Column

Meanwhile in Delhi

The fur is flying in all directions after the Big B’s name surfaced last week as a possible Presidential candidate. Congress circles claimed it was Amar Singh’s brainchild and laughed the idea out of the window. Samajwadi Party leaders blamed sound-byte chasers in the media and the dirty tricks department of the Congress for starting the rumour to discredit them as “non-serious” politicians. The Left, which is tying itself in knots trying to run with the Congress and hunt with the SP, looked embarrassed and evaded questions. The BJP wasn’t sure whether it was good politics to stay away from the controversy or bad for its brand value to be left out and ignored. And the almost forgotten Telegu Desam Party seized the opportunity to make headlines.

***

In all this confusion, no one really knows how the rumour started. But if the story doing the rounds is to be believed, it arose from a disconnect between Amar Singh’s peculiar sense of humour and a journalist’s desperation for good copy. Apparently, at an informal press meet in Lucknow some days ago, Singh was being badgered by correspondents about the forthcoming presidential elections. They are several months away, due in June, but that didn’t stop the media from asking about possible nominees. Singh made his usual grandiose claims about the SP having the decisive vote (who can forget that Kalam’s name was first proposed by the SP?). So, who then, persisted one of the journalists. Amitabh Bachchan? Singh facetiously remarked, why not, and then proceeded to praise the actor. The reporter rushed to file the story and the rest, as they say, is history. The SP leader has often lamented that he’s the most misunderstood politician. Well, it’s easy to see why.

***

If Bollywood is being ripped apart by the star wars between Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, so is UP. Although the former is the state’s official brand ambassador, UP’s largest distillery group, Radico Khaitan, is believed to have tapped the latter to be its advertising face. Political circles in UP are surprised by the development because Lalit Khaitan and Amar Singh are supposed to be as thick as thieves. In fact, Khaitan was a major contributor to the SP treasury, for which the industrial group landed in serious trouble with the tax authorities. Despite Singh’s legendary contacts in power circles, Radico Khaitan offices were raided some months ago and the owners find themselves tied up in red tape. It is believed to have caused a rift between the friends and the move to rope in Khan is being seen as a Khaitan ploy to distance the group from its Singh connection. First it was Don, then KBC. Now, Khan seems to be headed for the Big B’s home state. What next?

***

Delhi lived up to its low-brow reputation at last week’s much-awaited lecture by Nobel laureate John Nash. The city’s movers and shakers made it a point to attend what was obviously an event at which anybody who’s anybody in the capital wanted to be seen. But once the introductions were over and the celebrated mathematician and contributor to the game theory began to speak, the audience started trickling out and headed for the bar. Truant guests who made a beeline for the drinks included external affairs ministry officials and even hacks who were supposed to be covering the lecture.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net