MK on song — in Hindi!

He made his name during the anti-Hindi agitation in the 1960s and that was one of the planks that helped the DMK come to power in Tamil Nadu towards the end of the decade. But when M Karunanidhi, DMK president and former chief minister, breaks into a patriotic song in Hindi, you know the wheel has come full circle and elections are round the corner.

The 90-year-old politician did exactly that when he kicked off his election campaign at a public meeting in Chennai last week. He used the song to drive home his pet theme of religious harmony and the need for secular parties to come together. The veteran politician must be banking on the fact that not too many voters will be aware of his party’s history. This is one gap he won’t mind.

Name game

An old trick to confuse voters is to put up dummy candidates with names similar to key candidates in the fray. The West Delhi constituency is one such seat where the AAP candidate Jarnail Singh (who flung a shoe at P Chidambaram) is pitted against sitting Congress MP Mahabal Mishra and BJP candidate Manoj Tiwari, a Bhojpuri actor.

According to the Election Commission’s list of candidates put up on display, there are three Jarnail Singhs fighting it out. The AAP is said to be taking great pains to tell voters to push the button on the broom symbol lest its candidate gets swept away in the confusion!

Matching tune

The traders’ lobby, which has been vociferous about opposing FDI in retail, now seems to be going all out to cheer e-commerce. At a recent event organised by ecommerce giant eBay, one lobby group was seen giving a thumbs up to e-retail saying it provided opportunities to small and medium entrepreneurs. Wonder if the new tune has anything to do with NaMo chanting the e-commerce mantra at another event recently.

Last ball six

The corporate affairs ministry seems to have scored a six of the last ball to emerge victorious in the new Company Law game. With most provisions of the new law coming into force on April 1, the first set of final rules were rolled out late Thursday night. As many as 282 sections of the 470 sections in the new law will come into force on April 1.

However, there was some anxiety in India Inc about the rules and unseemly, needless haste in pushing them through. Why is India Inc not entirely happy? Reason: According to one CEO, while the country took two decades to enact a new law, corporates were not given even two days to “go through and digest the rules”.

Following the dream

At a recent press conference, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said the Congress was responsible for all the ills plaguing the country and it was time to root out the party. He said it wouldn’t be long before this turned into reality as Sonia Gandhi would ensure this. He recalled that Mahatma Gandhi had wanted the party disbanded after Independence as the purpose for which it had been formed had been realised. Naidu said the Mahatma had appeared in Sonia’s dream and told her to implement his wish. Since she religiously followed the Mahatma, Sonia would ensure there won’t be any Congress anywhere.

Guilty conscience

The BJP has been the target of criticism in the media for fielding very few women candidates. At a press conference in Chennai, its former president Venkaiah Naidu responded by pointing to his colleagues the dais — there were a few women — and remarking, “You keep saying we have not given adequate seats for women but look how many are seated here”.

All in good humour, of course, but surely an indirect acknowledgment of the fact that the BJP has very few women candidates.

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