BARAMATI: Would the Congress and Shiv Sena-BJP ever join hands? Unlikely unless they are battling a common enemy, as in Baramati. The fiefdom of Sharad Pawar, it was natural for him to nominate nephew, Ajitdada Pawar, for the Assembly seat there after packing his own bags for New Delhi. This time Ajitdada's nomination on the NCP ticket for the Assembly elections was certain.But till the last date of filing nominations, no one was sure who his opponent would be. It now transpires the Congress and Sena-BJP will jointly support an Independent candidate, Chandrarao Taware. The embarrassed Congress says it didn't nominate anyone as the seat was allotted to ally RPI. And the Sena-BJP? The less said about their ``desire'' to battle the Pawar family the better. No wonder then that the NCP is gloating that ``Ajitdada will win by a margin of over a lakh votes''.
MUMBAI: GMT would be Greenwich Median Time to most of us. But it has come to acquire an altogether new meaning in the BJP's Maharashtraheadquarters in Mumbai. Nothing to do with nationalism or Hindutva, but Gopinath Munde. The Deputy Chief Minister and the party's star campaigner is notorious for not being on time for any of his appointments. The general gap between expected and actual arrival is one-two hours. So campaign managers charting his schedules have re-interpreted GMT as Gopinath Munde Time. This has been conveyed to local party offices that are supposed to coordinate his schedules as well.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.