Reporters' diary: Unparalleled' birthday boy

He is the newest kid on the block and has made a spectacular entry into public life. Aditya Yadav, son of Uttar Pradesh minister Shivpal Singh Yadav and the newest member of the Yadav clan, is all set to make a formal entry into politics. His birthday this week gave enough indication of his debut in politics. Huge hoardings with his photograph and a tongue-twisting caption that screamed “Adwitya Aditya” (unparalleled Aditya) sprung up in Lucknow and set political circles buzzing. As soon as the hoardings came up on his birthday, he was flooded with bouquets from party leaders and workers who sensed the potential in him — almost overnight.

Aditya, who got married earlier this year, is already chairperson of the UP Cooperative Federation, a post that  comes with ministerial rank, but he is known to keep a low profile and does not flaunt his status and clout. His biggest quality is that he also keeps a safe distance form family politics. If the grapevine is to be believed, Aditya Yadav will make a debut from Jaswant Nagar Assembly, a seat that his father now holds. With yet another addition to the Yadav clan, one can safely say the more, the merrier.

Congressmen on Tenterhooks
The appointment and resignation of Kamal Nath had put local Congressmen in Punjab on tenterhooks, apart from generating a controversy. Prior to Mr Nath’s appointment, Shakeel Ahmed was Punjab in-charge. As per the protocol, the local party unit was preparing for Rahul Gandhi’s dharna in Jalandhar against the drug menace.

The party unit splattered the town with hoardings and posters of Mr Gandhi along with Mr Ahmed for the dharna. However, to the surprise of local Congressmen, the party in-charge was changed at the last minute (a day before the proposed dharna). The local unit swung into action and tried to create new posters with the pictures of newly-appointed in-charge, Mr Nath. They were running against time and finding it difficult to replace the posters. However, as the controversy over the appointment of Mr Nath generated some heat, some seasoned leaders advised the state unit to go with the old posters with pictures of Mr Ahmed.

Naveen's goof-up
Believing media reports sometimes lands politicians in unexpected trouble and embarrassment. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik got a taste of this on Wednesday. Some television channels aired the news that Manimala Devi, a top Oriya movie actress, had passed away in a hospital after battling prolonged illness.

Mr Patnaik took immediately to Twitter: “Saddened by news of the demise of the doyen of Oriya cinema Ms Manimala Devi. May her soul rest in peace.” Shocked at Mr Patnaik’s tweet, the actress’ son Shankar Ghosh said: “My mother is alive, even if she is on ventilator support. She is well.” A few minutes later, the television channels that aired the news that the nonagenarian actress had passed away, expressed regret over their mistake.

Knowing he had also made a goof-up like the media, Mr Patnaik tweeted: “Relieved to know Ms Manimala Devi is bravely battling for life; retract earlier tweet responding to news. Prayers for her early recovery.” Some advice for the CM: Kindly check your facts before tweeting, Mr Patnaik.