L.K. Advani celebrated his 80th birthday twice — once according to the English calendar, and the second time according to the Hindu samvat. Anup Jalota sang bhajans at the BJP leader’s Prithviraj Road residence on the latter occasion. Advani saw contemporary relevance in one of the couplets. “Aisi bewafai kar ki tumhare baad koi aur bewafa na rahe (Betray me in a way that makes all other betrayals insignificant).”

“We are singing this for Deve Gowda,” Advani remarked to a journalist. The BJP leader, incidentally, is believed to have warned his party men earlier when they had rosy dreams of leading the state government in Karnataka, to be wary of Gowda.

Modi’s sole ally

The Congress has formed an umbrella alliance for an anti-Modi front extending from the NCP to BJP rebels. Still Modi has one powerful ally on his side. Mayawati plans to put up BSP candidates in all 182-assembly constituencies in Gujarat. After all, the BSP candidates will cut into the Congress’s vote-share of Scheduled Castes and Muslims. In the 2002 elections Mayawati fielded a few candidates in the state, but she also took part in a joint rally in Ahmedabad along with Modi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Unsurprisingly, there is no BJP Muslim candidate in the fray. Even the Congress plans to field only six Muslim candidates, on the presumption that they cannot win seats in a communally divided society.

Siding with God

The 3-D representation of Marina beach in the Tamil Nadu pavilion at the trade fair in Delhi was a big draw. There were over 500 entries daily in the state’s visitor’s book. Nearly half the remarks were from north Indians protesting against Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s negation of Ram. Karunanidhi may stick faithfully to the atheistic beliefs of DMK founder Periyar, but many in the party are God-fearing and do not try to hide their faith. Radhey Selvey, who was made MoS of home a few months back, flaunts a vibhuti mark on her forehead to indicate she is a Shaivite. Recently the Tamil Nadu media reported that one of Karunanidhi’s state ministers walked on fire to rid himself of a stomach ailment. Karunanidhi is yet to eject him from the government.

... contd.