Family calling

Congress circles have since been buzzing with speculation whether Priyanka8217;s public appearance, and the way she hovered protectively behind her mother, was a sign of things to come as the battle for the 14th Lok Sabha enters the final round.

Mulayam8217;s favourite bureaucrat

Uttar Pradesh8217;s most controversial bureaucrat, A.P. Singh, is in the news again. It seems Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is keen to bring him back to the government. Two options are under consideration. One is to appoint him adviser to the chief minister with the rank of minister of state. The other is to make him secretary, Uttar Pradesh Development Council, also with the rank of MoS.

It8217;s easier said than done. Mulayam dare not risk another storm over Singh. When he overrode widespread objections, including Cabinet Secretary Kamal Pandey8217;s, to give Singh a three-month, post-retirement extension as chief secretary, it became the subject of a PIL in the Supreme Court. The court asked the Uttar Pradesh government for an explanation. Fearing strictures, Singh quietly resigned one day before the hearing. He had completed only two months of his extension period.

He8217;s been lying low since then but he8217;s needed to complete the process of privatising sugar mills. Singh drew up the blueprint for the sale and, before things become too hot to handle politically, Mulayam wants to wrap it up.

The prodigal Dalit

After nearly two years in political wilderness after he quit the NDA and the Union cabinet, Ram Vilas Paswan has suddenly become one of the most sought after political leaders. The BJP is pursuing him with an 8216;8216;all is forgiven, come home8217;8217; plea. It is determined to put together the same alliance that, in 1999, reduced Laloo Yadav to seven seats in the Lok Sabha. On the other side, Bihar Congress leaders are mounting pressure on Sonia to phone Paswan and invite him to 10 Janpath for tea and politics.

Paswan8217;s chief attraction is his caste and the seven to eight per cent votes he commands in a clutch of constituencies around Hajipur. He is a Dusadh and his followers are not only fiercely loyal to him but are also fanatic voters. In Bihar8217;s caste-dominated politics, there8217;s no getting away from the Dusadh factor.

Paswan himself is unusually quiet these days. After drawing flak for telling Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan some months ago that he had resigned from the NDA because of the communal violence in Gujarat, he8217;s decided it8217;s better strategy to play mum.

National deal, nationwide secrecy

There8217;s a strange ad on FM radio these days. It goes something like this: 8216;8216;Idhar ana mana hai. Achcha Nat Geo? Aao, aao! Keep out! What? Nat Geo? Welcome, welcome!8217;8217;

The National Geographic channel has been boasting it can take you where none else can because, thanks to a little-known MOU signed with the Indian Mountaineering Federation, it has permission to shoot on super-sensitive, high-security peaks in the Himalayas. These apparently include what are known as 8216;8216;inner line8217;8217; areas, like Nanda Devi, where no Indian journalist or media organisation is allowed. Incidentally, all three service chiefs are members of the Indian Mountaineering Federation.

Under the MOU 8212; believed to have been signed for a sum of Rs 11 crore 8212; Natinal Geographic teams will be allowed access and to film and telecast programmes internationally. One film has already been shown on the channel. The argument is National Geographic is promoting adventure tourism.

The MOU contains a curious clause, however. It says the Indian media must not be informed about the agreement. Local barons are asking why.