Parliament146;s smokescreen

Vinod Khanna is furious he was not invited to the inauguration of the newly launched train from Pathankot to Delhi, which halts at Gurdaspur, the constituency from where he is MP. Khanna feels that Minister of State Ashwini Kumar, a Rajya Sabha MP, deliberately tried to hog all the credit for the new connection while it was he who had lobbied with Lalu Yadav for years for getting a rail link between Gurdaspur and the national capital. Kumar claims he didn8217;t play any politics. The official inauguration of the train was cancelled because the Election Commission8217;s model code of conduct came into effect the day the Delhi Assembly poll was announced. Kumar simply held a party rally outside the Pathankot station to celebrate the train8217;s inauguration. 8220;We never even stepped on the platform,8221; he claims. Khanna, however, points out that he was not even informed of the new train.

D-day in December

Why has the Government selected December 8 as the date for Parliament to re-convene? For one, it is Sonia Gandhi8217;s birthday so most Congress MPs will be in the Capital to felicitate her. Counting for various Assembly elections will also begin that day. If the trends are favourable to the Congress, the government might dissolve Parliament, which would mean elections around February. If the polls go badly for the Congress, the government hopes to continue till the very end of its five-year tenure and elections will be in April. To prevent any attempt at a no-trust motion in December, the monsoon session has been extended into winter, rather than adjourning the Lok Sabha sine die and calling for a fresh winter session. But whether this tactic will work remains to be seen. CPIM MP Mohammed Salim asserts there is a vacuum both in Parliament and in the government8217;s leadership. And nature abhors a vacuum.

Family politics

BJP MP Vinod Khanna will play the male lead in the film Ek Thee Rani8212;Aisee Bhi on the late Vijaya Raje Scindia. He has been cast as the former Maharaja of Gwalior, a non-political royal who spawned a powerful political dynasty. His children include Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundara Raje, the late Madhavrao Scindia and BJP MP Yashodara Raje, while Jyotiraditya Raje Scindia and Dushyant Singh are his grandchildren. Khanna8217;s colleague and party MP Hema Malini will play the Rajmata, who gave up her royal lifestyle to join politics fulltime. Khanna, 62, is wellmatched against Hema, who turned 60 recently. The actor began his Bollywood career with Man Ka Meet a year before Hema Malini made her debut with Sapno ka Saudagar. Gul Bahar Singh of Dastak fame is to direct the film. The producer is a Gwalior-based trust run by the Scindia family. The film ends with the Rajmata seeing her dream8212;of a BJP-led government at the Centre and Atal Behari Vajpayee as prime minister8212; fulfilled. Shooting for the film will begin in December and the BJP hopes it will be ready for release in time for the general elections.

Inside job

A top leader in the BJP headquarters in Delhi is said to have instigated the revolt of party MLAs against Uttarakhand Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri recently. The senior BJP official had sent a friend of his to the State Excise Minister, pressing for a change in policy to favour him. The minister refused to oblige and referred him to the Chief Minister. Khanduri put his foot down and made it clear he would not help. Annoyed that the state Government has been ignoring his requests, the party leader encouraged Khanduri8217;s longstanding rival Bhagat Singh Koshyari to step up dissidence. Though 17 out of 34 MLAs reportedly submitted their resignation letters to BJP President Rajnath Singh, the party high command declined to replace Khanduri. The rebel8217;s well-wisher in Delhi backed down when Khanduri threatened to expose his attempts to interfere in state administration.