On the grounds that you’ve had politics coming out of your ears this week, I’m not going to write about the election or the campaign. Instead, I’m going to focus on something that will still remain a problem long after this campaign is over, the government has been formed and even after that government has fallen.
And that is ragging.
Contrary to what you will read in articles written by ragging apologists, it is not an international practice. Yes, there is something called hazing at military schools and colleges in the US but it is increasingly rare and strict action is taken when it comes to light. It is completely unknown in Britain or in the rest of Europe. The old public school concept of ragging, which is often used to justify the Indian version, was never anything like our kind of ragging and even that has disappeared from English public schools.
In India, on the other hand, ragging is about sadism, brutality, power and often has a sexual component. Most of us would have read about the sad case of Aman Kachroo who was murdered by students at a medical college in Himachal Pradesh under the pretext of ragging. Aman died of a brain haemorrhage as a consequence of a brutal assault, the last of several attacks that continued till there was no life in his body.
The incident made the headlines and on the week of March 8, a survey showed that Aman was the most talked about person in India on the internet. The usual pious editorials were written. And many of us shed tears over the needless death of a brilliant 19-year-old boy.
But the true tragedy is not that Aman died. There have been other deaths before, many of them even more tragic. Each has been followed by the same editorials and the same internet chatter.
The real tragedy is that other boys will continue to die. And each time we will shed the same tears, ask the police to take action — and then sit back and wait till it happens again. And again. And again.
A month ago I met Prof Raj Kachroo, Aman’s father. He teaches in Tanzania and had been unaware of the kind of trouble his son was in. Aman had complained about the ragging but Prof Kachroo, like many of us, believed that this was just part of the settling in process at college. He regrets deeply that he did not take Aman’s complaints more seriously and pull him out of that murderous medical college.
But unlike many other parents in similar situations, Prof Kachroo is cerebral enough to go beyond emotion. Of course he grieves for his son. And of course he wants justice.
But he knows that the real answer lies in fighting the practice of ragging itself, not in seeking justice only for his son. The way to avenge Aman’s death is not just to punish those who killed him but to protect all the other potential Amans who cower in fear in our colleges and hostels.
As Prof Kachroo says, “Everybody wakes up when a tragedy occurs. And then everybody wants to punish the perpetrators of the crime as harshly as possible. This is what we call justice. But it is not real justice. The real justice is in prevention and monitoring and not in punishing… More students will stop ragging if there are effective preventive and monitoring measures in place.”
He is right. There are a number of Supreme Court judgements that say that ragging is illegal and that heads of institutions are liable for ragging that occurs in their colleges and will personally be charged under the law should any incidents of ragging be reported. But these judgements might as well not exist. Few principals even seem aware that they could go to jail. And the regulatory bodies that are supposed to monitor behaviour in universities neither communicate these judgements nor — truthfully — do they really give a damn about ragging. They are too busy with academic politics to care about the lives of students.
So, is there a way out?
I think there is. First of all, we need to follow a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to ragging. I’m aware of all those tedious arguments about how ragging helps freshers get to know their seniors better. But frankly, if the only way a senior can get to know a new student is by pushing him or her around or making the student do something silly (sing a song outside the girls’ hostel in your underwear etc) then that’s a pretty pathetic comment on the mentality of that educational institution. Surely, there are other ways of getting to know each other that do not involve demonstrations of power.
Secondly, we need to accept that the worst cases of ragging do not occur in big city colleges but crop up in faraway medical colleges and technical institutions. Many of these places are not on the media radar and often the nearest police stations are miles away. Students feel isolated and trapped and, therefore, unable to register any kind of protest against ragging.
In such cases, the onus is on the heads of those institutions to ensure the safety of their students. This sounds fine in theory but the truth is that small town principals rarely bother to do anything. To make sure that they act, we need to make examples of some of them. I would be quite happy to see a few principals thrown into jail when cases of ragging are reported. It’s not enough to punish the perpetrators of ragging: they will pass out of college but the principals will remain.
And finally, I think we should look closely at the suggestion that Prof Kachroo has come up with. He says that there should be an anti-ragging website where every student who is registered at an Indian university should be directed. The site will have a film about ragging and it will be mandatory for all students to register on the site, after which they should sign an affidavit and get a unique identification number like an airline PNR. That way the moment a complaint comes in we will be able to identify both perpetrator and victim.
