BSP wooing upper castes for votes

NEW DELHI: Apparently aware of the fact that BSP chief Mayawati's bold gambit of giving as many as 86 party tickets to Brahmins and fielding 38 Thakurs for the UP polls could well upset its calculations, BJP has accused the Dalit leader of "use-and-throw" politics.

In attempting to pin down BSP and its main rival, Samajwadi Party, as outfits with an essentially sectional appeal who only looked to woo upper castes to corner votes, BJP did betray a certain sense of anxiety.

The sharp attack on BSP was clearly aimed to ensure that upper caste consolidation — which BJP believes is happening — is not disrupted.

BJP is looking to argue that Mayawati's bonding with Brahmins is aimed at getting upper caste votes and not beyond.

BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, who has been put in-charge of BJP's poll management in UP, said BSP only had apmaan (insults) for Brahmins earlier.

This has changed to sammaan (regard) only as far this serves BSP's purpose. BJP has good reasons to worry.

In the 2002 assembly polls, BSP very successfully fielded upper caste candidates who, with the backing of Mayawati's Dalit base, got a cutting edge.

Such was the resurgence of caste identities that Brahmins voted for BSP, driven almost totally by caste appeals.

BJP's poll campaign will begin on March 25, with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the party's chief ministerial candidate and former CM Kalyan Singh addressing a public meeting in Kanpur, senior party leader L K Advani addressing a rally with state leader Lalji Tandon in Agra and party chief Rajnath Singh and Kesri Nath Tripathi holding a rally in Jhansi.

This was decided at a meeting on Friday attended by Vajpayee, Advani and Rajnath Singh among others, where it was decided that nationalist and regional issues will be aggressively used for the campaign.

In its campaign, the party will attack the Congress-led UPA for its "minority appeasement" and handling of terrorism while being in power at the Centre, and the ruling SP in UP for its "communalism" in the state, Naidu said.

The BJP will raise vociferously issues such as law and order, corruption, casteism and prices in its electioneering.

Is this for real?

Jordan won ‘Celebrity Mum of the Year 2007′ in Britain which probably wasn’t that hard since she was up against reality TV racist Jade Goody, Sir Paul McCartney blackmailer Heather Mills, cocaine-snorting Kate Moss, and mannequin Victoria Beckham.

“I’m so pleased to receive this award. Harvey and Junior will be so proud of their mummy.”

Jade continues her bid for forgiveness.

Jade Goody’s bid to appear on the ‘Asiana’ magazine cover has been refused. The Big Brother star thought by posing in the popular Indian publication it would be a quick fix to all the bad feeling she has left in India over the treatment of Shilpa Shetty. In a typical Jade blunder she told friends she imagined herself dressed in a beautiful sari, with camels in the background and palm trees. A source added “she could not even get her ideas right”. The Editor in Cheif of Asiana said “[The cover] would have been in poor taste. I think our readers would have accused us of falling for a PR trick”.

Oracle to buy Hyperion for $3.3B

The Redwood Shores database software giant (NASDAQ: ORCL) will pay $52 per share for Santa Clara's Hyperion (NASDAQ: HYSL), which sells business software.

The deal should close in April. Hyperion has about 2,700 workers.
Oracle said in a press release that the deal is part of an attempt to sell Oracle software to customers of its German archrival SAP AG (NYSE: SAP).

Diaz gifts Barrymore the Rolex she got for Timberlake!

Actress Cameron Diaz has reportedly presented a watch, which she bought for ex- boyfriend singer Justin Timberlake, to her friend, the bubbly Drew Barrymore.
The watch had 'I love you' imprinted on top of the case of a gold Rolex Oyster that costs 6,000 pounds, and was to be gifted to Timberlake on his birthday on January 31, but the two called it quits a day before the 'big day'.
Barrymore, who recently split with 'Strokes' drummer Fabrizio Moretti, proposed to pay for the lavish piece, but Diaz refused to accept money for the gift.
Meanwhile, the 'In Her Shoes' star has started on a diet pact with Barrymore to return to their 'date weights', and a friend said that the two ventured on the accord as a joke, but Diaz is abiding by it.
"Cameron's new regime started as a joke between her and Drew but now she's keeping it up," The Sun quoted the friend, as saying. (ANI)

Ashley Judd to visit Jaipur for HIV cause

Hollywood actress Ashley Judd will be here on a three-day visit to see an NGO's activities in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention and maternal and child health.The star of such thrillers as 'Kiss the Girls', 'Double Jeopardy' and 'High Crimes' will be visiting the Rajasthan capital as part of an initiative by PSI/India.Ashley is a board member of PSI (earlier known as Population Services International) and is the global ambassador for YouthAIDS, an education and prevention initiative of PSI. A not-for-profit organisation, PSI/India works in the areas of health and women's empowerment.Ashley will be here March 22-25 and during this period, besides going to field areas, will also meet Rajasthan's Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.She will also travel to Mumbai and Delhi. Speaking about the forthcoming visit, Tim McLellan, managing director of PSI/India, said in a statement said: 'PSI/India is greatly excited about Ashley Judd's visit. 'After several years of effort, and with the support of the government of India and our donor partners, we have been able to run programmes, which have demonstrated impact. As our board member, Ashley Judd is keen to see the success of the various programmes that PSI/India and other partners have implemented.' Ashley will address women's issues that are close to her heart. She will see how families can be empowered to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancies. India has 5.1 million HIV/AIDS patients. PSI/India is an NGO registered in 1980 with a mandate to assist the government in the fields of reproductive health, HIV prevention, and maternal and child health. It harnesses the vitality of the private sector to address the health problems of the low-income and vulnerable populations

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