Herald of another age

The controversy over National Herald and The Associated Journals rages on in New Delhi’s political circles with Opposition parties intent on hauling the Congress over the coals for an “interest-free loan of Rs 90.5 crore”, while old timers in Lucknow rue the sullying of recent history. They say Kaiser Bagh in Lucknow, the site of the erstwhile National Herald office, brings back memories of Jawaharlal Nehru writing his editorials there, of how the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would live in Lucknow with a young Rajiv Gandhi, while her husband Feroze Gandhi was the managing director of the newspaper. The paper’s edition in New Delhi never had quite that emotional connect.