Fly on the wall

Saffron divideThe gulf between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani is widening. The strategy adopted ...

Saffron divide

The gulf between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani is widening. The strategy adopted by the Advani supporters in the BJP is different in this round. A large number of the Advani supporters is making a beeline for the Jhandewalan headquarters of the RSS and is complaining to senior leaders how the image of the BJP is being dented by Vajpayee associates like Pramod Mahajan, Brajesh Mishra and Ranjan Bhattacharya. Sushma Swaraj and Balbir Punj, to name a few, are regulars there.

Recently, RSS leader K.C. Sudarshan called on Vajpayee to apprise him of the sentiments of the cadre. What transpired between the two is not known but the chasm has widened since then. The RSS Chief, Rajendra Singh, decided to step in. He attended a book release at the Prime Minister8217;s residence, sending out obvious signals.

Take it EC

Now the members of the Election Commission are fighting among themselves. If G.V.G. Krishnamurthy was opposed to issuing a noticeto the Government on the financial package to telecom companies, Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill and J.M. Lyngdoh were all for it. Krishnamurthy argued at a close-door meeting of the Commission that since the package had been announced before the formal announcement of poll dates, the EC cannot issue notice. But Gill and Lyngdoh prevailed. GVG chose to keep himself out of the EC bench on Bal Thackeray case as well.

The telecom blow from the EC has rattled the Prime Minister. First, it was Jagmohan who raised the issue, then the President and now the EC. It may now turn out to be full-scale scam on the eve of the General Elections.

Man in a hurry

The purchase of the 50-seater ATR aircraft deal may be temporarily off thanks to the intervention of the President, K.R. Narayanan. But the Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar has hit upon novel methods of working overtime. Kumar has suddenly cleared the decks for bilateral negotiations for lending commercial rights to countries including Quatar,Oman and Kuwait. The fact is, he did not encourage bilateral talks with these nations earlier. But once the government became caretaker, the minister changed his mind.

Lucky 13

Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamag is known for mixing politics with numerology. During one of his visits to the Capital, he called on Sonia Gandhi and told her that the 13th Lok Sabha would be lucky for her. His forecast was that the party would get 247 seats the sum of the digits would come to 13. But his arch rival J.B. Patnaik pointed out that the sum of the digits in 139 too comes to 13.

Bahu Hamari

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Sonia Gandhi is buoyant about some of the catchy slogans suggested by top leaders. Kamal Nath has come out with: Poochh Raha Hai Mera Dil, Kyon Hua Kargil, Kargil. My heart is asking why Kargil..Kargil. Jitendra Prasada has another ace up his sleeves in reply to BJP8217;s 1998 superhit Abki Baari Atal Behari. Here is it: Pichhli Baari Atal Behari, Abki Bari Bahu Hamari.

PM8217;s day out

Tired of themonotonous daily routine, the Prime Minister wanted a break. His Man Friday Pramod Mahajan was ready with a solution. Why not watch a film? PM picked up Godmother. The Prime Minister, his foster daughter, son-in-law and Mahajan drove to the Mahadev Road auditorium of the Films Division. While Vajpayee watched the entire film, Mahajan walked out within 30 minutes. But he was there at the end, to see off the PM who enjoyed the movie 8220;thoroughly.8221;

Partner problem

CBI8217;s special investigation unit, MDMA, probing Rajiv Gandhi assassination is set to issue questionnaires to Chandraswami, Subramanian Swamy, Mahant Sewa Dass, Ramesh Dalal and host of others. But the matter is struck over issuance of the questionnaire to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief M. Karunanidhi. Since the DMK is now an alliance partner of the BJP and the MDMA is reporting directly to Home Minister Advani, the situation is uncomfortable for the officials concerned.