MAHATMA PARIVAR
Gandhi in BJP

WAVE OF GLORY: Vajpayee at a rally of the BJP workers held in New Delhi

Even as a Nehru family bahu (Maneka) is planning to join the BJP, a Gandhi bahu has taken the plunge in Kerala. Saraswathi Gandhi, the wife of Kantilal Gandhi, Gandhiji's grandson, is among the new recruits of the BJP in Kerala. Daughter of the late G. Ramachandran, a close associate of Gandhiji, Saraswathi terms as nonsense the allegations that it was the Sangh Parivar which was behind her grandfather-in-law's assassination. She simply symbolises the unprecedented VIP rush to the saffron brigade even in a state like Kerala.

— By M.G Radhakrishnan

SWAP STORY
Former BJP MLA Ameeta Modi Singh follows husband Sanjay Singh into the Congress while Mahila Congress leader Usha (left) joins husband S. Krishna Kumar in the BJP.

MIGRATION PLAN
Popular Appeal

LALOO YADAV, RJD President OPTION: Chapra	PRAFUL PATEL, NCP OPTION: Gondia	SANJAY NIRUPAM, SHIV SENA OPTION: Mumbai (n-w)
SURESH KALMADI, CONGRESS OPTION: Pune	VIJAY MALLYA, JANATA PARTY OPTION: Bangalore south	KAPIL SIBAL, CONGRESS OPTION: South Delhi

It must be the feel-good factor. There is no other explanation for the poll mania that seems to have gripped the House of Elders.

Usually regarded as a six-year haven from the heat and dust of mid-term polls, a membership in the Rajya Sabha was the hottest one in Lutyens' Delhi. In E-2004, the trend seems to have reversed. Many of the cocooned politicos are suddenly keen to dip their pedicured toes in electoral slosh. And surprisingly, not all are from the BJP. Congressman Kapil Sibal is hoping to cash in on his suave middle-class appeal and clipped Punjabi accent to do what his leader in the Rajya Sabha could not: win the South Delhi seat. His bearded friend from Fergusson College Road and Mr Olympics Suresh Kalmadi is debating the merits of cashing in his chips as he sees his one-time mentor Sharad Pawar's effect wane in Pune.

Kalmadi and Sibal would most probably be joined by their P3 mate Vijay Mallya, MP and liquor baron. He has turned into a serious politician, regularly attending Parliament. Mallya is now toying with the idea of taking on former Union minister Ananth Kumar from the Bangalore South constituency. But isn't he kind of naive and new to the hustle and bustle of gathering votes from 3rd Cross and Main Street that define Bangalore? "I'm not scared of anything," he says. Again, remember, it is Mallya we are dealing with. And all the damsels in the Rajya Sabha can heave a sigh of relief.

In Mumbai journalist-turned-firebrand Shiv Sainik Sanjay Nirupam who achieved notoriety for nearly reducing Shabana Azmi to tears is contemplating entering the Lok Sabha. The official line is that he is doing what his party boss Uddhav Thackeray wants him to. Truth is, Nirupam wants to dig in his heels into the Mumbai North-West constituency by taking on Sunil Dutt who was the only Congress MP to have won from Mumbai in 1999. Another familiar face from society living rooms, Praful Patel too is swapping designer togs for desi kurta churidars. To be fair Patel has always been a Lok Sabha MP from his hometown Gondia near Nagpur. It was only in 1999 that he moved into the Rajya Sabha. Patel had lost due to the Congress-NCP split. This time around the alliance air is better and Patel who employs thousands and runs the largest educational establishment around Gondia is hoping to get back to where he believes he belongs, Lok Sabha.

So does Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. He has threatened to contest from Thakur-dominated Chapra as well as Madhepura. After "Bill Gate" the current incumbent Rajiv Pratap Rudy's discomfort has gone up and Yadav believes he could file the nomination and win. Then, of course, there are those who see themselves as the Rightful Stakeholders of the Feel-Good factor-the BJP's hi-flyers Arun Jaitley, General Secretary Pramod Mahajan and Union Minister Sushma Swaraj. As scions of the Sangh Parivar they would want to be elected by popular vote. But party boss M. Venkaiah Naidu says he can't spare any of them. After all he too would want to be popularly elected to be in line for the Purush Putsch. If nothing else, this lot will ensure that E-2004 gets at least a Page Three readership.

