REPORTERS’ DIARY

Ram out, Shiva in

For almost two decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party had made itself out to be the champion of Lord Ram and Ayodhya and “Jai Shri Ram” was its war cry.

With the BJP’s great white hope, Narendra Modi, contesting from Varanasi, the abode of Lord Shiva, the BJP seems to have switched loyalties and “Jai Shri Ram” has been replaced by “Har Har Mahadev”.

The sudden shift from Ram to Shiva has angered the seers and sants in Ayodhya. “The BJP should know that Lord Ram is the preserver of the universe and he preserved the party for two decades even though its leaders used the Lord’s name for political gains. Lord Shiva is not so lenient. He is known as the destroyer in Hindu mythology. If these leaders use his name for political gains, they will have to suffer the consequences,” warned a priest of the Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.

Interestingly, the BJP has already run into trouble — first with its slogan “Har Har Modi” and now with its “Modi-fied” version of a popular Durga shloka. “This is just the beginning and the message from Lord Shiva is — don’t mess with me. I hope the BJP leaders realise this,” the priest quipped.

A Celestial April Fool Prank

Bansilal Mahato of the Bharatiya Janata Party is taking on Congress heavyweight and Union minister of state for agriculture Charan Das Mahant in a multi-cornered contest in Korba parliamentary constituency in Central Chhattisgarh.

Dr Mahato, a doctor by profession, was keen to be guided by the less-than-scientific stars when going to file his nomination papers in his constituency on April 1 — the date selected by his astrological guide as being most favourable to him for submitting the papers. Dr Mahato set out in a procession at the appointed time, but before proceeding to the local returning officer’s office, he gave his customary address to his supporters. The speech went on for so long that one of his aides had to remind him to wind up as time was running out for filing his papers. The good doctor then got a pillion ride on a supporter’s bike and zoomed off to the district collector’s office.

But, alas, by the time he reached the office, it was already past office hours. He had to file his nomination the next day. Dr Mahato is now even more in need of some divine intervention since he has received subtle snubs from the state BJP leadership for not filing his papers at the appointed time.

A senior BJP leader here observed sarcastically, may be, it was an April fool prank by his stars.

Chopper gets poesy wings

Sushil Kumar Modi, the top Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Bihar and former deputy chief minister, is deeply immersed in campaigning for the party all over the state. The party is quite enamoured of his oratorical skills and “SuMo”, as he is known loc

ally, has been enthralling many by penning poetry in Hindi. “Shuru ho raha Bihar ke liye naya din, Kab tak sarkar chalaoge bahumat ke bin,” (Bad days for Bihar will soon become a rarity, How long can you run your government without a majority?) went one rhyming masterpiece.

But this very asset was his undoing in chief minister Nitish Kumar’s home district of Nalanda, on Sunday, when the BJP chopper flew off while SuMo was still in full flow, addressing a rally. The district authorities cited rules about the pre-determined rally duration and forced the pilot to fly, leaving SuMo and BJP national vice-president C.P. Thakur stranded on the dais.

A peeved SuMo and Mr Thakur had to go by road from Bihar Sharif to Islampur, 25 km away, for another rally. “The authorities must not be too technical about the rules at poll time,” grumbled SuMo. A BJP leader joked: “With Sushil Modiji flying on the wings of poetry, his chopper seems to have got inspired!”