh was not unexpected. It was, in fact, in the making for a while now. Chief Minister Prema Khandu has been acting rather odd. Right after taking oath as CM, he made it known that he won’t be paying any heed to the party high command. Plus, Congress ‘Bibhishan’ in the north-east dropped enough hints that the party has made only a ‘temporary’ come back.