Learning the ropes

The new Sports Ministernbsp;M S Gill took an indirectnbsp;barb at predecessor Mani Shankar Aiyar last week in Rajya Sabha, when replying to a question on the Government8217;s efforts to take sports to the villages. While referring to Aiyar8217;s pet project of the Panchayat Yuva Krida Abhiyan, Gill found difficulty in pronouncing 8220;krida8221;. Exasperated, he said, 8220;I wish people gave simpler names to government schemes8230;I would prefer to refer to it as picca PYKAnbsp;for the sake of convenience.8221; Then, a few minutes later, with PM Manmohan Singh sitting in the Rajya Sabha, he said, 8220;I hope the PM doubles the sports budget because it8217;s too low.8221; This left many red faces, with ministers Anand Sharma and Vyalar Ravi nodding that this wasn8217;t the 8220;right way8221; to answer questions. The bureaucrat-turned-politician8217;s straight-talking is not going too well with his political colleagues, it seems.