Minister for Competition?

MTNL staffers grumble that their minister, Pramod Mahajan, seems more on the side of the competition than theirs. A private phone network ev...

MTNL staffers grumble that their minister, Pramod Mahajan, seems more on the side of the competition than theirs. A private phone network even put out an advertisement profusely thanking the Minister for Communications for his help. Mahajan was an honoured guest on the dais at the launch of the private limited mobility phone service, though the product is in direct competition with MTNL’s Garuda service. Similarly, he was present at the launch of the IDEA network, which is a direct rival to MTNL’s Dolphin.

The unkindest cut was early this month when Mahajan at a press conference announced a drastic cut in phone rates on behalf of private cellular operators. It was a shrewd business tactic and MTNL belatedly followed suit.

Sad Reflection

Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha has a habit of ad-libbing even though he is presented a prepared text. His one-liners — more panache than precision — might have been applauded in the film world but it’s a different matter in the field of medicine and health where a more serious approach is expected.

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Sinha’s favourite quip about AIDS is not going down well with audiences: he’s fond of remarking in his speeches that AIDS is not mad, AIDS is not bad, AIDS is only sad!

Go(a) way politicians

Initial media reports suggesting that the PM would be visiting Goa for his yearend holiday along with a dozen ministers, including Deputy Home Minister L K Advani, created a security scare in the tiny coastal state. But apart from Vajpayee, Vinod Khanna was the only other minister in Goa at the year-end, and he was regarded as a representative of Bollywood rather than New Delhi.

Goa continues to be a magnet for Mumbai’s film stars, and Delhi’s political representation was restricted to a few five-star hotel politicians. Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Mallya made a grand splash with a housewarming-cum-New year Day celebration — so grand that a boat and a helicopter were kept on standby for his house guests to go jet skiing. So Congress MP Subbirami Reddy’s lavish do on January 1, also in Goa, seemed a trifle tame in comparison. While politicians like Rajeev Shukla, Suresh Kalmadi and Praful Patel were part of the Goa party scene. Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has been visiting the state in December for years with his family, kept away.

The PM remained confined to the Taj Exotica resort, which charges a tariff of Rs 20,000 per day per guest. Apart from his OSD Ajay Bisaria, the only other senior staff member accompanying him was Joint Secretary Sudheendra Kulkarni who, as usual, played Vajpayee’s Boswell and penned his musings.

Cellular Communication

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IT is common to see our central ministers clutching two cellular phones; one with a secret number known to only a select few and the other for the hoi polloi. However, the Finance Ministry has made clear that it is not going to pick up the tab for more than one cell phone and that too only for a modest sum.

The issue as to whether Urban Development Minister Ananth Kumar was entitled to bill his ministry for two cell phones — since he has acquired a WiLL connection recently — went all the way to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh for adjudication. Singh wrote sharply on the file that in future, he should not be disturbed for seeking orders on something so frivolous. He seems to have overlooked the point that the Secretary Expenditure was in no position to take on Ananth Kumar without the backing of his own minister.

Ceilings on cell phone bills came into force after a former communications minister presented a cell phone bill for over a lakh for clearance. The Prime Minister also decreed that ministers could not charge their fat cell phone bills to PSUs after it was discovered that Sharad Yadav, Shanta Kumar and Ananth Kumar had got PSUs to pick up their tabs.

His Master’s Roadblock

HIS rank is lower than that of a joint secretary but Director EAMO (External Affairs Minister’s Office), R Venu, has clout far beyond his position in the hierarchy, since he is the interface between minister Yashwant Sinha and the entire babudom. Problem is that the director acts as a barricade rather than a facilitator.

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With the result that Sinha is getting isolated from his own ministry and Venu is extremely unpopular with his colleagues in the service, who though senior in rank, are officiously kept away from the minister by him.

Openly Ambitious

On Christmas day, Jayalalithaa met Chandrababu Naidu for lunch in Hyderabad to discuss evolving a common political strategy at the national level. The two leaders talked about floating a federal front which Jayalalithaa believes would be the right vehicle for promoting her prime ministerial aspirations. Jaya had earlier kept her ambitions secret but after her party passed a resolution suggesting that she play a major role at the national level, it’s now official. Jayalalithaa feels that if Mulayam Singh Yadav could be a prime ministerial candidate with 20-odd MPs, she has a greater claim since she hopes to win more than that number in the next Lok Sabha elections by flogging the Hindutva card.