Opinion Doon squad

RLD President Ajit Singh’s house has been inundated with flowers after the Lok Sabha elections. A scribe noticed Rahul Gandhi’s name on one bouquet and assumed that the Amethi victor had also sent Ajit greetings because he wanted his party to join the UPA. Another journalist put him wise,pointing out that Gandhi’s address—12 Tughlaq Lane— and Ajit’s address—12 Tughlaq Road—are remarkably similar.

Influential candidate

At their Thiruvanthapuram election rallies,the Communists used to joke that the ‘outsider’ Shashi Tharoor certainly had some mysterious and powerful backer. After all,neither the local unit nor the state Congress committee was consulted on his nomination. Tharoor was selected even though he had lampooned the Congress and the Gandhis in one of his books. Now a furious CPI,which lost what they assumed was a sure shot seat by some 100,000 votes,alleges that CPI (M) cadres did not work for their candidate,P Ramachandran Nair. CPI cadres say that Tharoor has influence not only in the Congress but also in the CPI(M). He is,after all,a friend of both Prakash and Brinda Karat.

Old neighbours patch up

Is a long-standing feud between two of the country’s most powerful families finally ending? Priyanka Gandhi first extended the olive branch by explaining in an interview that she owed her excellent command of the Hindi language to Amitabh’s mother Teji Bachchan,who taught her to read poetry and Prem Chand’s Godan. Big B responded with equal warmth. He acknowledged that the Bachchans and the Gandhis were once neighbours and Priyanka spent a lot of time with his mother and Teji left a deep impression on her. The thaw in relationship is despite the coolness between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party,which has not been asked to join the government.

Stars and swipes

Though she is not exactly a major box office draw,actress Mahima Chaudhary,who offered her services to the Congress for the campaign,was much in demand. Mahima is a Jat and was a hit among voters from her own community in UP,Rajasthan and Haryana. Similarly,Zeenat Aman was popular in Muslim pockets. Cutting cross party lines,Salman Khan campaigned for seven candidates including,Milind Deora,Praful Patel,Vinod Khanna and Kamal Nath. Five of the candidates won. All Bollywood actors scrupulously kept away from Patna,where two of their fraternity,Shatrughan Sinha and Shekhar Suman,were slugging it out. Only Hema Malini,a veteran BJP campaigner,broke the unofficial cordon and campaigned for her former co-star Sinha. Reports suggest that some of the smaller stars performed for money and not for any love for a political cause.

Ram Ram

N Ram,editor of The Hindu,who is close to the CPI(M) and Prakash Karat,stuck his neck out on his prediction for Tamil Nadu.

On a television talk show,he insisted that the AIADMK alliance,which included the Left,would win at least 39 of the 40 seats in the state. That made Dayanidhi Maran,Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s nephew,see red and there was a public scrap of these two leading lights from Chennai. Interestingly,on the day of the results,the newspaper buried the news of the DMK victory on one of its inside pages.