Jumping the gun

The Committee on Infrastructure, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh no less, finally cleared the modernisation of Kolkata airport by the Airports Authority of India, despite Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel8217;s insistence on a uniform model for the whole country. Delhi and Mumbai airports are being built by private players, and not the government-controlled AAI. But Patel8217;s argument won no support as everyone had resigned themselves to the Left8217;s dogmatic choice. The Civil Aviation Ministry was told to console itself with its privatisation model for Chennai airport since the DMK has raised no objections. And though a chafed Ministry stressed that its role should not be undermined, the PM took the final decision saying he did not want to fight with his allies. Oh, for the dharma of coalition politics.

Orders from above

It is no secret that the RSS has been proactive in Uttar Pradesh. And its major role has been to coerce errant BJP members into turning up for the campaign effort. In the cities of Lucknow, Allahabad and Varanasi, where some partymen were upset at not being given the ticket to contest the Assembly polls, it was the Sangh that stepped in to gently remind the rebellious members that the BJP was above everything and personal ambitions meant nothing. In other words, they had little option but to turn up for campaign duty. For instance, early one morning an RSS functionary showed up at the house of one such person in Varanasi as he sulked over the denial of the party ticket to fight from the Cantonment area. The errant member was soon back on the streets rooting for the very party candidate he had issues against.

Murky tales

Just when the BJP8217;s tail was up with exit polls indicating the party8217;s fortunes were on the rise in Uttar Pradesh came the story of Babubhai Katara and the human trafficking story. Not one to take things lying down, however, the BJP quickly came up with a Plan B: Go on the offensive. At meetings with other parties and with presiding officers of Parliament8217;s Houses, the BJP pointed to what it says were complaints by wives of some MPs that their husbands were escorting women abroad. The saffron party demanded that such complaints be properly investigated. The BJP obviously believes that the human trafficking story is a larger story affecting all political parties and it alone should not be made to suffer.

Woods for the trees

The Environment Ministry is flummoxed by the Supreme Court8217;s decision to have a two-tier mechanism for clearing projects pending with the Forest Panel. Clearly, this would only add to the red tape and the ministry is wondering whether its zealous effort to remove three activist experts from the panel was worth the while. But the fire raging on which experts should be on the panel8212;those from the ministry or those nominated by the Supreme Court8212;refuses to die, even as close to 200 projects await clearance. An exasperated senior cabinet minister pointed out to the Environment Ministry, it was missing the big picture by digging its heels regarding three individuals. As the minister told the Environment Secretary, 8220;Sometimes one needs to stoop to conquer.8221;

The money trail

Hectic moves are on, albeit in a backhanded way, to make changes in the President8217;s Office. It was recently brought to the government8217;s notice that the Vice-President of India draws a salary that is less than that of MPs, even first-timers, by nearly Rs 20,000. Imagine, the VP actually presides over a House where everyone is better paid than him. So, the Parliamentary Affairs, Home and Finance Ministries were called in to correct the anomaly. Apparently, the recent pay hike for MPs has had a cascading effect, to everyone8217;s benefit except the VP. But if the VP gets a pay hike, the President8217;s package has to be increased as well. The governors then cannot be left behind, which brings High Court Chief Justices also into the picture. Officials have been frantically dialling the state governments for their response since the bill has to be passed this session.

Numbers game

The National Commission on Minorities was quietly asked by the government to verify some of the statistics put out by the Sachar Committee on Muslims. Not knowing where to cross-check the numbers about the reported increase of Muslim voters in the reserved SC/ST constituencies, it asked the Election Commission to direct the Delimitation Commission to share the information with them. Both refused to acknowledge the NCM8217;s letter. However, when the controversy over the BJP8217;s CD erupted in Uttar Pradesh, the media was promptly informed about the letter written two months earlier. An angry NCM chairman and officials expressed surprise at this being made public as the EC and DC had already told them no such data was available with them. It was a closed matter as the Constitution does not allow segregation of voters on caste and religious lines.

Confidence building

Former 8220;Prime Minister8221; of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir Sardar Abdul Qayyum believes there are 8220;some good tidings8221; for Kashmir. Pointing out he had been a persona non-grata for many years, Qayyum, who is the father of incumbent PoK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, says the very fact he was permitted to come to India is a good sign. 8220;Heaven won8217;t fall if Kashmiri leaders on both sides meet and discuss their problems. Now that we have started meeting, have the heavens fallen down?8221; asked Qayyum, who is here as head of a people8217;s delegation from PoK. In the past, said Qayyum, Kashmiri politicians understood each other through news reports, gossip and some 8220;fantastic thinking8221; which soon became a political cult. This was now changing.

Lord Lalu

Bihar8217;s Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Narayan Yadav recently released a Bhojpuri film CD in which Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav8217;s photo is shown being worshipped by a tea-stall owner. The JDU minister8217;s faux pas certainly gave Lalu8217;s aides in Rail Bhavan much to cheer about this past week. Titled, Tute Na Sanehiya ke Dor, the CD has the chaiwallah chanting a Lalu-aarti equating him with the gods. Getting hold of the video of the CD release function, Lalu8217;s aides missed little opportunity in claiming that Lalu8217;s charisma had finally seduced even his opponents8217; minds.

Tailpiece

Suresh Kalmadi may have lost the bid for the 2014 Asian Games and promptly blamed Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar for the fiasco, but his attempt was no less rhapsodic. Kalmadi8217;s delegation consisted of a clutch of celeb politicians, whom he introduced one by one as the next big thing in Indian politics. When he came to Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, he said she would be a cabinet minister in the next government! So while one Congressman doesn8217;t want the Games to be held in Delhi, another seems to think there will be a BJP government next time round.