Not so comradely

Nepal8217;s Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda appears to be closer to Janata Dal U President Sharad Yadav than to his fellow Communists in India.

Nepal8217;s Maoistnbsp;Prime Minister Prachanda appearsnbsp;to be closer to Janata Dal U President Sharad Yadav than to his fellow Communists in India. Not only did Yadav host a lunch for Prachandanbsp;in Delhi last week,nbsp;but he, along with party colleague K.C. Tyagi, was one of the fewnbsp;Indiansnbsp;invited to Kathmandu for Prachanda8217;s swearing-in. Although Sitaram Yechury assisted in getting the Maoistsnbsp;involved in the peace process in Nepal, the CPIM8217;s real affinity is with the CPNUML, the Maoists being nbsp;the equivalent of our own Naxalites, with whom the CPIM is not on the best of terms.nbsp;Yadav, who heads the Indo-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Forum,nbsp;says he was introduced to several Nepali politicians thanks to the late Chandra Shekhar and he has since maintained these links through the parliamentary forum.

Yadav invitednbsp;politicians from all parties to his lunch. Somnath Chatterjee, Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh, Praful Patel and Prakash Karatnbsp;were present, and so was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Curiously, the onlynbsp;senior leader from the BJP, the JDU8217;s principalnbsp;ally, was Murli Manohar Joshi. More surprisingly, Karat was busy chatting with Joshi, exchanging barely a glance with his old comrade Chatterjee.

Dandy, but handy

Home Minister Shivraj Patilnbsp;has been assured by his party high command that he willnbsp;not be removed. Patil was awardednbsp;the coveted home portfolio,nbsp;although both Pranab Mukherjee and Lalu Yadav wanted the job, because he is a special favourite ofnbsp;Sonia Gandhi. Some speculate that Patil might well have been appointed prime minister instead of Manmohan Singh,nbsp;had he notnbsp;been defeated from Latur in the last general elections.nbsp; The Congress even proposed Patil8217;snbsp;name for thenbsp;President8217;s job but the Left vetoed the idea. Patil is bemused by the barrage of media criticismnbsp;against him and is particularly upset with the TV channels for mocking his dandy image. Yadav, who has not forgivennbsp;Patil for gettingnbsp;the job he coveted, wasnbsp;egged on by senior Congress leaders8212;some of them from Maharashtra8212;to publicly demand a new home minister.

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Tripped up

Rahul Sarin, who took overnbsp;recently as secretary, personnel, was furious to find that none of the three joint secretaries in the department were in Delhi to brief him. All three were attendingnbsp;conferences abroad. Sarin wrote a stiff note stating thatnbsp;the absence of all the joint secretaries at the same time was not acceptable. Minister of State Prithviraj Chavannbsp;nbsp; endorsed the secretary8217;snbsp;position, noting on the file that there is a need to stagger trips abroadnbsp;and to maintain discipline in the civil services. The file hasnbsp;been sent to the prime minister for his comments.

Expelling black sheep

Parliament will not resume till October 17, but Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is busy chairingnbsp;proceedings under the anti-defection law against the 24 MPsnbsp;who defied the party whipnbsp;in the trust vote. Therenbsp;are black sheep in most major parties, but thenbsp;BJP, with eight rebels,nbsp;has the largest number of defectors. The SP comes next, with six turncoats.nbsp;All 24 MPs have beennbsp;issuednbsp;show cause notices. Hearings are heldnbsp;daily and the report on the status of the MPs will be placed in Parliament when it re-convenes.