Big B praise Sena, Bal Thackeray

Big B praise Sena, Bal Thackeray

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan had a word of praise for Shiv Sena and it's founder, late Bal Thackeray.
Narrating when he was airdashed from Bengalaru to Mumbai in 1982 post the near-fatal accident during shooting of Coolie, he said: "When I was brought it was raining heavily. No ambulances were available. The Shiv Sena ambulance came and rushed me to Breach Candy hospital."
Recalling the tough times during the Bofors scandal, he said that was Thackeray who stood by him. "He asked me to tell the truth...I told him...He told me to stay indoors and walk out with head held high," he said and shared how as a family he shared close relations with the Thackerays.
Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai

All is not well in the Opposition camp after Rahul Gandhi's elevation as Congress president and his party's impressive show in Gujarat under him. Non-Congress opposition appears to be positioning itself for the big battle in 2019 and does not want to cede much space to Rahul. The first salvo was fired by the Trinamool Congress when its senior Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien projected his party chief Mamata Banerjee as a leader who has the "credentials" to take on BJP in 2019.  O'Brien harps on Banerjee's "experience, credibility and credentials" but will leave it to journalists to interpret whether he was pitching Banerjee as the Opposition's prime ministerial candidate. Banerjee has a good equation with Sonia, but she does not share great vibes with Rahul. Strains were visible in Parliament as the TMC is not seen lending its vocal power to the Congress in its protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his comments against former prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Shemin Joy, New Delhi

Brushing aside superstition about the 'jinx' associated with any chief minister visiting Noida, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has decided to be in the city to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of the first section of Delhi Metro's new Magenta line on December 25. Any chief minister who visits Noida, goes the political superstition, loses power. Undeterred, Yogi spent two days before the flag-off event to sort out civic issues in Uttar Pradesh's bustling city that came up 40 years ago, close to the national capital. His predecessor Akhilesh Yadav never visited Noida in his five-year tenure, preferring to launch projects and roads by remote control from Lucknow. However, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati visited Noida four times and incidentally lost power too. Before her, no UP chief minister had visited Noida in 29 years. Former Congress chief minister Veer Bahadur Singh visited Noida in 1988 and was ousted of power soon after. A similar fate awaited his successor Narayan Dutt Tiwari of the Congress in 1989, Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1995, Kalyan Singh in 1999 and Mayawati in 2012.
Shekhar Iyer, New Delhi

Former telecom minister A Raja is miffed that no senior Congress leader chose to call or meet him after his acquittal in the 2G spectrum case by a Delhi court. The Congress' adulation was focused on Kanimozhi, daughter of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. Not only Congress chief Rahul Gandhi speak to her over the phone after the verdict, senior Rajya Sabha leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma visited her at home to convey their party's greetings. It is no secret that Raja has had cold ties with senior Congress leaders whom he has blamed for his plight when the scam broke. Raja penned his thoughts on the scam when he was jailed for 15 months. His book is now ready for launch next month. Raja has promised his supporters that his "tell-all" account will shock the political circles.  
Shekhar Iyer, New Delhi

'Behan-bhai raaj'
The Mufti-family scion and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's younger brother, Tasaduq Mufti is set to be inducted as MLC in the upper house of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and later, he is presumably scheduled to be given the tourism ministry portfolio.
In less than a year of his having joined politics, Tasaduq, who is the son of late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, has been getting regular doses of energy-boosters to rise higher and higher in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government. But then, from where does this former cinematographer derive so much of power in politics?
Well, according to the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, Kashmir has been a victim of "baap-beta" and "baap-beti raaj." Modi had said it to condemn the dynasty-rules of "Abdullahs and Muftis" in the trouble-torn state.
Three years on, 'behan-bhai raaj' has added to the forms of dynasty rules in the state, where Modi's BJP partners the alliance with the PDP in the state.
Zulfikar Majid, Srinagar