Now, Madhuri magic for Maya’s party

Stretching its social engineering project ~ which is no more than a euphemism for caste politics according to some ~ beyond the shores of India and the confines of the political spectrum, the Miss Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has invited America-settled Hindi film actress Madhuri Dixit to visit Pune and campaign for Mr DS Kulkarni, its Brahmin candidate for the Lok Sabha constituency.
While it's unusual, even uncharacteristic, of Miss Mayawati to invite any mainstream "celebrity" to canvass for her tightly controlled political organisation, the fact that Dixit had been a director on the board of Mr Kulkarni’s Pune-based construction company ~ DSK Developers Private Limited ~ for several years and that the actress and the BSP candidate are of the same caste may clinch the issue. Reports from Pune suggest the erstwhile Bollywood top draw who is still popular and in demand by filmmakers is likely to agree to campaign for Mr Kulkarni.
Pune, which goes to the polls in the second phase on 26 April, is known as the "cultural capital" of Maharashtra and glories in the historical fact that it was ruled by (Brahmin) Peshwa rulers before British colonial subjugation. The city has around four lakh Brahmin voters and Mr Kulkarni is the most powerful builder of the city. But that doesn't prevent him from often beginning his campaign speech with the invocation "Jai Bhim", a reverential reference to BR Ambedkar. BSP sources said the party was hopeful of opening its account in Maharashtra as Mr Kulkarni is in with a "winning chance". "All he needs is a little boost," a BSP leader told The Statesman; and it's that X Factor, as it were, which Madhuri Dixit is expected to be if she addresses a few rallies.
Indeed, the news that Bollywood's dancing diva may pitch in for the BSP candidate may be the last straw for the Congress’ sitting MP Mr Suresh Kalmadi who is waging a grim battle to retain his seat as the "caste combination" seems to be working in favour of Mr Kulkarni. As it is, Mr Kalmadi is heavily dependent on the Nationalist Congress Party, which is in an alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra, to run his campaign; and while Mr Sharad Pawar has addressed a couple of rallies for him, the NCP chief's nephew Mr Ajit Pawar has refused to campaign for Mr Kalmadi.
n Nandu Kulkarni