Gupshup from the Dilli Darbar

General Rahul into war... did Markandey Katju stage a 'walkout'... the DMK braves the North Indian winter ... and ahem! yet another 'son rise' in Lucknow... Gupshup from the Dilli Darbar.

Does the DMK have a dress code?

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S Gandhiselvan was spotted braving the New Delhi cold in a kurta, kailis (lungi) and chappals.

His senior minister Ghulam Nabi Azad could not resist asking why Gandhiselvan had not put on a coat or worn a shawl.

The DMK leader said he was following the party's standard dress code.

Rahul Gandhi is in a combative mood these days.

The Congress general for the UP polls told campaign managers that he is confident of winning close to 100 assembly seats in next month's election.

The good general boosted sagging spirits at the AICC HQ, claiming the UP verdict will have a 'deep' and 'lasting' impact in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which are ruled by the BJP.

If the Congress emerges as a credible party in UP, Rahulbaba implied Narendra Modi and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the powerful BJP chief ministers in Gandhinangar and Bhopal, will also fall.

Now that is being ambitious!

Rahul did not stop with just that fantasy. At another meeting with the party's Muslim leaders, spokesman Rashid Alvi found himself on a sticky wicket.

Alvi said the move to push a 4.5% job quota for backward Muslims had not gone down well with the community.

Rahul responded that during the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Alvi had predicted the Congress tally of MPs in UP would not go beyond single digits whereas it went on to win 22 Lok Sabha seats.

In the BJP, office secretaries soon thrive as political leaders.

After Prabhat Jha, Shyam Jaju is eyeing the post of state BJP chief in Rajasthan.

Jaju served as office secretary before he was elevated as secretary in the BJP organisation.

Hindi journalist-turned office secretary, Jha has had a meteoric rise as the BJP's Madhya Pradesh chief and a Rajya Sabha berth.

Over at Congress HQ, retired Major Ved Prakash has been toiling hard without reward.

The Majorsaab has been a regular feature at 24, Akbar Road since the days of Rajiv Gandhi, but he has not gone beyond the party's ex-servicemen cell, attending lowly diplomatic parties and holding the secretary's post in the party.

Dynastic culture rules Indian politics and the parties-come-lately are no exception.

In UP, the much talked about Peace Party has been hit by the dynasty bug even though it came into being just three years ago.

The Peace Party, that aims to unite Muslims and Dalits, is headed by a surgeon, Dr Mohammad Ayub.

While Doc is contesting the assembly election from Khalilabad, his son Irfan is in the fray from Mubarakpur in Azamgarh district.

Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju found himself at the receiving end in Bhopal recently when his dry humour failed to amuse his audience and forced him to stage a 'walkout.'

The former Supreme Court judge was attending the general council meeting at the Makhanlal Chaturvedi University of Journalism in Bhopal. He was irked when governing council members proposed opening university chapters in several Madhya Pradesh towns.

The Press Council chief, who has questioned the intellect of journalists several times since he took charge of the media watchdog, sarcastically suggested a journalism centre in his home town Jaora.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Chauhan and BJP MP and The Pioneer Editor-in-Chief Chandan Mitra were also present at the meeting.

When Katju asked why not a journalism centre in Jaora, a governing council member replied if that request was accepted, others would make similar demands.

Not pleased with the answer, Katju reportedly chose to walk out, though he subsequently denied that he did so.