Sonelal Patel bears an uncanny resemblance with Brijesh Patel, the retired cricketer. But Sonelal, as his sword-cut moustache would suggest, would not retire like Brijesh’s drooping handle-bars. What Sonelal does isn’t cricket, it’s politics, where you don’t retire, and never if you are in Uttar Pradesh. His party is called Apna Dal and sure sounds more apna (our own) than other parties like ABCD (Akhil Bharatiya Congress Dal). His party treats everyone as apna, and follows then that he has welcomed Abu Salem and Babloo Srivastava or even Dawood to contest the upcoming State Assembly elections.

“But wait, we will give them a political platform only if they abandon their criminal lives. Apna Dal is against crime, not criminals,” the ascetic calm in Sonelal’s voice may be inversely proportional to the arrogant cut of his moustache. But he means business, business as any national party would. After all, Sonelal is national president of his party.

He has some bad news at hand though. Abu Salem is now considering contesting from his home district Azamgarh’s Mubarakpur on a BSP ticket. No not quite Mayawati’s BSP, but the Bharatiya Samajwadi Party. But even this option doesn’t quite seem to be working out because the don-turned-writer Babloo Srivastav, whose book Adhura Khwab was released by Sonelal just this Tuesday, has ‘quit’ Apna Dal to reportedly launch his own Dal to fulfil his adhura khwab (unfinished dream). Babloo had once contested an election on an AD ticket, but he somehow didn’t register on the voters’ mind. And Babloo’s official reason for quitting? He doesn’t like Sonelal warming up to Abu and Dawood.

... contd.