Lower House gets upper hand

Meanwhile, the Upper House has decided to set up a sub-committee of the parliamentary housing committee, headed by the ever enterprising, Rajeev Shukla, to see how the accommodation problems of Rajya Sabha members can be solved.

Discrimination even in death

The late Prime Minister Narasimha Rao8217;s family assumed that his funeral would be held in the Capital. But the Congress high command, the PMO and Andhra Chief Minister Rajashekhar Reddy spent the entire day persuading Rao8217;s children that Hyderabad rather than Delhi would be a more suitable venue for his last rites. It was claimed that since it was the Christmas season it was difficult to muster crowds in Delhi and there was no space for a new samadhi in the Capital. A minister even quoted a 1997 Cabinet resolution which said that only PMs who die in office should have memorials in Delhi in future. Incidentally, before leaving for Hyderabad, Rao8217;s family locked up his bungalow at 9 Motilal Road and asked his faithful private secretary Khandekar to vacate the premises immediately.

The fact that Rao8217;s body was kept on the pavement outside the Congress headquarters in Delhi was because the gun carriage on which the body was placed was too large to pass through the gate, party sources claimed. But that does not explain Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi8217;s absence from the funeral or the fact that Rao8217;s body was kept in front of the AICC headquarters in Delhi for a mere half-an-hour, hardly sufficient time for his party men to pay their respects.

Another unfortunate footnote is that in Hyderabad, mourners left before the body was completely consumed by the flames and the family had to return later in the night to complete the task after a TV channel reported about the half burnt body.

No car seva

After leaving a Christmas brunch party, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and his wife Suneet discovered to their amazement that though his chauffeur and security guard were waiting patiently for him there was no car. It seems that Aiyer8217;s three daughters, who were also at the do, had each driven away separately in one of the family8217;s three cars, assuming tha at least one vehicle would be left behind for their parents. The stranded Aiyers along with their official entourage had to hitch a ride with a guest to a taxi stand.

Thanks, but no thanks

The official policy of the GoI is that we do not ask for aid as India is quite capable of handling its own relief in all natural disasters. Foreigners offering unsolicited assistance often find the government far from welcoming. During the first few days after the Gujarat earthquake the MEA dragged its feet over issuing visas to aid workers from abroad. It reversed its stand only after the PMO, headed by Vajpayee, intervened. Eventually two MEA officers were posted in Bhuj and Ahmedabad to liaise with foreign relief agencies.

In the wake of the tsunami calamity the government has reverted to its earlier aggressively self-reliant posture. The Cabinet Secretary and the Finance Minister have backed the MEA line on relief. Ambassadors and NGOs from developing countries making inquiries have been assured that our government can handle the fall-out of the tragedy on its own. Ignoring the fact that the problem is not of funds alone but of hi-tech rescue equipment and skilled manpower. The government prefers to project the role of a giver rather than receiver and has made much of the fact that India has sent four ships with relief material to Sri Lanka and three to the Maldives. India has joined hands with the US, Australia and Japan to co-ordinate relief for tsunami-hit countries.

Law of succession

Law Minister H R Bhardwaj and his predecessor Arun Jaitley have very little in common. Changing law officers in a new regime is customary, but Bhardwaj8217;s ministry has in addition disbanded all the government legal panels. He has also demanded that PSUs should get their legal representatives vetted by the law ministry. Two ministers are engaged in the exercise of drawing up a list of lawyers whom they consider politically correct. In the witch hunt to weed out all the nominees of the last regime, legal talent and standing has been given the go-by.

Bhardwaj has also vetoed Jaitley8217;s proposal for a judicial commission. Still there is one meeting ground between the two. The law minister has revived Jaitley8217;s proposed legislation amending the law of contempt. Under the antiquated law even truth is not a defence in a case of contempt of court. The law minister faced the full brunt of the unfair law himself when he was the counsel for Bansi Lal in a contempt case in 1977 and was not permitted to cite proven facts in defence of his client.