Explosive birthday get-together

PROFESSOR Ram Gopal Yadav, a cousin of Mulayam Singh Yadav and mentor of UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, celebrated his 69th birthday in June at New Delhi’s India Islamic Centre with great fanfare. On the occasion, Vice President Hamid Ansari also released a book, Sangharsh ka Prayog, which is based on lectures given by Prof. Yadav. Many important leaders, cutting across party lines were seen at the event. For instance, Digvijay Singh and Oscar Fernandes from the Congress; Ravishankar Prasad from the BJP; Lalu Yadav from the RJD; DP Tripathi of the National Congress Party of India; CPI leader Atul Kumar Anjaan; Mulayam along with his party’s Azam Khan, Shivpal Yadav, and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, accompanied by dozens of ministers from the UP Cabinet. Surprisingly, the party was organised by a facilitator of a Mumbaibased top business house’s representative. He is a close confidant of Ram Gopal Yadav, who was aspiring for a nomination to the Rajya Sabha in the last elections but Azam Khan’s wife got nominated instead. The business facilitator is also known in defence circles and is connected with Mulayam and company since the days when Mulayam was defence minister.