10 Janpath has the last say

How did former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s name feature in the list of speakers at the Swadeshi Jagran Manch rally in Delhi on Friday? Even Chandra Shekhar’s office is clueless but vehemently denies he gave the saffron organisers permission to include his name among the speakers. ‘‘He is in no position to address any rally. Pata nahi kaha se naam jod diye?’’ the former PM’s staffers said indignantly. The rally at the sprawling Ramlila Grounds was ostensibly called to make the public aware of UPA’s ‘‘insensitive’’ and ‘‘anti-aam aadmi’’ economic policies and to protest against the December WTO Ministerial meet in Hong Kong. The other old socialist—George Fernandes—was, of course, present for the occasion. As were former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, S Gurumurthy and once-upon-a-time BJP ideologue K N Govindacharya.

Singh Bandhu

Arjun Singh and Natwar Singh have always shared a sense of being sidelined after the elevation of Manmohan Singh as prime minister. On Thursday, therefore, when Arjun visited Natwar, it seemed like a significant move. After the controversial exit of the foreign minister, Natwar is not a favoured man in the Congress. But Arjun could not care less. Both are among the old-guards of the Congress and share the same views on almost all issues from economic issues to foreign policy. And both are not on the best of terms with the prime minister. Arjun, however, chose to play down the incident. ‘‘There is no politics about the visit. We have been good friends for long,’’ he said.

Pulling the rug

All ye chief ministers and ministers who expect Indian ambassadors to lay out red carpets and fete you at foreign locales, reconsider. For Secretary (Coordination) in the Ministry of External Affairs has decreed that none of them will be provided fanfare by the highest functionary of the embassies unless they are on official bilateral visits. On complaints of politicians that they were being ignored by the ambassador, the MEA rebounded saying that junior officials could provide ‘assistance’ when the executive was transitting or was on a private overseas visit. Protocol would be reserved only for those on official visits, according to a November 14 demi-official letter.

Karat changes colours

CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat is usually the subject of discussion because of his sharp attacks on the government. But last week, during a rally on the Iran issue in Lucknow, Karat created a flutter as he turned up, rather uncharacteristically, in a long kurta and pajama. As with many of his statements, this change of attire was instantly noticed, and people wondered whether it was as a concession to the people of Lucknow. Asked so, the CPI(M) boss was less standoffish than he usually is but typically cryptic nevertheless. ‘‘Oh, I sometimes wear it when I am in Lucknow,’’ he said. One person who was genuinely happy at Karat’s sartorial preference was CPI Secretary Atul Kumar Anjan, also a speaker at the rally, who showed up in a kurta of the same colour as the CPI(M) leader’s. ‘‘You can call this telepathy between Prakash and me,’’ said Anjan, who is seen in cotton kurta-pajamas round the year except, according to him, when the washerman fails to return them in time, or it gets too cold to wear cotton.

On the defensive

The Indian diplomats in Moscow were shocked last week when they heard the visiting Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee answering questions on New Delhi’s top secret Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) or nuclear submarine project. Mukherjee told reporters that the ATV was being jointly developed with Russia, which is also helping in India in the indigenous Air Defence Ship or aircraft carrier project. After the diplomats told Mukherjee that the ATV would make it to the headlines the following day, the defence minister hurriedly issued a denial saying that he had mistakenly thought the ATV was the Amur class submarine project and blamed the whole thing on the ‘‘poor accoustics’’ at the press conference. It is a fact that the ATV project was not discussed by Mukherjee during his bilaterals with the Russian leadership. However, the nuclear submarine project was the main issue when National Security Advisor M K Narayanan visited Moscow last September.

Right angle

The efforts of RSS chief K S Sudarshan to outmanoeuvre senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani found an echo at a book release function. As the photographers taking shots of Sudarshan and others on the dais started calling out in unison, ‘‘Sudarshanji kitab seedhi keejiye, seedhi keejiye (turn the book to hold it upside up)’’, Vijay Kaushal, a pracharak-turned-sadhu, who stood next to the RSS chief, exclaimed: ‘‘Kyon nahin, Sudarshanji to vaise bhi subko seedha karna janate hain (Why not, even otherwise, Sudarshanji knows how to tame anyone).’’ Since the audience comprised mainly RSS workers and sympathisers, Kaushal’s remark evoked hearty laughter and clapping.

Tailpiece

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil is wont to do the right thing and then project himself as a kind and sensitive person. But during his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir, he carried this a bit too far. Visiting relief camps there after the quake, Patil to the utter embarrassment of the accompanying PMO and Home Ministry officials, took out Rs 50 and Rs 20 notes from his pocket and started distributing it among the quake victims.