Sanyasi, seduced by a ticket
Former chief minister Ajit Jogi cut short his political sabbatical on March 18 when, if he is to be believed, his “mentor” Congress president Sonia Gandhi, “directed” him to break his penance and take the plunge into the Lok Sabha polls. Mr Jogi, apparently peeved at being marginalised in the party in Chhattisgarh, had last month announced that he would take sanyas from politics for a year and spend his time singing bhajans in praise of god.
He probably expected his colleagues in the party, particularly Mrs Gandhi, who he claims decides every single matter relating to his family, to react to this great renunciation either admiring his fortitude or begging him to desist and lead from the front again. When nobody took any notice, Mr Jogi went into spiritual exile in a room in his spacious bungalow in Raipur with only a group of hymn singers for company. That was four weeks ago.
His penance, even though short lived, seems to have paid off. Someone up there was listening and Mr Jogi, despite reported opposition from his rivals in the party, walked away with the Lok Sabha ticket from Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh. On March 18, a smiling Mr Jogi emerged from his “penance room”, mike in hand to announce the premature end of his sabbatical.
“I had to end my sanyas after Soniaji rejected my decision to take political sabbatical. You all know, Soniaji takes all decisions in my family. Hence, I responded to her call to join the poll fray,” he told reporters. His rivals in the party are sceptical of his explanation. “Mr Jogi never explained when Soniaji accepted his sabbatical?” said Motilal Sahu, who leads the Backward Class wing of the Congress in Chhattisgarh, and who resigned from the party when Mr Jogi was given the Mahasamund ticket. Another Congress leader was heard singing, “chal sanyasi chunav ladhne”, a parody on the Manoj Kumar-Hema Malini blockbuster of the mid-seventies, “Chal sanyasi mandir mein”. Nothing seduces a politician like a party ticket.
The politics of loneliness
One leader who is upset at actor-politician Jaya Prada quitting her Rampur seat and opting for Bijnor is senior Uttar Pradesh minister Mohd Azam Khan. Mr Khan’s hostility to Ms Prada has acquired legendary proportions in UP politics and it was his hate campaign against her in Rampur that had led to his expulsion from the Samajwadi Party in 2009.
The minister is now upset with Ms Prada opting for Bijnor because he has no one to vent his ire on. “His entire politics in Rampur revolved around his anti-Jaya Prada stance, which also earned him immense publicity. Prior to Jaya Prada, he used to target Begum Noor Bano of the Congress but even she has opted for Moradabad this time. Mr Azam has no one to target,” said a party leader from Rampur.
Rajiv Gandhi, The inventor
During elections politicians leave no stone unturned to lure the electorate. They happily twist facts and agree to the demands of voters if it will get them that extra vote! In the western Assam district of Dhubri, the Congress nominee for the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat, Wazed Ali Choudhury, told voters in Bengali, “Tomra ki jano computer-mobile ke abishkar koreche amar Congress neta Rajiv Gandhi! (Do you know who invented the mobile phone and computer? It is our Congress leader late Rajiv Gandhi.)”
The outright lie was greeted by thunderous applause from the audience in the minority-dominated and remote Chaur area adjoining the international border with Bangladesh.When asked to explain himself, Mr Choudhury, who was also the former chairman of a state government PSU and MLA had a ready explanation.
“If I tell them that the mobile and computer revolution was brought to India by Rajiv Gandhi, it will not work, so I have to convey the message in a language that they can understand.” Well, let us hope the computer and mobile revolution has actually revolutionised the lives of the people in this remote region or else Mr Choudhury’s eloquence will go waste.