It should be possible for anyone who is ragged to either complain on the site or to call an anti-ragging helpline. The organisation (a mix of civil society and government) should be able to call the college within minutes of receiving the complaint and demand that action is taken against the perpetrators. If the college principal does not act, he should be sacked or jailed.
The advantage of Prof Kachroo’s suggestions is that they do not require too much government intervention. They use communications technology and involve civil society, not just the babus. They seem to me to be a good starting point for action.
And nobody can doubt that action is needed. Ragging has now become a microcosm of the nastiest aspects of Indian society: sexual humiliation, caste-based bullying, naked sadism and demonstrations of power against the weak and the helpless.
What kind of society are we creating if this is how we allow our children to be treated?
Saturday, April 18, 2009
'Iron man' depends on RSS for decisions: Sonia Gandhi
Stepping up attack on NDA's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani for his weak PM remarks against Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the BJP leader himself "cannot take any decision without the approval of Sangh Parivar".
"The leader (Advani) who has targeted our Prime Minister, can he ever take a decision without the approval of Sangh Parivar? He even had to quit his post once. Then you know who is weak," she said.
"Congress does not run on the instruction or order of anybody. It takes its orders from people," she told an election rally in Pangidi.
Gandhi had on April 15 alleged that the BJP leader was a "slave of the RSS", while dismissing his oft-repeated charge of Manmohan Singh being a weak Prime Minister.
She ridiculed BJP's charges of the UPA being "soft on terror", saying her party has never been weak in fighting terrorists.
Highlighting the achievements of Congress governments since Independence, Gandhi said whether it is industrialisation or modernisation of the country, nationalisation of banks, empowerment of women through Panchayat Raj institutions, it is Congress which "has always taken the lead".
"You are aware of the rich history of Congress in securing independence for the country and building a prosperous nation. You know what is the contribution of Congress in nation-building," she said.
"Congress has undertaken infrastructure development in the country and provided reservations for dalits and tribals and brought green revolution," Sonia said.
"It is the Congress which has ushered in landmark schemes like NREGS, mid-day meal, Rs 72,000 crore loan waiver and technical education by building institutes of repute," she told the rally.
She appealed to the electorate to vote for Congress candidates in the elections "to take forward the development works undertaken by the party governments."
Speaking on the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asked people "not to believe" TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu who is "promising to provide everything for free".
The TDP has an alliance with TRS that is opposed to irrigation projects like Pulichintala and Polavaram that are meant for development of the coastal Andhra region and they may not be achieved if the TDP came to power, he charged.
Reddy had earlier kicked up a political row by allegedly stating that people from coastal Andhra and Telangana would have to live like foreigners in Hyderabad if the TDP-led "Grand Alliance came to power".
Reddy, however, clarified that he merely stated the views expressed by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao who had threatened to close down the educational institutions and businesses run by those from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
"The leader (Advani) who has targeted our Prime Minister, can he ever take a decision without the approval of Sangh Parivar? He even had to quit his post once. Then you know who is weak," she said.
"Congress does not run on the instruction or order of anybody. It takes its orders from people," she told an election rally in Pangidi.
Gandhi had on April 15 alleged that the BJP leader was a "slave of the RSS", while dismissing his oft-repeated charge of Manmohan Singh being a weak Prime Minister.
She ridiculed BJP's charges of the UPA being "soft on terror", saying her party has never been weak in fighting terrorists.
Highlighting the achievements of Congress governments since Independence, Gandhi said whether it is industrialisation or modernisation of the country, nationalisation of banks, empowerment of women through Panchayat Raj institutions, it is Congress which "has always taken the lead".
"You are aware of the rich history of Congress in securing independence for the country and building a prosperous nation. You know what is the contribution of Congress in nation-building," she said.
"Congress has undertaken infrastructure development in the country and provided reservations for dalits and tribals and brought green revolution," Sonia said.
"It is the Congress which has ushered in landmark schemes like NREGS, mid-day meal, Rs 72,000 crore loan waiver and technical education by building institutes of repute," she told the rally.
She appealed to the electorate to vote for Congress candidates in the elections "to take forward the development works undertaken by the party governments."
Speaking on the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy asked people "not to believe" TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu who is "promising to provide everything for free".
