PUNE, February 25: It's not only the absence of the lotus symbol on the ballot paper that the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance cadres are missing in Pune, but also the Sena tiger's roar and much more.While the saffron brigade members are wary of discussing it, none in the alliance-supported Suresh Kalmadi camp are enthusiastic about an inimitable Sena supremo visiting Pune with all his ``loved-by-crowds'' mannerisms and ``the loaded'' criticism.
Kalmadi who was made to sign a document before Thackeray accepting him without the lotus, requested Thackeray to leave him alone, if the feelers being circulated from the Kalmadi House are to be believed. (For Thackeray what Kalmadi signed was a bond wherein the Machiavellian politician-entrepreneur guaranteed that he would not defect to the Congress in future; albeit the former railway minister vehemently maintains that it was ``just a letter.'')
Meanwhile, bureaucrat-turned-politician Avinash Dharmadhikari was aspiring to translate the half-heartedSena cadres into a last minute support. Dharmadhikari -- who too is in the fray to strengthen Atal Behari Vajpayee's position in the post-electoral power play – was stated to be in contact with the Shiv Sena president for over a fortnight. Now waiting for Vajpayee's Friday rally, Kalmadi was believed to have stuck to his ``please don't campaign for me'' proverb for the Thackeray senior, especially after Maharashtra's remote control ruler branded him `a frog' and `a beggar roaming in a Mercedes' right in the middle of a press conference in Mumbai, called to announce Sena support to the former. ``Thackeray camped in Pune at least twice during last three weeks while hopping to various places in south Maharashtra,'' a Thackeray sympathiser pointed out. Kalmadi supporters, however, sought to sidetrack ``all the nonsensical topics'' denoting Sena leader Raj Thackeray addressing a meeting for his friend since long.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
