Narendra Modi, the irrepressible chief minister of Gujarat, returned to form with a verbal volley not just against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, which is almost a habit with him, but also against her son Rahul.

At an election rally in Viramgam in Ahmedabad district, he likened the mother and son to a cow and calf, the old Congress symbol changed in 1979 to the facing palm, and said the calf was Jersey. The reference was to the Jersey cows and bulls imported to India and crossbred here.

He also said he had taken a random survey of 20 people, and all of them said they would not hire Sonia even as a clerk.

But not everyone seemed happy with his statements. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani was with him, but did not speak against either Sonia or Rahul. And when a national daily contacted Modi's senior colleagues, they said they did not support his statements. But will the party muzzle him?

Advani's dodgy 'rath'

This is turning out to be one bad yatra for Advani. Barely a few days into his yatra and the massive vehicle, on loan from Dilip Singh Judeo, broke down and had to undergo major repairs in Nagpur. Advani was forced to travel by a car till the Swraj Mazda bus was repaired. Now, barely into the second leg of his yatra, starting in western Gujarat, the vehicle is once more in need of major repairs.

Looks like Advani will have to complete the yatra sans the vehicle!

Ex-don Gawli enters fray

In Mumbai, Arun Gawli, a dreaded don a few years ago, filed his nomination papers for the Mumbai South Central constituency. He was accompanied by his bodyguards and even the police gave him protection. While it would appear that he has little chance of winning in a constituency with a strong presence of textile mill workers, he is expected to hurt the chances of the incumbent Shiv Sena representative, Mohan Rawle. The Sena and Gawli were on close terms till recently but they split, prompting the latter to join politics.

Interestingly, the Nationalist Congress Party candidate from Mumbai South Central, Sachin Ahir, is Gawli's nephew.