Sonia's lessons``Why does he come all the time to our side?'' Sonia Gandhi said seeing Pramod Mahajan frequently moving to the Opposition benches in the Lok Sabha. Her deputy leader Madhavrao Scindia, seating next to her, didn't know how to react. After a pause, he told her that Mahajan being the Parliamentary Affairs Minister has to inform the Opposition about the government's moves on a particular Bill or a problem on a regular basis. Apart from discharging his duties as the deputy leader, Scindia has an additional task of coaching the first-timers too.Awaiting starsSonia Gandhi continues to function from her small cubicle within the Congress Parliamentary Party office instead of moving to the more spacious room given to the Leader of the Opposition. If the SPG is taking time in putting up required security equipment, astrologers have also suggested a particular date and time to enter the premises. Sonia may not believe in astrology but family loyalists take care of these things ontheir own. The room was first allotted to L.K. Advani who was the Leader of the Opposition. Later, Atal Behari Vajpayee occupied it.After the dramaPrime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee threw the resignation letters of L.K. Advani and M.M. Joshi in the dustbin near his office in Parliament House.Vajpayee left Advani's one-page resignation letter with 20 cuts and corrections on his desk while leaving after the two-hour debate on the Ayodhya issue. Joshi's two-page letter had been returned to him by Advani.A peon rushed to the PM with Advani's ``resignation letter.'' And handed it over to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan who asked the PM if he would like to keep the letter. The PM directed him to tear it and throw it in the dustbin.On the dotted linePrime Minister's Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, I&B Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP general secretary M. Venkiah Naidu are handling the task of coordination between the government and the ruling BJP. Of course,Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan is there to interact with the other partners of the NDA.Vajpayee's trouble-shooter in the 12th Lok Sabha, Defence Minister George Fernandes, has taken a back-seat. The trio has to fine-tune the ticklish decisions as BJP hardliners are generally at variance with some proposals. Vajpayee does not want to be bothered for anything, he prefers to sign the files instead of noting down his comments. It's Brajesh Mishra's job to read and make the comments.Gaping holesThe population policy draft proposing incentives to those following the two-child norm fell flat in the Union Cabinet. One senior Cabinet Minister asked what the government would do if the wife of the person concerned gave birth to a third child and claim that he was not the father.Since incentive scheme is the backbone of the new policy being brought forward by Advani, it has been deferred to plug loopholes.Spoiling the partyThe BJP's Bihar unit and even some of the SamataParty leaders are pleading with the Prime Minister not to attend the marriage of Laloo Prasad Yadav's daughter Misa. They say that it would send a wrong political signal as Laloo has turned it into a political event.
