Birthday Switch

Mamata Banerjee received numerous congratulations on January 5, her official birthday. She was hard put to explain that in fact it is not he...

Mamata Banerjee received numerous congratulations on January 5, her official birthday. She was hard put to explain that in fact it is not her real birthday. October 5 is her birthday according to her school records. Banerjee came to know of the change of date when her elder brother looked up her official website and pointed out that her birth date listed on the website would mean that there was a gap of only six months between the two of them.

Mamata says that the changes in dates and days were made by her father, without her knowledge. When she stood for her first election she was underage and her father seems to have filled in a suitable date to make her eligible. Once she was aware of the discrepancy Mamata was in a quandary. As she explains in her autobiography, her dilemma is common to many from lower middle class families where there is no official birth certificate and dates and even the year of birth are selected arbitrarily.

Organising a Change

Seshadiri Chari, editor of the RSS English weekly Organiser is giving up his job to join the BJP full time. Chari8217;s new designation is still unclear, but he will probably handle media relations. Former journalist Bala Shankar, who has been working in Murli Manohar Josih8217;s office will replace Chari as Organiser editor. Some Advani loyalists are perturbed that a man from Joshi8217;s camp has been installed in such a key position. Whatever appears in the Organiser is assumed to be the official line of the RSS. They recall that an earlier Joshi protege, Bhanu Pratap Shukla, had to quit the Panchjanya abruptly after a contentious innings as editor. But the soft-spoken Shankar is expected to be less combative.

Real Power Point

RAW and the IB were unhappy over reports that the Prime Minister8217;s Principal Secretary,Brajesh Mishra met, however fleetingly, ISI director-general Ehsan-ul-Haq in Islamabad. India believes that the ISI is the chief agency that exports terror to India and any interaction with the ISI supremo gives the organisation some degree of legitimacy. But no one, including the RSS, dared voice misgivings for nobody wants to offend Mishra and fortunately the next day Mishra denied the meeting.

The PM8217;s principal secretary has gone from strength to strength and it is debatable whether Advani or Mishra is the second most powerful man in the country. Mishra8217;s clout stems from the trust he enjoys of the most powerful man in the country. Certainly, Mishra carries more weight on foreign affairs than either the foreign secretary or the foreign minister and it is his hand behind the scenes which has shaped our relationships with key countries like the USA, China and Pakistan. Mishra was once a regular presence on television, but ever since Tehelka he keeps away from the media. His off-the-record briefings are reserved for the favoured few who reproduce what he says without attribution for fear that otherwise they will be cut off in future from 8216;8216;panditji8217;s8217;8217; information loop.

Missing Minister

Minister of State for Finance Gingee Ramachandran lost his job twice. First an official in his personal staff was caught accepting a bribe and Ramachandran was implicated. Soon after he was exonerated and reinstated his MDMK party quit the NDA. But either the government thinks the MDMK may yet change its mind or else the administration is just plain sloppy since Ramachandran8217;s name-plate still hangs outside his empty office room.

MP turns Sleuth

When AIADMK MP P H Pandian was appointed by the Speaker as chairman of the joint parliamentary committee for the local area development scheme, the authorities had not bargained that Pandian would take his duties so conscientiously. Pandian, a lawyer, insisted on monitoring spending of the constituency funds and has unearthed numerous discrepancies. For instance. In Bihar, there is no evidence of a 150-kilometre road on which Rs one crore was spent. Pandian wants the local police to investigate and submit a report to him.

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Pandian8217;s sleuthing efforts have not found favour with many of his fellow MPs and the bureaucracy. They complain that it is not the task of the committee but the concerned district collector to monitor the fund utilisation. Pandian has expressed his misgivings to Opposition leaders including Laloo Prasad Yadav, Somnath Chatterjee and Pranab Mukherjee, but only the last named was sympathetic. Despite opposition, Pandian plans to submit five lengthy reports on the working of the scheme by April 1 and by all accounts, this will open a Pandora8217;s box.

Seating Problem

While both Vaiko8217;s MDMK and Karunanidhi8217;s DMK have quit the NDA, another NDA partner from Tamil Nadu Dr Ramadoss of the PMK is still sitting on the fence. Ramadoss, who controls the Vanniyar toddy tappers vote which is important in some 50 to 60 Assembly seats, had secured a good deal for himself from the NDA. Though the Vanniyar community represents only 3 per cent of the state8217;s total electorate the PMK has five 5 MPs in Parliament and two of them are ministers. Ramadoss now wants 10 seats in the coming parliamentary elections. Neither camp is likely to meet his pre-conditions.

The BJP knows that if it teams up with Jayalalithaa the party will be hard pressed to get her to concede even five parliamentary seats for itself. There will be few seats to spare for the PMK!