Circular approach

The CPIMnbsp;contemptuously dismissed the bourgeois press claiming that its US-baiting general secretary, Prakash Karat, had actually visited the USAnbsp;on a holiday recently.nbsp;But curiously, the party clarification was only verbal andnbsp;there was no officialnbsp;denial in writing. Could it be that the party preferred not to issue a formal denial since though Karat hadnbsp;not traveled to the USA, his wife, Brinda,nbsp;who is also an MP, didnbsp;travel to America? Thenbsp;bad blood between the Manmohannbsp;Singh government and Karat isnbsp;evident.nbsp;Seniornbsp;governmentnbsp;officials werenbsp;keen to informally confirmnbsp;news of the Karat holiday.nbsp;Karat, meanwhile, used thenbsp;editorial pages of a newspaper, whose editor is his close friend, to issue a stern warning that the Left would pull outnbsp;if the Government proceeded any further with the nuclear deal.

UP postscript

Many in the media read special significance in the meeting between Mulayamnbsp;Singh and Mayawati for the first time in 13 years.nbsp;Butnbsp;speculation that the two reached an understanding on some issues is totallynbsp;off the mark. Mulayam had simply attended the meeting at the CM8217;s residencenbsp;in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition since he had to be consultednbsp;about nominees for the State Human Rights Commission. Eyewitnesses say that Mulayam and Mayawati did not exchange a word. In fact, the hostess did not even bother to offer him a cup of tea. She left it to her cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh to do all the talking.

Incidentally, the reason that UP Chief Secretarynbsp;Prashant Kumar Mishra sought voluntary retirement last month, three months ahead of schedule, is because of a tongue-lashing he received from the Chief Minister. Mayawati was upset because a proposalnbsp;for grant ofnbsp;land to a dental college was not put before a cabinet meeting. The proposalnbsp;had been mooted by BSP national general secretary Satish Mishra.

Divorce, southern style

For over a year the PMK has been sitting on the opposition benches in the Tamil Nadunbsp;Assembly, even as it continued in Manmohan Singh8217;s government despite the DMK8217;s protests. The reason for the DMK to formally announce a divorce, which had effectively taken placenbsp;much earlier, was that it wanted to make clear that it was not being made anbsp;cuckold. It is well known in TN that closer to the electionnbsp;Dr Ramadoss8217;s PMK will tie up with Jayalalithaa8217;s AIADMK.

There isnbsp;no such thing as permanentnbsp;political tiesnbsp;or permanentnbsp;enemies in Tamil Nadu.nbsp;Jayalalithaa last week had tea at her summer retreatnbsp;at Kodanadu with Subramanian Swamy, who has often railed against her in the past. Even the Congress in the state could splitnbsp;before the Lok Sabha polls with G K Moopanar8217;s son G K Vasan deciding to revive the Tamil Manila Congress. The BJP is eagernbsp;to restore relations with a rejuvenatednbsp;Jayalalithaa, but the AIADMK supremo isnbsp;in no mood to enter into anbsp;seat-sharing pact with anbsp;partynbsp;she considers a bit player in Tamil Nadu.

Noticeable change

After the goof-up over not permitting Ansar Burney, the Pakistani human rights activist who has been fighting for Indiannbsp;prisoners on death row, to enternbsp;the countrynbsp;because of an earlier lookout notice, the Home Ministrynbsp;has revised the drill. Beforenbsp;acting on a red notice alert, in future, the immigration officer has to firstnbsp;inform his senior, who, in turn, must alertnbsp;an officer of the rank of a joint director.