High-power delegation

Pakistan usually scores over the Indian Foreign Office in dispatching its senior-most statesmen to attend funerals of dignitaries in the Mid...

Pakistan usually scores over the Indian Foreign Office in dispatching its senior-most statesmen to attend funerals of dignitaries in the Middle East and garners much goodwill as a consequence. For the recent funeral of Sheikh Makhtoum Bin Rashid of Dubai, the MEA made doubly sure that it was not caught on the wrong foot after it heard that Pakistan8217;s President was flying to Dubai. Both Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and MoS for External Affairs E Ahmed represented India at the Sheikh8217;s last rites. The MEA was, however, taken aback to find that the Vice-President8217;s three teenage grandchildren accompanied him on the special plane.

No territorial encroachment

There is a significant message in the recent revamp of the Congress party that has escaped attention. Ambika Soni continues to be the senior-most general secretary but she is no longer in charge of the Congress president8217;s office. In fact this beat has not been re-allotted to any other general secretary, making it amply clear that Sonia Gandhi8217;s political secretary, Ahmed Patel, holds complete sway at 10 Janpath.

Of the eight general secretaries, three8212;Harish Prasad, Narayana Swamy and Ashok Gehlot8212;are OBCs. The Congress is keen to send out the signal that it is no longer a Brahmin-dominated party. Fifty per cent of the general secretaries are not from the forward castes and only two are Brahmins. Those who complain that adequate representation has not been given to minorities forget that the virtual number two in the party organisation, Ahmed Patel, is a Muslim, albeit from Gujarat.

Centre8217;s point of view

A meeting of the Election Commission was called this week to consider a petition demanding that Jaya Bachchan be stripped of her seat in the Rajya Sabha since she is accused of contravening the rule that disbars an MP from holding an office of profit in government. After she was elected as a Samajwadi Party MP Jaya was appointed chairperson of the UP Film Development Corporation by Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Bachchan is not the first elected member to be accused of violating this stipulation. Previously MLAs and MPs have got around this bar since friendly state or central governments have suitably amended the Act to declare that the chairpersonship of the concerned governmental body should not be considered an office of profit. Jaya8217;s problem is that a declaration to this effect from Mulayam8217;s government will not help her. As she is a member of Parliament it is up to the Central Government to determine whether she was entitled to head the film development corporation.

Not resigned to fate

BJP president Rajnath Singh cannot take over formally as head of the party since the BJP8217;s national council has yet to ratify his appointment. Consequently Rajnath has to wait till January 20, when a meeting of the party8217;s national council has been called to announce the new office bearers. The embarrassing lacuna in completing the formalities for Rajnath8217;s presidency could have been avoided if L K Advani had not been insistent on announcing his resignation as party president a day after the conclusion of the five-day BJP silver jubilee meet. By this time all the national council members who were present in Mumbai had dispersed all over India. It is doubtful if 50 per cent will turn up for the January 20 Delhi meeting.

Advani8217;s logic in announcing his resignation on December 318212;even journalists covering the meet had to reschedule their departure flights8212;was that he did not want anything to detract from the actual silver jubilee function. Considering Sanjay Joshi8217;s resignation and Vajpayee8217;s speech, which set the cat among the pigeons, one more distraction would have hardly made any difference.

Weight watchers8217; club

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Some parliamentarians are perceptively trimmer of late. The most noticeable weight reductions in the last session were of Sushma Swaraj, Najma Heptullah and Arun Jaitley, all of whom are diabetic. Swaraj and Heptullah have lost 11 kilos each. Swaraj attributes her weight loss to adhering to the food chart prepared by her doctor, a diet specialist. Heptullah does not observe any rigid diet plan but has cut down on carbohydrates and oily foods. She combines her dieting with workouts at the gym and walking.

Arun Jaitley has lost 14 kilos since his heart bypass operation six months ago. Jaitley avoids oils and sugar and walks regularly. And when Parliament is in session carries his own tiffin box with enough vegetable sandwiches to feed many of his colleagues as well.

What8217;s in a name

There was bedlam at an Election Commission meeting in Delhi last month over the delimitation of assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK and DMK representatives were at each others8217; throats over the name for a newly created assembly constituency in Chennai. The AIADMK had convinced the Tamil Nadu state election commissioner that the constituency should be named MGR colony since the hutment cluster by that name is part of the constituency. That would have, however, meant an advantage for the AIADMK since Jayalalithaa8217;s party is closely associated with MGR.

The DMK protested against the decision of the state election commissioner and noted that Jayalalithaa had recently granted him a two-year extension. The DMK pointed out that the rule is that the constituency is named after the largest colony or most prominent feature falling within its limits. Only a section of the MGR hutment colony falls within the constituency and the largest squatter colony in the area is in fact named after DMK boss M Karunanidhi. The issue is yet to be settled.