BJP Atal on Vajpayee

It was an unwritten convention that postings of personal aides to the outgoing Prime Minister were not tinkered by the incumbent government. But, this is no longer the case. Before Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee demitted office last month, his government cleared the postings of Ajay Besaria and Raj Pratap Singh, both his private secretaries, to the IMF and the Indian Embassy in Washington. However, then Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pande put up the posting orders for review as by that time the Manmohan Singh government had been sworn in. It seems now that the postings of both Besaria and Singh are in a limbo, with the government apparently asking for a fresh panel of officers to be sent to Washington. But Ashok Saikia, Vajpayee8217;s powerful additional secretary, has been lucky. He has been cleared for the Asian Development Bank and leaves Delhi on July 10. Saikia, it seems, has plans to quit the government as his ADB tenure will be for three years, leaving him only three months for superannuation.

Doing the Rain Dance

This is one government that is not leaving things to chance. After four successive years of drought, the Rajasthan Government is turning to the Gods for a bountiful monsoon. Not believing the weather department8217;s assurances that the rains would keep their date with the State, it is invoking Gods of every faith. While schedules of Cabinet Ministers for different prayer sessions have been drawn up, leading from the front is Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who was present at the Mata Shakti Peeth in Jodhpur. The same day, prayer sessions were held at Cathedral Church and the Chisti Dargarh in Ajmer; a shabad kirtan by 11 ragis was organised in Sriganganagar district; it was Rudrabhishek so Indra was invoked in Barmer. With one Cabinet Minister in attendance in each function, maybe the Rain Gods will finally relent.

Operation Desert Dance

With Naval Chief Admiral Madhavendra Singh retiring on July 31, Jaipur will fade out of the Navy8217;s map. During the course of his tenure, Singh, who belongs to Rajasthan, had been hosting a number of gala parties in the Pink City, and Jaipur had almost become a permanent fixture for the Naval Band. In fact, the frequency of Singh8217;s visit to Jaipur led his own senior officers to joke that the Navy Chief had plans to open a new naval command in the desert.

When Sleuths Race

The impending large-scale bureaucratic reshuffle before June 30 has sparked off a race for the Director, Intelligence Bureau. As a seniormost police officer in the country, besides handling internal intelligence, the DIB8217;s advice is sought on all police issues. Present DIB K P Singh, who hotly denies that he met Congress president Sonia Gandhi for securing his job, faces the axe even though he retires in August this year. The next senior most officer in the IB is Ajit Doval 8212; perhaps one of the brightest intelligence sleuths in the country 8212; but he, for some reason, has the Advani tag. This leaves two other Special Directors, Narasimhan and N C Padhi. But the last word on Doval is not yet out as M K Narayanan, former DIB and now special advisor to PM, appreciates his capabilities. However, Home Minister Shivraj Patil is still to be convinced even though he has had at least three one-to-one meetings with Doval.

Compiled by ENS bureau