Mr Linguist
Even though the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Lalu Prasad, had been lying low this election season owing to his ailing health, he could not stay off the radar for long. Donning the hat of a linguist recently, the former Bihar chief minister indulged in a study of the limited vocabulary of the prime minister, Narendra Modi. He pointed out that Hindi has around 6.5 lakh words, including those pertaining to technical branches and the ‘abracadabra’ kind of incomprehensible ones that are used in official correspondences. However, according to Lalu, “The most liked, favourite words of the Prime Minister are — Pakistan, shamshan (cremation ground), kabristan (graveyard), Hindu-Mussalman, mandir-masjid, machhli-Mughal (fish-Mughal), mangalsutra (the necklace worn by married Hindu women), gai-bhains (cow-buffalo).” Lalu stated that the list took into account those words that Modi has used till the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections and expressed apprehension that a few more words would be added to it by the time the seventh and final phase of polling is over. Thereafter, Lalu then went on to assert that “Modi has forgotten words like naukri (job), rozgar (employment), garibi (poverty), kisani (farming), mehangai (inflation), berozgari (unemployment), vikas (development), nivesh (investment), chhatra-vigyan-naujawan (student-science-youths).”
Marked man
VK Pandian, the man Friday of the Odisha CM, Naveen Patnaik, has shot to the limelight over the past few weeks. The alliance talks between the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party broke down before the polls. Pandian is in charge of managing the BJD’s election affairs and, as the star campaigner of the party after Patnaik, is going to every nook and corner of the state to canvass for votes. The BJP is thus well aware that its dream of gaining power in the state can only materialise if it can get rid of Pandian or ‘manage’ him.
VK Pandian
In order to keep Pandian in check, the BJP has been raising the issue of ‘Odia pride’ and the BJD’s alleged attempt to hand over the reins of the state to an ‘outsider’ like Pandian. Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, hails from Tamil Nadu. He took voluntary retirement in October last year and joined the BJD. From the Union minister, Amit Shah, to the BJP national president, JP Nadda, all important party leaders have thus been focusing their charge on Pandian. Even Narendra Modi made a veiled attack on him recently. If the saffron party is able to succeed with its game plan, the situation of the BJD will surely become precarious.
Angry gust
The Union home minister, Amit Shah, seems to have earned the epithet of ‘the enemy of trees’ after a recent incident in Begusarai. Several trees were felled at a local college campus ahead of Shah’s planned rally at the location to facilitate his helicopter’s safe landing. However, the cutting down of trees led to a vociferous protest by the students and the principal had to rush to the district administration and the rally organisers, objecting to their action. The college authorities had not given a prior permit and the felling of trees was thus halted.
Anyway, Shah came and addressed the public meeting but had a narrow escape after boarding the chopper to fly back from Begusarai. During the takeoff, his helicopter lost balance and started swaying owing to the sudden gusts of wind. People gasped in disbelief as it tossed left and right before the pilot finally managed to bring it under control. The college students said that the incident was the result of the destruction of trees. “Trees act like a wall to control such sudden gusts... People should understand that everything in nature is interconnected and try to preserve the balance,” a student opined.
Family pact
The split in the Nationalist Congress Party as well as the Pawar family seems to have divided the traditional voter base. But there are sceptics as well. The whispers in the political circles of Maharashtra are that the ‘Pawar versus Pawar’ battle is just a ‘political drama’. “Ye natak chal raha hai”, an NCP leader in Pune said when asked about the bitter family duel in the Baramati seat. Supriya Sule, the daughter of the family patriarch and NCP founder, Sharad Pawar, is pitted against Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Ajit Pawar, who is Sule’s cousin. Ajit had left his uncle’s party and joined hands with the BJP last year and is now the deputy CM in the Maharashtra government.
However, this NCP leader is of the opinion that the Pawars are “deeply bonded” and went on to predict that the family will come together in future. A section of the voters also seems to have agreed with him. “All this could be part of a design,” a voter in Baramati said, drawing attention to the affidavit filed to the Election Commission of India by Sunetra to buttress his point. According to the affidavit, Sunetra had lent Rs 35 lakh to Sule and Rs 50 lakh to Pratibha Pawar, the wife of Sharad Pawar.
