If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well. So
Nani Palkhivala -- jurist,
economist and industrialist -- not only makes it a point to vote, he takes a keen interest
in the candidate from his constituency. And if it's his buddy, Murli Deora, who's
standing, the level of interest shoots up. This time Palkhivala went a step further: he
released a letter to the citizens of Mumbai-South constituency endorsing Deora's
candidature. "I did what I believed in," says the ever-modest man. What he
"believed in" happens to be (and these are the words of his letter) that
"Deora has a track record of useful public service and a distinguished career as a
corporator, mayor, MLC and MP for three consecutive terms". Deora, of course, was
grateful. Yes, he won. No, Palkhivala didn't do the campaign rounds. His letter did. It
was a certificate worth its weight in votes.
Rajni Can't
This may be the end of the
cine blitz in Tamil politics. Matinee idol Rajnikanth faced the flop show
of his life last week when the DMK-TMC combine was routed in his state. "If
Jayalalitha is voted back to power, even God cannot save Tamil Nadu," he had
thundered in the last elections. The Lord thought differently this time. Not only did
Amma's AIADMK win, even heavyweight movie star Sarath Kumar -- a DMK candidate -- lost. A
humbled Rajni has reportedly gone underground, and the joke in certain political circles
is that a missing-persons' ad must be put out in the papers. Thank god that's not a wanted
ad.
Pitching in for a Friend
"It doesn't matter which party
they are from," says
Kapil Dev, speaking like
no voter should. Of course, what he means is that he'd campaign for a friend "whether
the person's standing from the BJP, the Congress or as an Independent". The friend
this time happens to be Kamal Nath. Touring the Congressman's constituency -- Chhindwara
in Madhya Pradesh, which he lost last time round -- the ace cricketer was asked: When will
you come here to play? "The next time I'm here," he replied, "I hope I'm
playing cricket, not politics." But in case you're wondering, Kapil's not out to help
himself. "I don't want any publicity for myself," he insists. "I enjoyed
playing cricket, but now, all I want is to be with my family, and that good, committed
people should go to Parliament." Nice shot, friend.
The Number Cruncher
There's nothing like post-election
hindsight. Businesswoman Bina Ramani, best known for her lavish bashes,
put her interest in numerology to political use this time. She claims she predicted that
"good friends" Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Naveen Patnaik and Akbar
"Dumpy" Ahmed would win. "I wouldn't mind doing this seriously if the BJP
wants me to," says Ramani, "but I'm not a BJP person. I did this because Vasu's
a good friend." Vasu, she continues, has stronger numbers in her chart than the
dapper Madhavrao. Aw, come on, that's an easy one, we all know brother Scindia suffered a
few tense moments when the counting of votes was on. Would madam venture to look into the
future for us? Yup, here goes: Sushma Swaraj is in for troubled times, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee will be at the top very briefly, and Pramod Mahajan "will go through a
brilliant phase" after three tough years. Here's a test: re-read this column three
years from now. Then again, read it next week.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well. So
Nani Palkhivala -- jurist,
economist and industrialist -- not only makes it a point to vote, he takes a keen interest
in the candidate from his constituency. And if it's his buddy, Murli Deora, who's
standing, the level of interest shoots up. This time Palkhivala went a step further: he
released a letter to the citizens of Mumbai-South constituency endorsing Deora's
candidature. "I did what I believed in," says the ever-modest man. What he
"believed in" happens to be (and these are the words of his letter) that
"Deora has a track record of useful public service and a distinguished career as a
corporator, mayor, MLC and MP for three consecutive terms". Deora, of course, was
grateful. Yes, he won. No, Palkhivala didn't do the campaign rounds. His letter did. It
was a certificate worth its weight in votes.
This may be the end of the
cine blitz in Tamil politics. Matinee idol Rajnikanth faced the flop show
of his life last week when the DMK-TMC combine was routed in his state. "If
Jayalalitha is voted back to power, even God cannot save Tamil Nadu," he had
thundered in the last elections. The Lord thought differently this time. Not only did
Amma's AIADMK win, even heavyweight movie star Sarath Kumar -- a DMK candidate -- lost. A
humbled Rajni has reportedly gone underground, and the joke in certain political circles
is that a missing-persons' ad must be put out in the papers. Thank god that's not a wanted
ad.
"It doesn't matter which party
they are from," says
Kapil Dev, speaking like
no voter should. Of course, what he means is that he'd campaign for a friend "whether
the person's standing from the BJP, the Congress or as an Independent". The friend
this time happens to be Kamal Nath. Touring the Congressman's constituency -- Chhindwara
in Madhya Pradesh, which he lost last time round -- the ace cricketer was asked: When will
you come here to play? "The next time I'm here," he replied, "I hope I'm
playing cricket, not politics." But in case you're wondering, Kapil's not out to help
himself. "I don't want any publicity for myself," he insists. "I enjoyed
playing cricket, but now, all I want is to be with my family, and that good, committed
people should go to Parliament." Nice shot, friend. 
There's nothing like post-election
hindsight. Businesswoman Bina Ramani, best known for her lavish bashes,
put her interest in numerology to political use this time. She claims she predicted that
"good friends" Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Naveen Patnaik and Akbar
"Dumpy" Ahmed would win. "I wouldn't mind doing this seriously if the BJP
wants me to," says Ramani, "but I'm not a BJP person. I did this because Vasu's
a good friend." Vasu, she continues, has stronger numbers in her chart than the
dapper Madhavrao. Aw, come on, that's an easy one, we all know brother Scindia suffered a
few tense moments when the counting of votes was on. Would madam venture to look into the
future for us? Yup, here goes: Sushma Swaraj is in for troubled times, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee will be at the top very briefly, and Pramod Mahajan "will go through a
brilliant phase" after three tough years. Here's a test: re-read this column three
years from now. Then again, read it next week.
