By IANS,
New Delhi : Such is the level of mistrust in politics these days that elected representatives have begun to ink their defection deals with formal agreements.
Disgruntled Goa Public Works Department minister Churchill Alemao, flashed one such agreement during one of his recent public shows of displeasure after he claimed the Congress reneged on its word by disallowing his daughter a ticket for the South Goa Lok Sabha seat.
The agreement, Churchill claimed, was signed by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, deputy speaker Mauvin Godinho and central minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi before the Lok Sabha by-election held 16 months ago.
The mysterious agreement, which was not released to the media, listed several demands placed by Alemao, which the Congress had agreed to, including nominating his daughter Valanka Alemao to the South Goa ticket for these polls.
Churchill has claimed that it was because of this written agreement that he merged his political outfit Save Goa Front with the Congress ahead of the by-polls.
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When Raj Thackeray campaigned for Congress!
More than a few eyebrows were raised when people thought they saw Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on the dais at a Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) rally in Thane. Was it really Raj Thackeray?
Even as the organisers were smug about their star campaigner, many in the audience rubbed their eyes with disbelief and could not believe their ears when the speaker in question started speaking on issues which are not exactly the agenda of MNS, known for its bashing of north Indians.
Later, it transpired that the speaker was Dharmalingam Baba Swami, a Raj Thackeray lookalike.
Party sources said that even senior Congress leader and former chief minister Narayan Rane couldn’t make out the difference when he first saw Swami and was surprised thinking that Thackeray was at the public meeting.
Swami, however, enjoys his new celebrity status. “People flock to meet me or shake hands and take autographs. Even when I tell them who I am, they don’t believe. What do I do?” he said.
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Have you heard of political ragging, ask Venkaiah Naidu
Taking a dig at the Congress being left out by its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies, senior BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said a new trend has emerged called political ragging.
“Two days ago, I was talking about ragging. These days a new concept has become popular called political ragging. And we are seeing it in the Congress party that is being ragged by its junior partners like Lalu and Paswan,” said Naidu.
Though Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan have not deserted the UPA, they do not have a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress. The two sides are also indulging in a war of words.
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Back in action – Vijay Jolly
After losing the Delhi assembly election last year to Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Jolly had taken an unannounced break. But with the poll season on, he has made a comeback.
The former BJP legislator can now be seen at all major BJP events in the capital. First it was the launch of the ‘friends of BJP’ campaign and then the party manifesto release Friday.
After the manifesto release, he wasted no time and hobnobbed with senior BJP leaders.
It seems he has taken to the adage that out of sight is out of mind, and probably is eyeing a larger role in case the BJP returns to power.