SRK, Priyanka, friends no more

Now, we never said this column was only about politics, did we?

Hectic efforts, we hear, are on to break the impasse between Dilli boy Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra.

The stars, who were remarkably close in recent years, have apparently stopped speaking to each other.

Directors and producers, who want to sign SRK and Priyanka for their films, are upset that the actors, known for their professional commitment, have fallen out so badly.

Dilli Gupshup...

After Narendra Modi’s successful rally in Kanpur, Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremoMayawati have discovered that not only is the BJP's Pradhan Mantri wannabe gaining ground in UP cities like Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi etc, he has also become a talking point in the rural areas.

Old timers say the interest in Modi reminds them of the charismatic Indira Gandhi and her effect on the state's electorate in the 1971 and 1980 general elections.

Mulayam Singh Yadav is particularly distressed. He thinks son Akhilesh’s move to distribute laptops among UP youth is providing Modi's campaign greater impetus!

Dilli Gupshup...

Congressmen with a sense of history at the party's national HQ, 24, Akbar Road, recall the early days of the Emperor Akbar.

The young Jalaluddin had counted heavily on Bairam Khan's advice before he gradually evolved into the Greatest Mughal history has known.

The reference here is to the party Veep Rahul Gandhi. These Congresswallahs wonder how the prince will go about taking decisions without a Bairam Khan sort of adviser.

Dilli Gupshup...

How did L K Advani have a change of heart about Narendra Modi?

A Modi emissary, we hear, offered Advani, who will turn 86 on November 8, support and a ticket for the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in next year's election.

Advani, who seldom misses attending Parliament or any Parliament-related event, consulted his well-wishers who advised him to join the Modi bandwagon and stay on in the federal legislature.

Gandhinagar then is likely to see Advani as its MP once more.

If the next Lok Sabha's next term ends on schedule in 2019, Advani will be the oldest Lok Sabha MP ever; he will be a few months short of 92, and we are sure, as active and lucid as ever.

Dilli Gupshup...

Mahmood Madani may enter the Rajya Sabha soon as a Samajwadi Party MP.

The Jamiat e Ulema chief will replace Congressman Rasheed Masood, who was disqualified as a member of the Upper House on Monday, October 21.

As the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party will gain the seat as it is in the majority in the state assembly.

Madani recently stirred a brief controversy when he remarked that Muslims must not be seen as a captive vote bank in the coming assembly elections and next year's general election.

Could his remarks be linked to his forthcoming entry into the Rajya Sabha? Yours to judge, folks.