Neta natter: Anything for one-man-UPship!

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Hindi heartland appears to be very close to the hearts of our neta log. Ask these venerable politicians what they can do for Uttar Pradesh and we bet they''ll tell you that they will do just about anything for the state, only sometimes their uttar seems to be no less bizarre than the state of the pradesh itself! </span><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Lucknow Times</span><span style="" font-style:="" italic=""> digs into some off-hand remarks made by three politicians last month and tries to trace the length they are willing to go to promote development here... </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Azam Khan: Boot polish anyone?</span><br /><br />Boot polish <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">karega</span>! Urban development minister Mohammad Azam Khan is besotted with the Maulana Jauhar Ali University and he''d just about do anything for it. But his approach to showing his <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">jauhar</span> is pretty polished! Or so <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">mantriji</span> would have us believe. At a recent press conference, Khan said that if required he can raise money for the University by polishing shoes in Hazratganj. "<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Zaroorat padne</span> par university <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">ke liye</span> Hazratganj <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">main boot polish kar ke paisa ekathha kar sakta hoon</span>," he had remarked just after his shoe... err, show down with the governor over the issue.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Amar Singh: Dance trance!</span><br /><br />"<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Zaroorat padi to Lucknow ke chaurahao per nachunga bhi</span>!"Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Development Council, Amar Singh has gone on record -- not the vinyl kind though, saying that he is so committed to the cause of hardselling Uttar Pradesh that if need be, he wouldn''t mind singing and dancing on the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">chaurahas</span> of Lucknow to attract investors. What commitment Amar Singhji, but shouldn''t you leave the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">naach-gaana</span> business to your buddies in Bollywood? Or get them here to take care of this dimension at least. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Rahul Gandhi: UPside down</span><br /><br />"<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kalabazi bhi kha sakta hoon!</span>" These are no MPty promises. Congress MP from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi, who claims to have pledged his soul to Uttar Pradesh, says he will do anything for his <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">karambhoomi</span> and that, hold your breath, includes somersaults too. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Agar hamse kalabazi bhi khane ko kaha jaye, to woh bhi kha loonga</span>, he said during an interview last month. Now, who in his right frame of mind would ask Rahul to get in such an UPside down situation?<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">BOTTOMLINE</span>: If only these politiicans had weighed their words before speaking, the air could have been much more lighter!<br /></div> </div>