Vis-a-Vis

MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI BJP vice-president versus M. VENKAIAH NAIDU BJP vice-president

"The guidance of Vajpayee and Advani will continue. A second generation leader will lead the party in the next Lok Sabha polls."

"It is too premature to talk about the next election and its leadership. Advani is the leader and we are all moving ahead under his leadership."

EPILOGUE: Clearly, all talk of the leadership issue in the BJP being resolved is premature.

VOICES

"The CPI(M) can only bark, it will not bite."

L.K. Advani, BJP president

"There is obviously some powerful as well as crafty lobby in the HRD Ministry that is pushing the RSS agenda under the nose of the UPA Government."

Harkishen Singh Surjeet, CPI(M) politburo member

"Instead of showing it in films, directors should show real patriotism by filming in Kashmir."

Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister

"I would be lying if I say I am not interested in captaincy. But I am in no hurry. God willing, it will come. I don't want to lose my sleep over such issues."

Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer

"We must ask ourselves whether our films are worth an international platform, like Cannes."

Nandita Das, actor and member of the Cannes feature film jury

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

External Affairs Ministry officials are shocked over the PMO taking charge of economic diplomacy under a new committee. The prime minister was reportedly irked by the lack of MEA effort on this front.

PICTURE SPEAK

MIDSUMMER NIGHTMARE: Marine Drive will not sparkle

MUMBAI It is a summer of discontent for the nearly 10 crore population of Maharashtra. The state is grappling with an unprecedented power shortage of 4,000 MW, leading to long hours of load shedding-rural areas are subject to a 10-hour power cut daily while it is four hours in urban areas-and statewide agitations by the opposition Shiv Sena-bjp combine.

Last week, a protest by a group of Shiv Sainiks took a violent turn at the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) office in Pune while a mob gheraoed MSEB officers in Nagpur. "Let the Government face the music," says BJP state chief Nitin Gadkari.

With the entire state engulfed in power crisis and Mumbai enjoying uninterrupted power supply, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission tried to undo the inequity by cutting power to illuminate hoardings and neon signs. It also proposed restricted use of electricity in theatres, shops and industrial units. The basic issue, of course, is that successive governments have done little in the face of the impending crisis, specially after the plug was pulled on the Enron power project. If the situation worsens, it could eventually rob the current government of power.

-By Parikshit Joshi

DELHI Earlier it was Jaswant Singh and Jaipal Reddy who had fellow parliamentarians scrambling for the nearest English dictionary whenever they spoke in the House. But it seems Finance Minister P. Chidambaram too has joined the elitist club. Last week while replying to a question from the CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta, he was taken aback when Dasgupta told him "not to use his linguistic bombards". A gleeful Chidambaram replied, "I thought my language was simple. In fact I am learning from Reddy how to speak in a simple language." Can't blame the Left though. It took on the Opposition's role with the NDA boycotting Parliament last week, and did a better job than Advani and Co.

-By Priya Sahgal

DIED: Lt-General Jagjit Singh Aurora, 89, hero of the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. Aurora, as general officer commanding of the Eastern Command, led the strike by Indian forces in the then East Pakistan which led to the surrender of over 90,000 Pakistani troops.

SELECTED: Carnatic musician m. balamuralikrishna, for the Chevalier Award, the French Government's highest civilian recognition.

HONOURED: Anuradha Bakshi, social worker, with the Today Citizen One Award 2005, for her work in educating slum children in Delhi, on the occasion of Delhi's afternoon newspaper Today's third anniversary.

BECOMES: Bula Chowdhury, India's long-distance swimmer, the first woman to swim the oceans of the five continents by crossing a 30-km stretch from Three Anchor Bay to Robben Islands in South Africa.

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