With Aishwarya college, Bachchan wipes slate clean in Barabanki

It may not have been a political, or third front event, but giving Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya company was most of the UNPA brigade: Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh, of course, apart from ex-Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu and former Jammu & Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, who is expected to join the front soon. Sunday also happened to be Amar Singh’s birthday.

Much was made of the fact that Bachchan chose to name the college, in a backward area of Uttar Pradesh, after “bahu” Aishwarya — Amar Singh called it Bachchan’s gift of love to the “bahu of UP” and a salute to “Nari Shakti”. They also were at pains to clarify, repeatedly, as to why it had not been named after Bachchan’s father and noted poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

First it was Aishwarya, who after wishing Amar Singh on his birthday, said she was hesitant at first at the decision. “I told everyone that it would have been good if the college was named after dada Harivansh Rai or dadi Teji Bachchan. But everyone told me that it is theirs and UP’s blessing to me and I should be happy,” she told the crowd.

In her address, Jaya Bachchan said their hope was that in every house of the state, the girls would become as educated and beautiful as Aishwarya. She said daughters-in-law are given affection and love in UP and the college was a symbol of it.

Bachchan pointed out that women formed 50 per cent of the population and their rights, respect and regard were important. He also claimed that Aishwarya’s name was chosen much before her wedding with Abhishek, during the birthday celebration of Amar Singh in Vindhyachal last year.

It was also emphasised that the first family of Bollywood had done what no government had thought of in the last 60 years. Incidentally, after Bachchan’s name was cleared in the Barabanki land case, Daulatpur residents had requested him to open a school in the village.

The UNPA heavyweights largely kept off politics, instead praising Bachchan and suggesting that Aishwarya keep visiting the college to ensure high education standards.

Calling unemployment the biggest challenge facing the country, Farooq asked Mulayam’s son Akhilesh to start a mass movement on it. Naidu hoped that girls graduating from the college would earn name and fame at the international level. He also urged Bachchan to start a charity movement like Bill Gates of Microsoft, adding that he would be happy to work under him for such a cause.

Chautala, however, could not restrain himself from attacking the UPA Government or Chief Minister Mayawati and accusing them of hurting farmers’ interests.

Mulayam credited Amar Singh and Bachchan with helping him in the development of Uttar Pradesh, and accused vested interests of dragging the actor into the land row. “Today Amitabh has shown that no one can prevent him from doing good,” he said.