The TDP has an alliance with TRS that is opposed to irrigation projects like Pulichintala and Polavaram that are meant for development of the coastal Andhra region and they may not be achieved if the TDP came to power, he charged.
Reddy had earlier kicked up a political row by allegedly stating that people from coastal Andhra and Telangana would have to live like foreigners in Hyderabad if the TDP-led "Grand Alliance came to power".
Reddy, however, clarified that he merely stated the views expressed by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao who had threatened to close down the educational institutions and businesses run by those from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
Friday, April 17, 2009
India to grow at 7 %, says advisory panel
The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) on Friday said it expected the country’s economy to grow at over seven per cent in the current fiscal as it had already started showing signs of recovery.
“Seven per cent plus is what my 2009-10 overall forecast is... I think it has already started recovering in my own assessment,” PMEAC Chairman Suresh Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a conference on broadband here.
He further said it expected rebound in the economy after September as the worst was over.
“I have been maintaining that the worst is already over, (I expect) good recovery after September,” Mr. Tendulkar added. Asked if the contracting industrial production worried him, he said the revised industrial production numbers were higher than the provisional ones, so it did not bother him much.
Despite three stimulus packages announced by the Government, the Indian economy grew by 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of the last fiscal, its lowest rate in over five years, against a whopping 8.9 per cent a year ago.
In the first nine months of last fiscal, the economy grew by 6.9 per cent. For the whole of 2008-09, the advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) pegged the economic growth at 7.1 per cent, which seems a tough task in the wake of dismal industrial growth numbers. On account of slackening demand hitting Indian trade more than anticipated, PMEAC lowered the country’s growth estimate to 6.5-7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.1 per cent for 2008-09.
To boost the economy, the Government came out with three stimulus packages in December, January and in the interim budget, providing incentives to various sectors.
The Reserve Bank also took monetary easing measures by infusing more than Rs. 4 lakh crore since October.
However, industrial growth turned negative in October, December and in January. Besides, exports declined for the fifth consecutive month in February
“Seven per cent plus is what my 2009-10 overall forecast is... I think it has already started recovering in my own assessment,” PMEAC Chairman Suresh Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a conference on broadband here.
He further said it expected rebound in the economy after September as the worst was over.
“I have been maintaining that the worst is already over, (I expect) good recovery after September,” Mr. Tendulkar added. Asked if the contracting industrial production worried him, he said the revised industrial production numbers were higher than the provisional ones, so it did not bother him much.
Despite three stimulus packages announced by the Government, the Indian economy grew by 5.3 per cent in the third quarter of the last fiscal, its lowest rate in over five years, against a whopping 8.9 per cent a year ago.
In the first nine months of last fiscal, the economy grew by 6.9 per cent. For the whole of 2008-09, the advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) pegged the economic growth at 7.1 per cent, which seems a tough task in the wake of dismal industrial growth numbers. On account of slackening demand hitting Indian trade more than anticipated, PMEAC lowered the country’s growth estimate to 6.5-7 per cent from the earlier estimate of 7.1 per cent for 2008-09.
To boost the economy, the Government came out with three stimulus packages in December, January and in the interim budget, providing incentives to various sectors.
The Reserve Bank also took monetary easing measures by infusing more than Rs. 4 lakh crore since October.
However, industrial growth turned negative in October, December and in January. Besides, exports declined for the fifth consecutive month in February
'India may face another major terrorist attack'
With the extremist elements in Pakistan expanding their sphere of influence, an American think tank on Friday warned that there could be another major terrorist attack inside India by these militants.
In its intelligence analysis after the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, Texas-based global intelligence agency Stratfor said India is watching fearfully as the jihadist insurgency in neighbouring Pakistan has spread to India's doorstep in Pakistan's Punjab province.
These attacks, Stratfor said, have revealed a trend in which the Kashmiri Islamist militant proxies formerly controlled by Pakistan's ISI are now moving into the jihadist orbit under al-Qaeda and the Taliban to carry out more complex and deadly attacks.
"Since these are the same militants who traditionally have had their sights on India, it is very likely that India will witness another large-scale attack," Stratfor said.
Under the Congress rule, it said, India restrained itself from attacking Pakistan following the November 2008 Mumbai attack.
