Advani's two party theory

L .K. Advani makes no bones about his dislike for the smaller regional parties. Ask Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala, former Chief Minister of Haryana and ILD supremo and he will recall with bitterness the open call to voters that Advani made during the last Lok Sabha polls. Addressing an election rally in Palwal in Haryana, the then Deputy Prime Minister had asked the voters to vote for Congress if they did not want to vote for BJP but not to cast it in favour of a regional party. It is now becoming obvious that the appeal was not just because of his dislike for Chautala but from a firm conviction that the future of the country is secure only in the hands of national parties like Congress and BJP. These days once again he is busy convincing people about this theory as he is worried by the decimation of both Congress as well as BJP in UP.

Defining national party

While o the subject of national and regional parties, one might well question the logic behind the claim of BJP of being a national party. Till the other day this was party that had hardly any presence beyond the cow belt. It is true that today it has units in almost all the States and has presence in elected bodies, even if it is nominal but the truth remains that its presence in a state like Karnataka is more of an aberration. Y simply claiming to be championing the cause of nationalism does not entitle a party to the lofty claim of national party. In these changed times, even the Congress at times becomes a sorry and weak claimant to that title. It is in these circumstances that the regional parties mock the pretensions of the former Deputy Prime Minister.

The shoe is pinching Akalis

For long the Akalis, along with many other non-Congress parties, have mocked and taunted for the Congress to be promoting not only dynastic rule but also extra constitutional authorities. However, today this is more applicable to the Akali Dal in Punjab than the Congress. While the Congress has always been discreet about it, the Akalis do not hide the fact that it is the Parliamentarian son of Sardar Prakash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Singh Badal who is the virtual Chief Minister of Punjab. Infact, if insiders are to be believed then the junior Badal is indeed in a hurry to be officially anointed. There have been rumours all along that he wants his fathe to retire to the old age home that he has built and serve the inhabitants there rather in the Civil Secretariat.

Khan remains the king

There was intense speculation before Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om and Ranbir Kapoor's Saawariya were to be released. With Sony backing the later it was expected to challenge the supremacy of the Khan. However, on the very first day it was clear that not only had Saawariya failed to win the hearts of the people but it had also lost big money in the market. The failure apart, two things are clear – Shah Rukh Khan remains the king of the celluloid and that foreign investment alone does not ensure the success of any movie. It is to be hoped that investors from Hollywood would not be discouraged by the result of the first ever venture and would be more careful in planning the next time around.