Lucknow : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi might have earned the reputation of a successful rabble-rouser whose vitriolic speeches garnered votes for a hard-pressed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, he was compelled to make a hasty retreat from Uttar Pradesh's prominent industrial hub, Kanpur, after addressing a rally briefly.

Acting on intelligence reports, the local administration advised Modi to not only leave the district as early as possible but to also give up his plan to address more rallies. Modi also abandoned his plan to spend the night in the town and was brought to Lucknow for a "safer" stay, much to the chagrin of top BJP leaders who blamed it all on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav for failing to "provide necessary security to a chief minister".

Beni Prasad Verma, Mulayam's latest bete noire

Samajwadi Party's (SP's) latest rebel Beni Prasad Verma was busy taking potshots at his one time "dearest friend, philosopher and guide" Yadav. Verma has been hitting out at the chief minister almost on a daily basis ever since he announced his decision to part ways with him about a fortnight ago. On Wednesday he went to the extent of accusing Yadav of "using both muscle and money power to influence the election". He even demanded the chief minister's arrest.

Yadav, on the other hand, refuses to say anything about his friend-turned-foe. "I have had a 37-year association with Beni. Let him say whatever he feels like, I will not comment on him," Yadav told media persons.


Law-breakers to Lawmakers

Law-breakers becoming lawmakers is nothing new for Uttar Pradesh. Yet, when someone decides to file his nomination papers from behind the prison walls, it does make news in the state. So it wasn't surprising when Akhilesh Singh, an independent MLA from Rae Bareli, the political home of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, stepped out of Kanpur jail and drove all the way to Rae Bareli to file his nomination papers Tuesday.

An undertrial facing several charges including murder and kidnapping, Singh had once again filed his nomination as an independent and was confident of sweeping the polls in absentia.


Raj Babbar losing sheen

Raj Babbar had made big news when he walked out of the ruling SP more than a year ago. His gift of the gab, his histrionics and the support he received from Yadav's detractors invited a lot of attention. What gave him a bigger boost was the 'aashirvaad' (blessings) by former Prime Minister V.P. Singh, who too had some old scores to settle with the SP chieftain. But as the polls were getting closer, Babbar seemed to be losing steam.

Even though a few smaller political outfits like the United Democratic Front formed by a group of Muslim clerics had joined hands with Babbar's Jan Morcha, he is struggling to keep his outfit going at the hustings. Babbar has fielded four candidates from his home turf, Agra, which was also regarded as a Yadav bastion. While political observers were really skeptical about the possible gains he could make, none dispute his potential to dent Yadav's Muslim vote bank.

BJP faces neta overflow

Too many cooks spoil the broth, goes the old saying. But the BJP does not seem to have learnt any lessons from it. There's no denying that BJP was one party that was overflowing with 'netas' - each one regarding himself as one up on the other. So when it comes to campaigning in the politically volatile Uttar Pradesh, none wishes to lag behind.

Since their campaign may not get the desired media attention, most of them were insisting on having a press conference at the state headquarters, Lucknow. If Kalyan Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Keshrinath Tripathi and the likes of Lalji Tandon or Kalraj Misra were not enough, how could Murli Manohar Joshi lag behind. To top it all, even TV serial queen Smriti Irani ala 'Tulsi' made it a point to address a press meet. So what if she said little to hit the headlines.

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