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Congress Parliamentarian from Sultanpur Sanjay Singh and his wife Amita Singh have shown signs of revolt against the Congress queen bee and the crown prince. Sanjay Singh is keen on contesting the elections in Amethi against Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi. He went to Lucknow and met Akhilesh Yadav regarding this and showed his keenness to join the SP. But Akhilesh made it clear to Sanjay Singh that the SP will not launch any one from the party against Rahul Gandhi this time. Where Amita Singh is concerned, he could make her the chairperson of some organisation. When things didn’t work out, Sanjay Singh went and met SP supremo Mayavati but things didn’t work out there either. So he went to Gandhinagar to meet Narendra Modi. Amita is from a Brahmin family in Maharashtra and her father is a veteran RSS leader. Her family has close ties with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, and this makes their journey into the BJP slightly easier. So when Sanjay and Amita reached Gandhinagar and asked for Modi’s blessings, he immediately replied, “Contest the elections from Amethi on a BJP ticket; I will come for your campaigning. If you win you will become a minister at the centre, if now you will be with us and well taken care of.” So now Sanjay is eager to wear the saffron robes along with his wife.

It is said that Sonia Gandhi has sent a strong message to Shashi Tharoor that his wife Sunanda Pushkar should stop talking about the Gandhi family, especially about Priyanka Gandhi.

Behenji  Mayawati has changed her outlook and behaviour; she was a thorough professional when it came to Assembly elections in the four states. She has also made sure that only the winning candidates will get to ride the elephant, that is, get support from her party. So, this time she broke the myth about the BJP that a BSP ticket can be get only by the power of money. Those desiring a BSP ticket got no demands from Behenji, except that they will have to spend for their own election campaigning. Will this practice continue until the Lok Sabha elections or will the elephant become hungry and open its mouth wide open by then?

The Central Hall was abuzz with talks that instead of dissolving the Lok Sabha this time, the Congress should hand over the reins of the UPA government to Rahul Gandhi from Manmohan Singh and go into  the coming General elections. It is being said that this will make the people believe in some sort of change that will happen, and the anti-incumbency factor may soften in relation to the Congress. Most Congress people believe that even if the Congress faces a defeat under Rahul’s leadership, it won’t matter too much. After the elections, Rahul Gandhi can be formally handed over the responsibility of the Congress from an ailing Sonia Gandhi and be made the new party president. Otherwise the buzz in the background will increase in volume, with says, “Priyanka lao, Congress bachao” (Get Priyanka, save the Congress).

Apt at reading the signs, a minister in Manmohan Singh’s government approached Sonia Gandhi with the hope and expectation that the time had come to launch Priyanka Gandhi in active politics. That is because Rahul was unable to control the rising tide of support in favour of Modi. Although Sonia is not used to listening to such suggestions from the party members, she understood the gravity of the situation and exercised patience. Gently, she told the Congress minister that bringing Priyanka into active politics at this time would mean also opening the doors of politics wide for Robert. She said she will take a decision only when Priyanka’s decisions don’t make a difference to Robert. Listening to the straight talk, the minister came back with his hopes dashed.

With time, Congress supremo may have learnt to read and understand the changing political emotions and circumstances, but she is disappointed in things for a few days, primarily for two reasons. One, she can see her health not letting her campaign for the coming elections because of which the election managers have had to curtail her election rallies that the five states that are due to see Assembly elections soon. At the same time, as a mother and as someone leading a party, she worries about her son and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. The way people got up and started to go at Rahul’s election rallies at Jodhpur and Delhi, the way they didn’t stay despite persuasions is something that is eating at Sonia. When a close friend of her late husband Rajiv Gandhi went to meet her, she got really emotional and told him what was on her mind that Rahul just wasn’t “clicking” despite repeated efforts. Sonia wanted to know from her husband’s friend what was lacking in the Congress’ strategy when it came to projecting Rahul. It is believed that Sonia has also shown displeasure with the coterie that seems to surround Rahul at all times. If the election results in the five states are not according to Sonia’s expectations, something is bound to change – either the command or Rahul’s mandali.

When it comes to politics, journalism and judiciary, morals and uprightness are mere words. Otherwise why would incidents,showing something quite on the contrary, be coming to light every other day? It is believed that one of the most famous surgeons flies to Tashkent on a private jet every week, looking for Russian lovelies. Politicians and industrialists are always in a line to jump in the chartered flight. Several prominent ministers from the Congress government in the centre may be seen at a famous industrialist’s farmhouse in Gujarat, all in different poses. A prominent Congress leader from the area in Chattisgarh that is at the Madhya Pradesh border invests benami money in regional movies. Even the shooting of the movies happens at his farmhouse and Mr Politician is pretty interested in the actresses who star in the movie. A young industrialist’s Page 3 wife has allegedly had liaisons with several political leaders and is currently close to one all-powerful son-in-law. Photographs of the both of them have appeared in several magazines and newspapers. There is no dearth of such people and incidents, be it the Opposition or the government.

Modi and Advani may not get along but Modi has come up with a formula for common ground and he has sent a message to Advani camp that in place of Advani, he is ready to let his daughter Pratibha contest elections from anyone in Gujarat. If Pratibha wants, she can even contest the elections from her father’s constituency in Gandhinagar. But Modi still has got no reply from Advani about the same.

A politician from an Opposition party gave his logic behind the way rupee continues to slide against the US dollar, saying that because all political parties, especially the ruling parties, need money to come into India for elections, it is only natural that the rupee continues to depreciate.