Young Leader was upset. His Long March was not going as per plan. There were too many distractions. First two party leaders had fought with each other over who would be the CM candidate. That too in a state they were not hopeful of winning! Then a simple election had become a headache and hogged the limelight for all the wrong reasons. And taken away the spotlight from him! The Man with Big Words had thrown his hat into the ring and complicated matters. It was absolutely unnecessary. For a free and fair election, he claimed. When had the party election been free and fair? The First Choice Loyal Courtier had revolted. Now the second choice was Man of Few Words. He would win, definitely. But all this had taken the focus away from Young Leader and his Long March. How was he going to become the centre of attention again? How could he salvage his Nth relaunch? He was worried, very worried.
As he walked his daily miles, he hit upon a plan. It is a wonderful plan, he thought. A brilliant one in fact. And all that was required was a phone call to the PM!
Young Leader picked up the phone and dialled. As soon as he heard the phone being picked up, he said, "Mr. Prime Minister sir, this is Young Leader here. Pls don't say a word. I called to give you a piece of my mind. Pls don't interrupt me for any reason". So saying, Young Leader launched into his well thought-out tirade. " Sir," He said, "You are taking the country to the brink. You are dividing it along religious lines. We had one partition because of religious division. But I will not let you achieve your agenda. I hope to integrate the country and achieve what Nehruji and Gandhiji could not do. Jinnah might have succeeded then, but he will not now. Your nefarious designs will not succeed. I will march into the capital with my partymen and you cannot stop me - your your party cannot, your terrorists cannot stop me, your police cannot. Why, even your army cannot stop me. I will cross every border on my way. Remember my party man, BIG Mouth? I lost an election because of him. Now I will have him join your party. You will see the consequences. He will hug Bajwa. Bajwa has a soft corner for him, you know. You will never win an election in Punjab." Then he put the phone down, smiled and winked at his aide. It was a job well done. Mama would be proud!
A few minutes after he put the phone down, the phone rang in the PM's office. As the PM picked up the phone, the voice at the other end said, " PM saab, Salaam alaikkum". "Walaikkum-as-Salaam", responded the PM. " Sir, you can take Kashmir, I will stop the terrorists from attacking you and hand over the 26/11 culprits. But pls don't do this to me! Ek taraf Khan saab ki harkatein. Aur doosri taraf yeh? " He was very agitated and his voice was shaking. "Sharif saab, khairiyat to hai? Aap bahut tension mein lag rahein hain. Kya baat hai? " "Wah PM saab. Aap bhi mazaak khub kar lete hain. Abhi abhi Young Leader ka phone aaya tha! "
Back at the march site, Mama picked up Young Leader's phone. She froze. "Arre yeh kya? Yek to Shahbaaz Sharif ka phone number hai!! Kise phone kiya isne? Hai Ram!! "
