Jaya hai, so H.E. says no, thanks?

Call it political proclivity or what you will, but when cine-star turned politician Jaya Prada is felicitated with the Pandit Lachchu Maharaj award at the kathak samrat''s birth anniversary celebration this evening, the chief guest at the function will be the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and not the Uttar Pradesh Governor as has been the custom all these years.
Whether or not Governor TV Rajeswar Rao has deliberately kept himself away with the award function because the awardee, Jaya Prada, happens to be an Samajwadi Party MP may be a matter of conjecture, but the move is certainly without precedence.
Ever since it was constituted some seven years back, it has always been the Governor who has been the chief guest at the Lachchu Maharaj award function which is given to artistes for their contribution to kathak and other Hindustani classical dance forms.
When Bollywood actress Rekha became the first person to be honoured with the award in 1998, the chief guest was Suraj Bhan, who was the Governor of Uttar Pradesh at that time. He was chief guest in 1999 and 2000 too when kathak danseuse Sitara Devi and famous choreographer Sachin Shankar were selected for the award.
Carrying on with the tradition, Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri who took over from Suraj Bhan also attended the Lachchu Maharaj award function in his capacity of chief guest when the award was bestowed upon cine-stars and accomplished kathak exponents Wahida Rehman, Vyajantimala and Sri Devi between 2001 and 2003.
While Raj Bhawan sources vehemently deny that Governor TV Rajeswar Rao''s refusal to be part of the Jaya Prada felicitation ceremony has anything to do with his current spat with chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, the political grapevine seem to suggest otherwise.
"The award is being given to Jaya Prada at a function which is being presided over by Amar Singh. Had it not been for these SP connections, the Governor would not have disassociated himself with the event," says a SP loyalist. However, Kum Kum Adarsh, convenor cum director of the Lachchu Maharaj Ballet Centre which is organising the programme refutes the insinuation that there is any politics involved. "His Excellency has declined our request not because of Jaya Prada or anything — it''s simply because he doesn''t attend any public programme," she says.
Whatever be the truth, the Rampur MP will not go MPty handed tonight. Instead of Governor Rajeswar Rao, she will get the award from her party boss, chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Now, wouldn''t that be one tohfa she''ll remember for a long time to come.