Fly on the wall

No retirement
The ongoing tussle in the petro-chemical sector for the control ofsuccessful public sector company — IPCL – took a new turn with the Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Suresh Prabhu, giving sumo moto extension to its CMD S. Ramanathan beyond the age of 60 years. Though he was to retire at 58, he was given several extensions, the last one with the stipulation from the PMO that this would be his last term. But Prabhu found him so good that he gave him an extension without the PMO’s approval.Prabhu’s office said that the file has been sent to the PMO for its post-facto clearance. The PMO is unable to trace the file. But Ramanathan continues.

Trouble-shooters
Detractors of Union Home Minister L.K. Advani were in for a shock when the Prime Minister curtly told the Samata and the Janata Dal (U) leaders that they would have to talk to `Adavaniji’ to sort out their problems. Even Coal Minister Naveen Patnaik was ticked off when he sought Vajpayee’s help. Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala who thought that the PM would bail him out, was politely told to meetthe Home Minister.

These NDA partners thought of taking advantage of the `rift’ between Vajpayee and Advani.

In fact, Advani’s role as an arbitrator in Bihar, Orissa and Manipur has been appreciated within the NDA. However, he declined to intervene in Haryana as Chautala has been complaining that he had been close to Bansi Lal. While the BJP conceded at least 15 seats in Bihar to others and gave up 12 in Orissa, it was unwilling to oblige Chautala.

If Advani is Vajpayee’s political trouble-shooter in place of Defence Minister George Fernandes, there are other four who are considered close to 7 Race Course Road these days. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav, Disinvestment Minister Arun Jaitley and Power Minister P.R. Kumaramanglam. And of course, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh is always there.