Column

Amitabh Bachchan’s second brush with politics seems to be heading down the same unhappy path of his earlier stint. Twenty years ago, an ugly falling out with the Gandhis led first to his resignation from Parliament when the Bofors scandal was at its peak, and later to his banishment from 10 Janpath. Now he’s smack in the middle of a controversy with the Samajwadi Party over a series of election ads featuring him, which are currently being run on television. The ads have been disowned by none other than Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother, Shiv Pal Yadav, who flatly denied that the party had commissioned them. He said he had no clue who got them made or who paid for the series. The Samajwadi Party hasn’t been billed for them, he insisted.

His comments were almost a slap in the Big B’s face and as expected, they set off a furore in political circles. Raj Babbar, who’s ditched the SP to join the other side, immediately pounced on the remarks and shot off a letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, demanding a full-scale inquiry into the origin of the ads. If the SP hasn’t paid for them, the government should find out who did and trace the source of the funds, he declared. Informal estimates put the cost of making the ad clips and buying air time at some Rs. 150 crores.

Shiv Pal Yadav’s statements have left Bachchan stranded in a kind of no-man’s land. If the SP leader is to be believed, the actor is canvassing for a party which hasn’t sought the favour! Surely the Big B deserves more respect, that too from a political party for which he has always found time despite his unhappy experience with the Congress.

***

Of course, the younger Yadav has been putting his foot into his mouth of late. When he finally plucked up the courage to visit Nithari, supposedly to commiserate with the parents of the children who were murdered and mutilated in such a horrible manner, he stirred up a hornet’s nest there too. Dismissing the tragedy as a minor crime, he said these things happen all the time. As if that wasn’t impolitic enough, he went on to add that the police should be commended for cracking the case so fast! Even Mulayam Singh Yadav realised the political damage of his brother’s callous remarks and gave him a severe dressing down. Obviously, the message didn’t get through.

***

These are unhappy times for Mulayam Singh. Apart from having to douse fires lit by his brother, he’s being forced to watch the spectacle of former friend and ally Ajit Singh flirting with the Congress. The Jat leader seems to have become a favoured guest at 10 Janpath these days. He’s been meeting Sonia Gandhi regularly. But the real thrill for him was to find Rahul Gandhi waiting to talk to him the last time he went to 10 Janpath. Apparently, Singh was so overwhelmed that he hasn’t stopped talking about the meeting, much to Mulayam’s annoyance. The SP leader was overheard complaining about the ease with which Singh has crossed over to ``them’’. In political circles, Singh is considered a weathercock. Is his desertion a sign of the changing political winds in UP? All eyes in Delhi are on next week’s show of strength by Mulayam Singh in the assembly. If his government falls, the crash will be felt all the way here.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net