Party hopping

The Samajwadi Party, Jan Morcha and Congress are waiting for Ajit Singh’s next move, but the RLD leader is in no hurry to decide since he believes that the UP Assembly polls will not be held before May, as the Election Commission has yet to finalise the electoral rolls. Ajit does not want to change horses until he is sure that Central rule is first imposed.

The Congress is also exploring the possibility of joining the alliance floated by V P Singh, which includes the JD(U), and Apana Dal, since it is aware that it stands very little chance on its own. Raj Babbar thinks that Ajit could be the potential chief ministerial candidate of the new combine, but the RLD leader has not bitten the bait so far.

Ajit’s close lieutenant Anuradha Chaudhary and his son Jayant Choudhary are pulling in opposite directions over the alliance with Mulayam.

Wedding dance

Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer was the perfect host at his daughter Yamani’s wedding celebrations in Delhi. He insisted on dragging his successor as oil minister Murli Deora to the dance floor to demonstrate that there were no ill feelings on his side. Deora was taken aback . Unlike the nimble-footed Aiyer, who is a natural on the dance floor, he is more inhibited. It was not just the Who’s Who of India who showed up for the wedding: many foreign dignitaries took time off from their busy schedules. Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, an old college mate from Cambridge University, was there, as was former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who hardly left the dance floor, and her successor President Mahindra Rajapakse . Even the crown prince of Bhutan flew down for the festivities.

... contd.