"New Delhi's restraint arose from fears of destabilizing Pakistan further and granting the militants' wish for a cross-border conflict to divert the Pakistani military's attention from the Afghan-Pakistani border region toward India," it said.
As the link between Islamabad and its militant proxies grows more nebulous, India will continue to struggle to hold the Pakistani government accountable for such attacks, Stratfor said.
Commenting on the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Stratfor said it is more hard-line on national security issues, and never misses an opportunity to accuse Congress of being soft on terrorism.
"India is more likely to deliver a forceful response to future attacks should the BJP emerge victorious in these elections," it added.
In its intelligence analysis after the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, Texas-based global intelligence agency Stratfor said India is watching fearfully as the jihadist insurgency in neighbouring Pakistan has spread to India's doorstep in Pakistan's Punjab province.
These attacks, Stratfor said, have revealed a trend in which the Kashmiri Islamist militant proxies formerly controlled by Pakistan's ISI are now moving into the jihadist orbit under al-Qaeda and the Taliban to carry out more complex and deadly attacks.
"Since these are the same militants who traditionally have had their sights on India, it is very likely that India will witness another large-scale attack," Stratfor said.
Under the Congress rule, it said, India restrained itself from attacking Pakistan following the November 2008 Mumbai attack.
"New Delhi's restraint arose from fears of destabilizing Pakistan further and granting the militants' wish for a cross-border conflict to divert the Pakistani military's attention from the Afghan-Pakistani border region toward India," it said.
As the link between Islamabad and its militant proxies grows more nebulous, India will continue to struggle to hold the Pakistani government accountable for such attacks, Stratfor said.
Commenting on the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Stratfor said it is more hard-line on national security issues, and never misses an opportunity to accuse Congress of being soft on terrorism.
"India is more likely to deliver a forceful response to future attacks should the BJP emerge victorious in these elections," it added.
'UPA allies will come together post-polls to form Govt'
LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday that the party would not "repeat the same mistake" of backing the BJP-led NDA as he exuded confidence that the Fourth Front would be able to form the government at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections.
The Fourth Front was formed as Congress had expressed inability to form a pre-poll alliance, he said, adding "the UPA allies LJP, RJD and Samajwadi Party had fought assembly and Lok Sabha elections separately in the past and came together to form the government."
The Fourth Front, would however, not join the NDA even if it secured a majority, he told reporters at the airport in Jamshedpur.
"I had committed a blunder in the past by supporting the NDA and I don't want to repeat the same mistake," he said. Later, at an election meeting, he criticised the BJP for its "anti-minority approach" saying the sole motive of the party was to "divide" the people on communal lines.
Paswan said he was proud of the minority community as it had protected the country during wars.
The Fourth Front was formed as Congress had expressed inability to form a pre-poll alliance, he said, adding "the UPA allies LJP, RJD and Samajwadi Party had fought assembly and Lok Sabha elections separately in the past and came together to form the government."
The Fourth Front, would however, not join the NDA even if it secured a majority, he told reporters at the airport in Jamshedpur.
"I had committed a blunder in the past by supporting the NDA and I don't want to repeat the same mistake," he said. Later, at an election meeting, he criticised the BJP for its "anti-minority approach" saying the sole motive of the party was to "divide" the people on communal lines.
Paswan said he was proud of the minority community as it had protected the country during wars.
Extend ceasefire, India tells Lanka
Amid criticism that it wasn't doing enough to influence Sri Lanka, India today made it clear to Colombo that further civilian casualties in the war zone would be "totally unacceptable". This came on a day the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK said in its election manifesto that if devolution of powers in Tamil-dominated provinces of Sri Lanka failed to give equal status to Tamils, it would press for a “separate Eelam”.
Adding to the pressure, Tamil Nadu chief minister Mr M Karunanidhi shot off a telegram to New Delhi urging the government to sever all ties with Colombo if did not honour and implement India's appeal for a ceasefire immediately.
“Tamils should be accorded equal status with the Sinhala majority with devolution of administrative power in the Tamil-dominated provinces of Sri Lanka,” the AIADMK manifesto, released by Miss J Jayalalithaa in Chennai, reads. It reads: “If these moves fail, then AIADMK will press for a separate state of Eelam to ensure that Tamils in the island live a life of dignity.”
