Focus on Rajnath as BJP think-tank formulates strategy for election

With UP State Assembly Elections barely a few months ahead, the BJP think-tank is assembling in Lucknow to formulate its game plan for the forthcoming election in UP, Uttaranchal and Punjab and also on how to tackle the UPA rule at the Centre. But before all this, the National Executive, to converge for the first time in BJP’s history, will affirm Rajnath Singh as the party president for a three-year renewed term in his home state of Uttar Pradesh. A huge 20000 square feet pandal is being readied for this crowning ceremony, in which about 2500 members of BJP’s National Executive will be redeeming their faith in Singh’s presidency. The entire pandal will be bedecked in saffron colours and a 720 square feet stage is being prepared for the leaders to sit.
Focus clearly will be on Rajnath Singh, whose position has strengthened considerably after BJP’s good showing in the recently concluded civic elections, consequent to which he was described as ‘lucky vote catcher’ for the BJP by his core backer, the RSS. No doubt, this win silenced his detractors within the party and thus had a tremendous impact on strengthening his chances for a renewed three year term. Singh’s actions will be keenly watched as he chooses his new team and carries forward the proceedings under the shadow of towering personalities like Advani and Vajpayee, both of whom have lately been given the role of consultants, under RSS’s guidance.
RSS’s estranged relationship with Advani and closeness to Vajpayee was evident in the recent controversy where Advani was quoted as saying that he proposed Vajpayee’s name for prime ministership but was unsure if now his name would be proposed by Vajpayee for the same post in case the NDA returns to power at the Centre. Consequent to this, Rajnath Singh made his intentions and that of RSS clear by saying that Vajpayee would certainly be one of party’s prime ministerial candidates, in response to which Manmohan Singh said that BJP will have to wait for very long time before it could hope to come back to power.
That the focus is not going to be on deciding the prime ministerial candidate but on formulating the strategy for the elections was evident in the saying of Kalraj Mishra who stressed that UP elections were most crucial as its outcome would decide nation’s future political course.
Another interesting area would be whether the BJP sticks to its Hindutva agenda or dilutes it by merely airing a few utterances regarding minority appeasement at the hands of Mulayam Singh or Manmohan Singh government.
Also something that would be of interest to the people of UP would be to see whether Kalyan Singh is clearly projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the forthcoming elections. This is particularly so because Kalyan Singh’s estranged relations with Rajnath Singh in the past is well-known though the later has tried to bridge the gap after assuming the mantle of Party’s president.
The national executive is being held in Lucknow after a gap of 15 years and the senior BJP leaders from UP are sparing no chance to make it a success. The State administration too has been put on high alert and more than 3500 policemen are being deployed for the cause. In this regard, Naveen Chandra Vajpayee – State’s Chief Secretary – has already completed the arrangements and given suitable instructions to the team responsible for security.

Be careful with your Cola

Never allow your child to consume Mentos and Cola together

The new findings are reaching the masses like jungle fire. Internet is replete with live examples of the effect that Mentos and Cola cause when they get mixed together. In fact the dreadful combination of cola and Mentos has given birth to new games like whether your cola bottle would fly like a missile and cross over the roof of your building or not? Or how high a fountain you would get by mixing cola and Mentos.
Not that it is restricted to gaming only! Reports have come in of children in Brazil, who died after consuming Mentos and Cola with little time gap in between. There is urgent need to educate the children over this as both Cola (like Pepsi and Coke) and Mentos are much favoured by the children. It is extraordinary how this could escape the prying gaze of our national mainstream media till now.
Not any more though! Swami Ramdev, who till now had been saying that the best use of colas is to wash your toilets with them has now got a new armoury in his arsenal to hit at these beverage manufacturers. Interestingly, some of Swamy’s staunch followers have already started cleaning their toilets with colas. A few of them we spoke to said that this resulted in sparkling clean toilets. Moreover, it serves as a lesson to children as well who realize the true worth of these beverages.
This time it is different. Children have got a new game of flying missiles and fountains. All you have to do is to put Mentos in a two-litre cola bottle and wait for some time. The moment you throw the bottle on the ground, it shoots up in the sky like a rocket and flies high up in the sky. Alternatively, if you put mentos in a freshly opened 2-litre bottle while it is kept on ground, cola and mint react to shoot a fountain as high as one metre. And the force of the fountain is such that it could prove fatal for eyes if an unsuspecting kid puts them over the bottle. Or if the bottle bursts!
The matter assumes significance keeping in mind the fact that this is the time when debate is raging over whether these beverages should be banned in schools or not. Only recently Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’s president who has recently been rated by Fortune as the most powerful businesswomen in the world, said that banning cola in school is not a great idea. She said: “Our experience is when there is a ban, they are not effective. Children will get it from home.” She has an alternative plan for health minister Anbumani Ramdoss’s proposal for banning sale of soft drinks from educational institutes. Starting with a dialogue with the government on counseling against obesity, Nooyi suggested that companies like Pepsi, with diversified portfolio ranging from soft drinks to juices, could stock cafeteria with so-called “good for you, better for you” products instead of “treat for you” items like colas.
On the controversy over pesticides, she said: “The purpose is not to confront but work (together).” This was an obvious attempt to shirk the issue on safety standards raised by certain NGOs.
Whatever she says, truth is that detractors of cola companies have got a new salvo to fire at them. While Pepsi and Coke may have to think of using Amir Khan, Smriti Irani and company to do another ‘safe campaign’ against this missile potential of colas, all we can say for the moment is “Be careful with your cola”.

Saifai at Lucknow and Kanpur

Saifai Mahotsava may be happening at this small village in Etawah. But right here in Lucknow and Kanpur, there are some people who are reaping benefits without even setting a foot on the soil of Saifai.
It is common knowledge that the State Government waves off the tax on sale of automobiles at the Saifai Mahotsava. This generous discounting results in a discount ranging from 10 to 15% on various cars and two-wheelers. For instance, on a car worth 4 lakh rupees, one can get a discount up to Rs. 50000. This is the reason why car and two-wheeler buyers of UP wait for Saifai to come so that they can avail this discount and line up in hordes at Saifai to do the purchase.
Not any more! Automobile dealers in Kanpur and Lucknow (and at places like Agra too) have devised a more interesting plan of delivering your vehicle right here in these cities, without you having to go to Saifai in this chilling cold. For this service, they are charging a token amount of few thousand rupees. All the papers and formalities remain their headache while the vehicle is delivered here itself along with the discount.
Says an automotive dealer who doesn’t wish to be named: “The discount given by the Government is through exemption of tax, hence our profitability does not suffer because of this. From our profit, we have to pay 10,000 rupees per car to certain important people (name withheld) if we go to Saifai. This payment is not done on records. Therefore, even if we do not sell the car from Saifai, these important people ensure that we can sell the car from here itself. All they need is their money. The buyer too is happy that he does not have to go all the way to that remote village in this cold and wait in queues to get the formalities done. He is more than willing to pay the 6000-7000 rupees that we charge for delivering the car here itself inclusive of all the paperwork, etc. In this way, we are able to recover some of the money that we had to shelve out.”
Thousands of vehicles are sold every year at Saifai. This new arrangement is even better for everybody. The buyers are happy because they get a good discount, without even having to go to Saifai. The dealers are happy because their sales get enhanced. Through recovering a major portion of the dole that they have to pay, from the buyers, they ensure that their profitability per car does not get reduced. The organizers of Saifai are happy because of all the limelight and attention they get. Even the ‘important people’ are happy who charge a good amount for every vehicle sold from Saifai. It is a win-win situation for all. The only loser is the State exchequer. But who cares!