Clipped, but clout stays

Mayawati's former cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh may be out of power, but he still retains some clout. In Muzaffarnagar, Singh's brother Mudit Verma is likely to field his wife Vandana Verma for the chairmanship of the district cooperative bank. Vandana, who held the post during the BSP regime, has been again elected the bank's director and is a front-runner for the chairmanship. Sources said that district Samajwadi Party president Pramod Tyagi, who is also eyeing the post, has got little support even from his party leaders.

Kalyan 'jinx' for BJP

In the Bharatiya Janata Party, where superstitions hold sway, many are wondering whether Kalyan Singh's return will really be lucky for the party. They say that Singh did not turn out lucky for Nitin Gadkari who was the chief guest at his home-coming rally. That day, a second term as the party's national president looked certain for Gadkari and Singh congratulated him, saying, "The formal announcement of Gadkariji's second term will be made after a couple of days but I am congratulating him in advance." The very next day, Gadkari had to withdraw, making way for Rajnath Singh.

Pink popularity

At a Congress meeting on Sunday, Gulabi Gang leader and defeated party candidate from Manikpur Sampat Pal was the centre of much attraction. Partymen surrounded her as she animatedly spoke on subjects as diverse as Anna Hazare, her days inside the Big Boss house and Jantar Mantar protests against the Delhi gangrape. Some quickly dialled their relatives and requested her to talk to them, and she happily obliged. Pal also showed a Norwegian magazine which had her on the cover, while an aide told the gathering about the international documentaries being made on her. With pride, she narrated an anecdote about her interaction with the media after she was evicted from the Big Boss house: "They asked me how I felt after being with Salman Khan, I said, why don't you ask Salman how he felt being with me?"

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