According to the grapevine, which appears to encircle Lutyen"s Delhi, Mulayam's son Akhilesh and Laloo's daughter Rohini are likely to get hitched after the November round of Assembly polls. Never leave an unfounded ``fact'' alone, buttress it. According to Delhi's rumourmeisters, the two met during a political rally in Lucknow, and the Yadavs decided to do the ultimate in political alignment. That, of course, is some post-poll understanding.

For the time being, everyone who has anything to do with the pair are denying that anything of the sort is planned. Unfortunately, given the track record of this clan, this has been taken as confirmation of the approaching banns.

Akhilesh, who was studying in Australia till recently has moved to Canada, while Rohini is a medical student. But wait, there's more. That's to do with Laloo's younger daughter, Misa. Misa, our fanciful friends whisper in all sobriety, is enamoured of a sturdy Muslim ladka. Great, but for the fact that her mom, Rabri Devi, surrogate CM of Bihar, has blown her top. Why? Well, it's all right parading your secular credentials when it comes to stumping, but when it comes to the family, that's out.

None of this, of course, may be true. Political rumours are like manifestos, words which promise much but deliver little. And, the Yadav camp has accused the BJP of fomenting this canard to defame Laloo, now in jail due to the chara ghotala.

Now, Akhilesh also seems to prove that brattishness knows no caste barriers. Lucknow has been agog with rumours of the Yadav scion virtually taking over the Taj Hotel recently, and then, with a little gentle persuasions from his well-muscled friends, managed to stage a mujra. That the participants, a group of girls visiting the hotel were not too willing did not matter, they still danced to his tune. Again, the grapevine strikes.

The Akhilesh saga continues. The pahalwan-turned-politico's son is apparently into the real estate business Down Under. His partners are supposed to include Amitabh Bachchan and a member of the Bhartia clan. Voicing wonderment, perhaps a little envy, our informative friends tell us that he has, in fact, bought an entire ISLAND. No not the entire island of Australia but another piece of prime property.

But then when we tell you that our sources to this entire recounting happen to be disgruntled Mulayam cronies and closet chaddiwallahs, you can decide how much of it could actually be factual. But then, in politics, you never let facts come in the way of what you say, do you ?

Illustrations by Siddhartha Mitra