Gag Order

In the good old days when discipline was tighter and the RSS sarsanghchalak set the tone by rarely speaking in public, the RSS had no troub...

In the good old days when discipline was tighter and the RSS sarsanghchalak set the tone by rarely speaking in public, the RSS had no trouble in ensuring that ghar ke jhagde remained within the family.

But now the RSS is distinctly apprehensive that details of its top-level closed door conclave in Surat between July 2 and July 5 might leak to the media.

Although the agenda of the meeting is the review of its training programmes of May and June and a review of the preparations for the birth centenary celebration of M S Golwalkar, there is no doubt that the unspoken agenda will be the RSS8217;s troubled relationship with the BJP. The focus undoubtedly will be on L K Advani8217;s recent reappraisal of the Sangh8217;s pet hate figure Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav has gone to great lengths to convince the media that there is no point in making a trip to Surat since nobody will speak to journalists. In fact, Madhav has taken the unprecedented step of faxing a note to all newspapers 8216;8216;advising against travelling to Surat.8217;8217; Arrangements will be made to provide the necessary information to the media in Delhi itself directly after the conclave, he makes clear.

In fact, to reinforce his point that he will be incommunicado, Madhav has even left his mobile phone in Delhi before leaving for Surat.
More equal than others
Nilotpal Basu, leader of the CPIM in the Rajya Sabha, has reason to feel insecure. The nomination of the high-powered and high-profile Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechuri to Parliament has undermined his position, particularly as the reason proffered for their induction is that the party needs their talent in the Upper House. The party has bent its own rules to accommodate them. Earlier, the CPIM had taken the stand that Politbureau members should not be sent to the Rajya Sabha and that Rajya Sabha members should not be elected from States where they are not domiciled. Neither Yechuri nor Karat is a resident of West Bengal.

Time servers stay away

Though it was the first birth anniversary of P V Narasimha Rao since his death less than a year ago, few Congressmen showed up for the memorial ceremony at 9 Motilal Nehru Marg last week. Those who had worked closely with Rao as Prime Minister and had been promoted by him, stayed away from the function for fear of annoying Sonia Gandhi. The only three senior Congressmen who came to pay their respects were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Andhra CM Y S Rajashekhar Reddy.

At the prayer meet, former Prime Minister Vajpayee and former President K R Narayanan sat at opposite ends of the same front row and did not exchange a word with each other.

Not on the guest list

There is resentment among the national TV news channels over the PMO8217;s choice of channels to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his special aircraft on his forthcoming trip to the USA. The inclusion of Zee News is understandable in view of its wide viewership abroad, but the other three invitees are all regional channels from the South. The Malayalam channel, Kairali, has obviously been singled out because it is owned by the CPIM. The inclusion of Sun TV from Tamil Nadu is because it is run by the DMK minister Dayanidhi Maran8217;s brother Kalanidhi. But no one is quite sure why the Telegu channel, TV 9, is in the list of favourites. It is speculated that someone in the PMO has a soft corner for the Andhra-based channel.

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In a bid to mollify those left out of the US trip, several invitations have been proffered to the less newsworthy G-8 summit in Scotland earlier this month.

A golfer apart

Army chief General J J Singh is an avid golfer with a single digit handicap. Stories of his idiosyncrasies on the Army Golf Course are legion. Singh8217;s latest quirk is that he refuses to use one of the many golf cars on the course meant for players. He has a car reserved exclusively for his own use with four stars emblazoned on the outside, indicating his rank as a four star general. A red mat is kept in the golf car which his orderly spreads out when necessary to prevent the General8217;s feet from getting wet.

Not in charmed circle

There is a difference in the mindset of the CPIM leaders, depending on whether they come from West Bengal or from Kerala. The ones from the east have a weakness for khandan, class and prestigious Ivy League institutions. The Keralite comrades on the other hand are more down to earth and less impressed by blue blood and blue chip backgrounds. While Bengali CPIM leaders such as Jyoti Basu have a soft-corner for the Gandhi family, Keralites still recall with bitterness that Indira Gandhi got E M S Namboodripad8217;s government dismissed back in the fifties.

Sitaram Yechuri and Harkishen Surjeet may not belong to either State but like the Bengalis they too are clearly smitten by the mystique of the Gandhi family. As chairperson of the UPA, Sonia Gandhi found it easy to work her charm in getting them to appreciate the Congress8217;s compulsions. But the new CPIM general secretary Prakash Karat is a tougher nut to crack. A Keralite, even if married to a Bengali, Karat is more matter-of-fact and impersonal in his dealings with the Congress bosses. Hence the no-nonsense threat to withdraw from the UPA consultative committee over the proposed disinvestments in BHEL.