Left with Left options, HRD opts for its babu

Officially, the Ministry would not comment, but Zubair Rizvi of the Jana Lekhak Morcha (a prominent organisation of Left intellectuals) said the Left had been pushing for Narang’s ouster. Rizvi said they had petitioned both Singh and Union Culture Minister Jaipal Reddy to have Narang removed from both the prestigious posts he held.

Singh has been able to accede to the demand because the NCPUL vice-chairman’s post is a nominated one. It is difficult for Reddy to give Narang the marching orders from the Akademi because he was elected chairman through a poll, in which he beat Bengali litterateur, Mahasweta Devi.

Though the NCPUL’s day-to-day activities are handled by the director, the vice-chairman does play a crucial role in policy-making. The HRD Minister is the ex-officio chairman but he seldom intervenes in the regular affairs.

Rizvi writes a regular column in the popular Urdu newspaper Inquilaab and also edits the magazine, Zehan-e-Jadeed. He does not hide his allegiance to the CPM, but insists that ‘‘it would be wrong to say I am in the race for the vice-chairman’s job.’’

‘‘Some Urdu papers have been floating my name unnecessarily for the past few days. I think they have been prompted by Narang,’’ he says.

An IAS from the MP cadre, Banerjee is known for his cultural inclinations. Rizvi says: ‘‘He is a good poet in Hindi. I had met Banerjee once or twice when he was looking after adult education during Singh’s first stint as HRD Minister.’’

Professor Qamar Rais’s name has been proposed by the CPI camp. A former Delhi University professor, he has travelled to a number of former Soviet and Central Asian countries. He was out of town today. CPM intellectuals did not have too many kind words for Rais. ‘‘He had not adopted a tough line against the BJP over the past six years,’’ was one Urdu scholar’s snide remark.

NCPUL director Hamidullah Bhat did not agree that the appointment of a HRD official was ‘‘an infringement on autonomy.” ‘‘Banerjee has great administrative acumen. It will only help us,” he said.