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The Hazare stamp
With the general election looming, most politicians seem keen on getting a ‘cleanliness’ certificate from veteran social activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.
The latest to join the queue is the Trinamool Congress. The party, which tweeted that its general secretary Mukul Roy met Hazare at Ralegan Siddhi last week, declared: “Anna to campaign for Trinamool during LS polls.” TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is slated to meet Hazare to finalise the campaign on February 18.
One wonders what Hazare will have to say on some top TMC leaders being linked to the multi-crore Saradha chitfund scam.
Marathon men
Recently, at an event where RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan was the chief guest along with the Chairman and CEO of Edelweiss, Rashesh Shah, the welcome speech drew some comparisons between the two. Both are IIM alumni and both are married to batchmates.
Talking about their athletic abilities, the speaker noted that the RBI chief was ahead because he completed the marathon quicker than Shah. We presume he did not intend to prove who “runs faster” because on the professional front, Shah runs a finance firm which is also a banking licence applicant, while Rajan runs the regulator that will decide if the banking licence will be granted or not.
Look, they are playing our song!
With the Trinamool Congress welcoming ‘disco dancer’ star Mithun Chakraborty by giving him a Rajya Sabha ticket and the BJP slated to field Bappi Lahiri, the bejewelled creator of the popular Hindi number, “I am a Disco Dancer”, the electorate of West Bengal are sure to witness a rollicking poll campaign. “I won’t be surprised to see both dancing to the same song once again,” quipped a Left sympathiser, hinting that the TMC may join the NDA once again.
Beg your pardon
This from VL Mote, legendary teacher of ‘quants’ (statistics and maths) at IIM-A in the 1970s and 1980s, at an alumni meet. On the straightforward and somewhat blunt approach of Gujaratis, he recalled asking a colleague about the Gujarati equivalent of “I beg your pardon”. Pat came the terse reply: “We are never that polite.” When Mote persisted, asking: “So what do you do when you actually want to be that polite?” his colleague replied: We speak in English”!
Time-bound offer
At a recent interaction with chartered accountants, Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal urged them to work closely with his Ministry. He was willing to form a group involving IT ministry officials and representatives of the CA Institute to take the initiative forward. But Sibal wanted the ICAI to act fast. His offer closes on February 27 — when the model code of conduct for the general election is expected to come into force.
Overheard
Heard on Parliament Street in New Delhi on Friday: A young man tells his friend that the Bollywood film Gunday will be released in theatres that day.
The friend replies: “The world already got to see the premiere in Parliament (Lok Sabha) just the previous day.”
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