Mumbai Diary page: Saturday Scene

SoMo worries the MRCCThe cancellation of party chief Sonia Gandhirsquos proposed rally at Malegaon a part of Dhule Lok Sabha has caused an upset in Congress circles Here Congress candidate Amrish Patel is pitted against the Bharatiya Janata Partyrsquos Dr Subhash Bhamre Now the news of BJP PMnominee Narendra Modirsquos rally at Dhule has added to the partyrsquos worriesCongressmen feel that Sonia can still attract more people than her son party vicepresident Rahul Gandhi It was evident after Rahulrsquos rally was compared with Modirsquos recently at Latur where someone posted comparative pictures of the crowd on social media further unnerving the CongressWith the Gujarat CM scheduled to address a rally on April 21 at the BandraKurla Complex a day after the Congress rally at the very same venue the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee is being extra carefulThe party has aimed for a quota of attendees and for an added attraction it has invited Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar too hoping that his presence will bring in the crowdsGood Friday gaffeState president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Devendra Fadnavis has planted his foot firmly in his mouth with a tweet on the occasion of Good FridayHis Twitter message says ldquoWishing you all a happy and blessed Good Fridayrdquo and to drive home the point he has also posted an artistically designed picture conveying the same message and a silhouette image of Jesus Christ on the cross We just canrsquot bring ourselves to reproduce the image here so we have desistedAnyone with even an iota of knowledge about Easter has to know that Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Christ and is marked with fasting and penanceIn the age of the internet it is inexcusable that Fadnavis sent this message out Not less because as well as being the BJP chief he is also an MLA Where he should be politically savvy he has displayed blatant ignoranceAt the time of writing this several people had replied to the tweet pointing out that one does not wish a ldquohappyrdquo Good Friday However there appears to have been no reaction and when we last checked the tweet was still upIn fact it had been followed by another one regarding World Heritage Day It may well have been a gimmick to garner support from the Christian community but it could end up ensuring the oppositeNo ill willWith the clock ticking for Mumbairsquos election date April 24 one thinks there should be voting of another kind mdash for the best jokes buzzing on social media One doing the rounds is this Sonia Gandhi is unwell The doctor has diagnosed ldquoNaMoniardquoChain painIt IS not only on local trains that wouldbe enterprising souls try to get away with pulling the chain for an unauthorised stop A Mumbaikar witnessed this on the Avantika Express recently when travelling from Indore to MumbaiFile picture for representationWhen the train was between Ujjain and Ratlam one of the passengers wanted to get down but didnrsquot want to wait till the train had reached Ratlam So he thought he would disembark via the simple expedient of pulling the chainBut what he did not realise is that the motorman can see in which compartment the chain was pulled The motorman of the train thus alerted the nearest policeman on duty who followed the chainpulling passenger off the train and promptly nabbed him He was fined and let go That was one expensive homecoming we have to say