— By Priya Sahgal

SOP-O-METER
Amma Forgives

RETAKE: Jaya revokes suspension

Put it down to a change of heart or to the election season. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has decided to take back suspended employees who went on strike last year. But the reinstated employees won't get their four increments even as she announced a 3 per cent hike in dearness allowance for state employees and teachers. She has also announced a waiver of land tax, local cess and surcharge on farmers from July 2003 till June 2004. Add 5,730 pumps to mitigate Chennai's drinking water problem. Total cost: Rs 507 crore.

— By Arun Ram

NARESH GUJRAL
Son Rise Again
This could well be the oddest example of political crossover. As one-time leading light of the third front, former prime minister I.K. Gujral is still an avowed BJP-baiter. But his friendship with the Shiromani Akali Dal, a BJP partner, has been an open secret ever since he won the 1998 Lok Sabha polls from Jalandhar. His son Naresh Gujral, an exporter, has cut his political teeth by deciding to join the Akali Dal led by Parkash Singh Badal. The deal: junior Gujral will be the Akali candidate from Jalandhar where his family enjoys considerable goodwill. For both sides, it is a win-win deal. The Akalis got a "Hindu" face and more importantly, Badal has pre-empted the BJP's plans to stake claim to the Jalandhar seat.

— By Ramesh Vinayak

POOJARI AND KUMAR
Loan vs Loan

RETAKE: Jaya revokes suspension

It is a battle between one "loan" man and another "loan" man as Karnataka gets into poll mode. State Congress President Janardhan Poojary, of loan-mela fame, has galvanised his party into action with another "loan" formula. He has charged former Union minister Ananth Kumar with a "Hudco loan scam" and even held a dharna, demanding his arrest and freezing of the minister's bank accounts. Kumar denies the charge and Poojary has been slapped with a notice by Kumar for "maligning him" but the Congressman says he is willing to face even "10 legal notices" and has appealed to the Supreme Court of India for a special team to inquire into the case. Kumar sought an injunction against Poojary or anyone talking about the loan issue. But given the paucity of issues against the Opposition in the state, Poojary may not give up easily.

— By Stephen David

SHIV SENA
Vote Antidote

Last week, the Shiv Sena unveiled yet another of its quirky ideas to win hearts and obviously votes. At a health camp inaugurated by filmstar Amitabh Bachchan and Working President Uddhav Thackeray, the party unveiled a health card that could take the feel- good factor further in a very physical way. A brain child of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Nirupam, the card provides holders a 30 per cent discount at identified labs and hospitals in Mumbai North-West constituency and it can be renewed at any of the 44 shakhas in the constituency. Now obviously this is targeted at people who Nirupam would want to vote for him when he files nomination in the forthcoming polls. The Sena Health Card carries pictures of Uddhav and Bal Thackeray and will be valid for a year. Interestingly Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray has liked the idea immensely and has urged all the the 211 shakhas in Mumbai city through a recent message to introduce the health card in their areas and build goodwill about the party among the people.

Nirupam isn't giving away numbers as yet but sources close to him say he has enrolled 50,000 people for the card. That is not a bad beginning. But do they translate into votes?

— By Sheela Raval

RAM VILAS PASWAN
Home and Alone

IN OR OUT: Paswan is in a labyrinth

Ram Vilas Paswan continues to hawk his wares in the poll bazaar. After the first flush of the much-televised visit by old neighbour and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Paswan finds himself home and alone. Sonia's minders were quick to raise the fences across 10 Janpath and point out to "madam" that gaining Paswan at Laloo Prasad Yadav's cost was not just bad arithmetic but poor politics. Having succeeded in consolidating the Sonia-Laloo Yadav alliance he tried baiting the old flame BJP. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar is dead against Paswan's entry as a free lancer free to leave and return. The saffron allies now want Paswan to first re-enter JD(U) to return to the NDA. Quite naturally Paswan finds that tough to swallow. Since he is not averse to a deal with the Congress either, the Lok Janshakti Party leader is playing the waiting (and bargaining) game. He doesn't seem to have many other choices anyway.

— By Rajeev Deshpande