Maya steals Cong thunder over drought

LUCKNOW: July 28 or July 30? As senior Congress leaders hummed and hawed over the tentative date for meeting Sonia Gandhi and discuss a brand new blueprint to fast-track development in Bundelkhand, the two-year-old blazing battlefield between UP Congress and BSP, chief minister Mayawati stole their thunder. Just two days before her rivals got a chance to ring the doorbell at 10 Janpath, Behanji dashed off a demand note to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Along with the timing, her agenda leaves Congress leaders dazed.Everything, right from a special package to a number of schemes aimed at tackling unemployment and poor health facilities in the region, finds a specific mention in CM���s missive to the PM. So, while Congressmen are at their wits end over the ������big leak������ which threatens to spoil their show, Behanji enjoys the last laugh. Now, a shift in the venue could be in the offing and the flock could approach the PM directly to undo the Maya effect, sources confided.
The fresh bout of political tug of war over Bundelkhand had hit political centrestage post-Budget. To BSP, raised budgetary allocation under NREGS and handsome subsidies for farmers smacked of Centre���s renewed attempts at poaching in the drought prone region. In July last, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had already hinted in Lok Sabha that a comprehensive package for Bundelkhand, on the recommendation of the Central fact-finding team that toured the area, was on its way. The BSP chief, therefore, lost no time in upping her antenna.
After Congress high-command picked up Pradeep Aditya Jain as the MoS for rural development in May last, the need to tighten her grip on the belt became more obvious to her. Jain had risen from the rank riding the ������sookha������ and NREGS cards. The credit for Rahul���s Bundelkhand foray in January 2008 goes to Jain, who is said to have identified the troubled spots and done the recce before the Gandhi scion stepped into the lead role, Congress sources claim.
Aditya Jain was once again wielding the baton, as the countdown to the proposed meeting began. He thought of a new approach, concentrating on slew of welfare schemes ��� mainly better employment venues, better health infrastructure - to begin with, rather than a harp on a hefty package.