Carpet a-begging

The MEA changed its mind shortly after Yashwant Sinha took charge as minister. The MEA is now trying, unsuccessfully so far, to persuade the Finance Ministry to pick up the tab and take possession of the carpet claiming that it is more suited to Jaswant Singh’s style of decor than its own minister’s.

Perhaps the MEA is planning to follow the example of its next-door neighbour, the PMO, which has got rid of all its carpets on the grounds that they smell and collect dust and has instead gone for wooded flooring.

Crocodile Tears

Congressmen are still speculating on the reason behind Arjun Singh’s carefully orchestrated emotional outburst against the party’s ruling clique. Singh’s Rajya Sabha seat is good till 2006 and his sidelining in Madhya Pradesh politics by Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is not a new development.

Arjun Singh’s remarks were a protest against the harsh punishment meted out to his protege Jagmeet Singh Brar for not boycotting George Fernandes during question hour in Parliament. Brar has not only been removed as party whip in the Lok Sabha but has also been stripped of his charge of Chhattisgarh, whereas Digvijay Singh’s brother Laxman Singh, who also ignored the boycott, was let off far more lightly.

Singh’s protest will not help his camp followers. He should have known that Sonia does not differentiate between an attack on her advisers — read Ambica Soni — and herself.

Wrong Fit

Now that the Rashtriya Lok Dal has quit the NDA, party MLAs are keen on Ajit Singh exploring the possibility of a tie-up with Mulayam Singh Yadav. Ajit however, is more attracted to Sonia Gandhi even though most of his followers believe that it will be political harakiri for the RLD to align with the Congress, since Jats in western UP have a deep seated antagonism towards the party.

But Ajit is swayed more by the advice of Anuradha Chaudhary, who has just resigned as a Minister in Mayawati’s Government, than his 13 other party MLAs. In the bargain, there is a danger that Ajit’s depleted flock may diminish further.

Already one MLA, Samar Pal Singh, has left the party because of differences with Chaudhary. By accommodating the glamourous Chaudhary in the Baghra Assembly seat, Ajit lost the loyalty of the long time representative of the region, Harindra Singh Malik, who crossed over to Om Prakash Chautala and was rewarded with a seat in the Rajya Sabha. Other party MLAs were furious when Chaudhary got the plum PWD portfolio in Maywati’s Cabinet rather than the senior and loyal Kokab Hamid.

Chaudhary’s preference for the Congress is understandable considering that her equally svelte sister Kiran Chaudhary, who is Bansi Lal’s daughter-in-law, is in the party. But surely Ajit should realise that the advice of Chaudhary, a city-bred political novice and once the Indian representative of a leading French fashion house, is sounder on clothing styles than political alignments!

Blame it on Language

As a youth leader in Andhra Pradesh, Venkaiah Naidu, like most southern politicians, was a strong opponent of Hindi, participating in anti-Hindi demonstrations and blacking out Hindi posters.

But Naidu has now changed and sees Hindi as an important unifying factor in the country. Though his Hindi is not up to the standard of some other southerners in his party, like Govindacharya and Jana Krishnamurthi, Naidu’s ‘‘kuchha Hindi’’ has improved enormously after he became the BJP party president and had to perforce make speeches all over the country. L.K. Advani recently praised Naidu’s progress, comparing it to that of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who as president of the Jana Sangh was compelled to address gatherings in Hindi.

Still, the fact that Hindi is not his mother tongue came to Naidu’s rescue last week when he claimed he had been misunderstood by the media which quoted him declaring that a mosque would come up by the side of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Now there can be no misunderstanding about the term ‘‘bagal mein’’, but Naidu can take refuge by claiming he didn’t know the exact meaning of the expression.

‘‘Agli baari Atal Behari’’

Hardliners in the BJP were heartened by Vajpayee’s interview declaring that he would ‘‘retire’’ if his third initiative on Pakistan failed. Their dreams that 78-year-old Vajpayee would finally bow out of politics were, however, short-lived.

The PM’s men made clear that Vajpayee had merely meant he would abandon all efforts for a further dialogue with Pakistan. That the PM is certain to lead his party in the next election is confirmed by the slogan coined by Venkaiah Naidu for the general election of 2004 to ask for votes,‘‘Vajpayee ka naam, Vajpayee ka kaam.’’