Foreign minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee urged Sri Lanka to extend a limited ceasefire to enable the civilians trapped in the conflict zone to move to safe areas. "Sri Lanka must extend this pause in hostilities to prevent further casualties and enable trapped civilians to leave the area to secure locations," he said in an unusually hard-hitting statement. "Continuation of precipitate military actions leading to further civilian casualties at this time would be totally unacceptable," he added. Mr Mukherjee said that while it was incumbent on the LTTE to release all civilians under its control, Colombo "cannot be oblivious to the evolving human tragedy and the fate of the Tamil civilian population caught up in the so-called no fire zone". "There is no reason not to continue with the pause in military actions in the no fire zone... India expects the government of Sri Lanka and others concerned to respond positively to this appeal...," Mr Mukherjee said.
The statement was immediately hailed by the Tamil National Alliance, the pro-LTTE Sri Lankan Tamil grouping that over the past two days met national security advisor Mr MK Narayanan and foreign secretary Mr Shivshankar Menon to impress upon them the need for India to act fast.
In Chennai, the AIADMK manifesto promised a grant of Rs 10,000 crore for the restoration and development of Tamil areas of Sri Lanka after the devolution was completed. Sharing the dais with CPI-M general secretary Mr Prakash Karat, CPI leaders Mr N Varadarajan, Mr AB Bhardan, Mr D Raja, Mr D Pandian other than PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss and MDMK leader Mr Vaiko, Miss Jayalalithaa urged the electorate: "Give us 40 seats and we can be kingmakers.”
Meanwhile, as top UN official and veteran Indian diplomat Mr Vijay Nambiar met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the plight of civilians trapped in fighting in the north, the LTTE, in a statement on the pro-Tiger TamilNet website, accused the UN, India and the international community of tacitly backing Sri Lanka in launching a military offensive in the civilian safety zone even as it sought a permanent truce in the north..
Adding to the pressure, Tamil Nadu chief minister Mr M Karunanidhi shot off a telegram to New Delhi urging the government to sever all ties with Colombo if did not honour and implement India's appeal for a ceasefire immediately.
“Tamils should be accorded equal status with the Sinhala majority with devolution of administrative power in the Tamil-dominated provinces of Sri Lanka,” the AIADMK manifesto, released by Miss J Jayalalithaa in Chennai, reads. It reads: “If these moves fail, then AIADMK will press for a separate state of Eelam to ensure that Tamils in the island live a life of dignity.”
Foreign minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee urged Sri Lanka to extend a limited ceasefire to enable the civilians trapped in the conflict zone to move to safe areas. "Sri Lanka must extend this pause in hostilities to prevent further casualties and enable trapped civilians to leave the area to secure locations," he said in an unusually hard-hitting statement. "Continuation of precipitate military actions leading to further civilian casualties at this time would be totally unacceptable," he added. Mr Mukherjee said that while it was incumbent on the LTTE to release all civilians under its control, Colombo "cannot be oblivious to the evolving human tragedy and the fate of the Tamil civilian population caught up in the so-called no fire zone". "There is no reason not to continue with the pause in military actions in the no fire zone... India expects the government of Sri Lanka and others concerned to respond positively to this appeal...," Mr Mukherjee said.
The statement was immediately hailed by the Tamil National Alliance, the pro-LTTE Sri Lankan Tamil grouping that over the past two days met national security advisor Mr MK Narayanan and foreign secretary Mr Shivshankar Menon to impress upon them the need for India to act fast.
In Chennai, the AIADMK manifesto promised a grant of Rs 10,000 crore for the restoration and development of Tamil areas of Sri Lanka after the devolution was completed. Sharing the dais with CPI-M general secretary Mr Prakash Karat, CPI leaders Mr N Varadarajan, Mr AB Bhardan, Mr D Raja, Mr D Pandian other than PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss and MDMK leader Mr Vaiko, Miss Jayalalithaa urged the electorate: "Give us 40 seats and we can be kingmakers.”
Meanwhile, as top UN official and veteran Indian diplomat Mr Vijay Nambiar met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss the plight of civilians trapped in fighting in the north, the LTTE, in a statement on the pro-Tiger TamilNet website, accused the UN, India and the international community of tacitly backing Sri Lanka in launching a military offensive in the civilian safety zone even as it sought a permanent truce in the north..
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
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
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