Season to march

Encouraged by the response to Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's padyatra in Saharanpur last week, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the party has decided to organise similar events in major cities of the state in December to celebrate party president Sonia Gandhi's birthday. The padyatras, which will cover Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Allahabad among other cities, would highlight the problems faced by the common man. One may recall that last month former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had flagged off a jatha (march) of 113 Left organisations across that state, in a bid to intensify contact with the masses ahead of next year's Assembly polls. So who is next?