The Mulayam family’s love for Muslim’s is not a hidden secret; not just that, it is a crucial election strategy for the party. In the past, both Mulayam and Akhilesh have organized several lunches and dinners for ambassadors from West Asia and the gulf region. As the clock ticks for elections in UP, Mulayam told one of his close aides that it was time that the ambassadors of these West Asian countries organize a lunch or dinner for him as well. Netaji’s wish was their command, and Bahrain’s ambassador organized a working lunch with him, which was attended by 12 other ambassadors, which included those from Oman and Turkey as well. The lunch was to be attended by both Akhilesh and Mulayam, but Akhilesh could not be there for some reason. Mulayam attended the lunch with one of his Muslim Rajya Sabha members, and gave a long lecture during lunch on how he alone was the crusader for the Muslims. Although he had taken a translator along, he kept speaking in English every now and then, too. But most of what he said was difficult to understand for the ambassadors present. One softly asked the other, “Which language is the gentleman speaking?” The other replied, “Does love have a language?”

Congress party heavyweights are actively participating in the race to become the party’s head in UP. A few days ago, actor-turned politician Raj Babbar met party’s Vice President Rahul Gandhi and staked claim to head the party in UP. Babbar’s argument was that there is no caste-specific tag on him. That is why he finds acceptance with people of all castes. People know him and because his wife Nadira comes from a Muslim family, his acceptance among Muslim voters is good, too. Rahul found logic in what Babbar had to say, and for now he has given the matter to the party’s electoral strategist Prashant Kishore. Soon thereafter, Jitin Prasad met with Sonia Gandhi and staked his claim for the party’s head in UP. Sonia let the matter slide with Jitin saying it was Rahul who was looking at UP for now, and so it would be better if Jitin met him.

Several marathon meetings have taken place between Rahul and Prashant Kishore regarding the party president for UP. In the end, both came to the conclusion that why not take the name to the public and let the public decide. Sources say that after getting the go-ahead from Rahul, Prashant Kishore shortlisted the names of 12 such leaders, and the task was given to a Lucknow-based survey agency, to look at these names based on popularity. The agency conducted a big public opinion survey for these 12 names in eight cities that included Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Aligarh, Agra, and Ghaziabad. The maximum votes went to Priyanka Gandhi, with the people’s opinion that she should keep her distance from her husband Robert Vadra in her political journey. In any case, even Rahul agrees that Rahul has nothing to do with the Congress by a long shot. And the sun hasn’t risen on the person related to it.

Self-proclaimed Robinhood editor of a news channel happened to be in Kolkata to cover the elections in West Bengal. There was supposed to be an exclusive interview with Mamta Banerjee, as well as dinner. When he arrived in Kolkata in the morning, he made directly for Aveek Sarkar’s place, the owner of Anand Bazar Patrika. That is because he has worked in The Telegraph in the past. He had lunch with Sarkar as well as tea, and both engaged in conversation and discussions for a long time. When Didi came to know about it, she was enraged. That is because Mamta and Aveek Sarkar, along with his media group, can’t stand each other. Suddenly, the journalist got a phone from Mamta, informing him that the meeting between the two has been cancelled. The journalist called Mamta right back, requesting for the interaction, saying it was only for her that he had come from Delhi. Sources say that an angry Mamta then gave the journalist a piece of her mind, and reminded him how she had supported him on his Bengali wife’s request, when he was mired in the controversy of the selling and buying of Parliamentarians. And today he was breaking bread with those opposing Didi?

Ever since it’s Modi Raj in Delhi, the Sangh is climbing new rungs of success. The Sangh’s branch organisation in the UK, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, is celebrating its 50 years of completion on July 30. The golden jubilee celebrations of the organisation might have Mohan Bhagwat as the chief guest. Big preparations are on in London at present, and several heavyweight Cabinet ministers of Modi government, prominent Sangh leaders, and top BJP leaders might attend the event. Also present might be the royal family of Britain, London’s mayor, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and several world-class cricket players, and many top industrialists of London and India. The event might also see Richard Branson, chairman, Virgin Group, delivering a speech about the advantages of vegetarian diet with “Why is it important to ban beef?” In any case, Branson is of the opinion that the increase in non-vegetarian diet will have a direct impact on global warming. The way Modi ji’s popularity is crossing borders, the Sangh too is becoming active in the countries with a high NRI population.

