By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to zip zap zoom to victory. Or so it would seem from the Nano memorabilia – modelled on the world’s cheapest car – the party is handing out to voters in Gujarat.
The memorabilia is nothing but a pen stand shaped like the Nano, the car being manufactured by the Tatas that will roll out of the state in 2010.
“These are being distributed as a symbol of the success of the BJP government in Gujarat,” said Namit Patel, a senior member of the party’s poll campaign team. He said a total of 25,000 pen stands are to be distributed to voters across the state before campaigning ends.
The aim is to send the message that the Nano has arrived in Gujarat much before the actual car. While the real car will cost around Rs.100,000, the memorabilia of course comes free of cost.
-*-
With love, from minister mom to daughter
Love conquers all, they say. And in this case, a mother’s love certainly won a Congress ticket for her daughter despite stiff opposition from other party members.
The mother is question is Haryana minister Kiran Chaudhary who is usually known to have her way. She has secured a party nomination for lawyer daughter Shruti Chaudhary from the new Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seat.
Kiran is the daughter-in-law and Shruti is the granddaughter of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal.
The minister mom, who is known for her proximity to Congress bigwigs in New Delhi, managed to get a nomination for her daughter despite opposition from strong state Congress leaders and even estranged members of the Bansi Lal family.
Last year, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had stripped her of the environment portfolio. But within hours, the decision was withdrawn and Kiran returned.
-*-
Stomach is way to media’s heart?
As far as serving good food at press conferences goes, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is certainly making its presence felt in Uttar Pradesh.
While a cup of tea is the norm at press briefings addressed by local party leaders, soft drinks along with sandwiches and sweets are always offered to journalists after meetings addressed by central level leaders.
This was evident when BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi arrived at the party’s office in Lucknow.
“Even if we are not informed about the leader who will address the media, by seeing the refreshments we can easily tell whether the leader is of local or national stature,” said a journalist.
-*-
Whither rallying point
The ground hasn’t slipped beneath their feet. But with Mumbai’s most popular venue for rallies – the famed Shivaji Park – closing down for repairs next week, many parties are sure feeling a tad lost.
While the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party had their rally there last week, followed by the Bahujan Samj Party (BSP), others are feeling left out.
The timing is especially bad as the Mumbai-Thane elections are due in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls April 30.
Why is the Shivaji Park closing down for repairs now, many politicians are asking.