A Senior Banda from the hills contested the last general poll on the Betel leaf ticket but lost mainly because the former strongman did not pull his weight in his favour, they say.  However, his new mentor raised him to Purohita status after offering him a gratis seat in Diyawanna.


Now this worthy has set his heart on an ambitious plan: To form a Betel leaf-led government in the near future. He has already begun winning over new members to the group which is to take over the reins after the expected change in the power equation in the House. 

However, the response to the overtures made to the members of the so called ‘joint opposition’ is not encouraging so far. The reason, they say, is that these members hesitate to throw in their lot with a scheme of things which has no place for the former strongman.

By the way, the green party stalwarts have got wind of this plan mooted by Senior Banda, but it has caused them no concern. “We are not worried because it is going to be a flop,” a Green stalwart said.

The funniest part of this affair is that Senior Banda has won the support for his plan from a one-time leadership-level Blue party high-up, who was the target of his vitriolic abuse at the January 8 big poll. “There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics!” Senior Banda told a colleague who expressed his surprise. “This is a hackneyed saying, but it is true,” he added.