These days, Piyush Goyal, minister of state with independent charge for power, coal, new and renewable energy, is going through a good patch in life. On the occasion of completing two years, Modi government has especially chosen Goyal’s ministry as one that has completed its target and has done maximum work in that direction. To felicitate this achievement, about 10 lakh employees in the three ministries will be presented with a certificate letter that will come in the form of carved wood and will be 8.5X14’ in size. Wearing the laurels of achievement, when Goyal was giving an interview to the reputed UK financial daily Financial Times, the reporter’s fifth or sixth question was, “Will you be the country’s next finance minister?” Goyal’s answer was, “This is the prime minister’s prerogative, and whatever responsibility I am given, I will carry it out with utmost dedication.” He also added that he has some fool-proof policies for the country’s current financial position, and so on. Two hours after the reported left, Goyal realised he should have avoided answering the question. So he immediately called the foreign correspondent and requested the person to omit the question. But the journalist was not ready to do that. So Mr Minister went to the journalist’s house in Nizamuddin with his entourage, and returned only after he had the journalist omit the question.

Sensing the Modi government’s aggressive stance on Chidambaram, Sonia Gandhi met with Ghulam Nabi Azad a few days ago, and told him that launching Chidambaram into the electoral fray at this time would not be a wise thing to do, since the Central government has attacked his very image. Sources say Ghulam smiled at this, and told madam that Chidambaram has given eight days to campaign for the party in Tamil Nadu, but that is of no use since no Congress candidate has placed a demand for him. So much so that the Congress candidate from his own Assembly constituency is not ready to have him there for campaigning. Sonia sighed with relief at this.

Several Parliamentarians from different parties, including Supriya Sule, Jay Panda, and Poonam Mahajan, were mingling amongst each other in the Central Hall. The discussion was why was Venkaiah Naidu’s floor management a flop show. Jay Panda was of the opinion that the prime minister should change his parliamentary affairs minister. At this, a Parliamentarian asked Supriya Sule who, in her opinion, could prove to be an efficient parliamentary affairs minister? Without giving it a second thought, Sule named Nishikant Dubey for the post, the BJP Parliamentarian from Godda, Jharkhand. Jay Panda sharply retorted at this, “Don’t you have any other name?” Supriya’s innocent reply was, “Why, what’s wrong with Nishikant’s name?”

Eight senior journalists, who live in Delhi but cover Maharashtra politics, were invited for dinner by the young chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at his residence “Varsha” in Mumbai. These journalists were given flight tickets to Mumbai. The journalists arrived and talks and discussions started. One journalist told Fadnavis, “People are not happy with your work; you will have to make changes in yourself.” Fadnavis replied, “Please enjoy your meal. Today we will only talk about pleasant things.” But the journalist aimed his ammo at Fadnavis and said, “But that doesn’t mean you can deny the truth.” Fadnavis got a little upset at this and said, “I never thought I will become the CM. I thought it will be Munde ji or Gadkari ji. If god has given me this opportunity, why should I waste my time thinking about unpleasant things? I am the CM for five years. If the party comes back to power, fair enough, or I will become the leader of Opposition. You will not be able to erase the history of five years, will you?” The journalist realised it was better to keep quiet.

The two Gandhi cousins, Varun and Rahul, met at the foreign ministry’s Parliamentary Committee meeting. Both Gandhis are a part of the committee that is headed by Shashi Tharoor. Both brothers met with great warmth and didn’t let their party loyalties get in the way. Then the committee members at the meeting expressed their concern about Sushma Swaraj’s health, and Dr Karan Singh wanted to know how old she was. Rahul blurted out she was about 70-72 years old. At this, Sharad Tripathi, BJP’s Parliamentarian from UP said she was no more than 66-67 years old. Varun corrected everyone and said Swaraj was merely 64 years old. After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi went to AIIMS to meet Swaraj, where she is undergoing treatment.