Pays to court Soni

Soni’s proximity to Gandhi was very obvious whether it was in the seating arrangement at Gandhi’s press conference or accompanying her on a shikara ride on the Dal Lake.

Uncommon Touch

Sonia Gandhi’s habit of striding purposely ahead of her companions while walking is a trick she acquired from her late mother-in-law. In Kashmir there were other indications that Sonia tried to copy Indira Gandhi’s style.

Close watchers of the Congress president even noticed a few streaks of white in her jet black hair which suggest that the white streak made famous by Indira Gandhi may soon emerge.

The uncharacteristic touch about Sonia’s Kashmir visit was the loudness of her lipstick colours and the garish hues of her firan which was edged with bright gold zari. This was a far cry from Sonia’s usual understated ethnic chic and preference for understated browns and beiges. Perhaps her wardrobe mistress felt bright colours were required to please the common folk and gave the Congress president some terribly wrong advice on make-up.

Unbalancing Act

It’s not easy to serve two suspicious masters at the same time. And many in the BJP, from Khushabhau Thakre to Pramod Mahajan, have learnt this bitter lesson.

Venkaiah Naidu, an Advani appointee, who fancies himself as a word smith had personally coined the slogan ‘‘Vajpayee ka naam, Vajpayee ka kaam’’ for the 2004 general elections and announced it proudly. That riled some overzealous Advani supporters who asked why the DPM was excluded from the proposed campaign strategy. Naidu promptly rectified the lacuna by announcing a joint leadership, Vajpayee representing development, Advani strong action. The PM did not take kindly either to the idea of sharing the role of leader or the implication that Advani was the strong man and he a softie. He delivered his famous one-liner which had Naidu scurrying for cover.

Advani, who was present when the PM delivered his snub, left for a trip abroad immediately after the fracas. He is deeply hurt that the PM should have publicly humiliated him over something in which he had no role and the implication that it was a conspiracy of some sort to unseat Vajpayee.

Picture Galleries

To announce the start of the Delhi Metro last December, the Ministry of Urban Development took out full-page ads in the newspapers with a photo gallery of BJP stalwarts including Vajpayee, Advani, Ananth Kumar, his deputy O. Rajagopal and Delhi BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s photo was conspicuous by its absence, although the Delhi Government has footed half the expenses for the prestigious project. To make up for this lapse, in the current metro ads Dikshit’s picture has been included, but to counter-balance, the mug shots of MoS Pon Radhakrishnan and Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor have been added to the already extensive photo gallery.

The Congress is equally guilty of self promotion at the taxpayers’ expense. The inauguration of the AIIMS flyover last month had photos of only Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Dikshit and Delhi PWD minister A.K. Walia. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has done one better.

This week he took out ads thanking himself for his ‘‘vibrant and visionary leadership’’ in dispatching wheat to drought-hit Rajasthan. He shrewdly included photos of Sonia Gandhi and the all powerful party general secretary Ambica Soni.

Source of Contention

The dispute between Arun Jaitley and Digijay Singh over the Madhya Pradesh government’s success or failure on the development front has triggered off a lengthy exchange of correspondence.

Singh has questioned what he dubs, Jaitley’s selective choice of figures and raises doubts as to the credibility of the sources from where the data has been taken; papers produced by the CII India Today, the National Human Development and UNDP.

Singh is handicapped by the embarrassing fact that the so-called CII report was only commissioned by the confederation but was actually prepared by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Since Sonia Gandhi is both chairman of the RGF and president of the Congress party, Singh can hardly trash the report outright.

Defiant CEO

Prasar Bharati CEO K.S. Sarma ignored I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s admonition that DD officials should stop junketing abroad and nevertheless flew to South Africa to watch the World Cup. Sarma has also defied the authority of Prasar Bharati Chairman M.V. Kamath.

He recently selected an officer from the Indian Information Service to take over as DDG (Sports). Since the post has traditionally been held by someone from the programme staff, the association petitioned Kamath. The chairman assured that the position would not be filled till the next board meeting when the issue would be taken up.

Sarma ignored the chairman’s noting on the file and went ahead with the appointment. As for Prasad’s strictures about foreign travel, Sarma followed South Africa with a visit to Bangkok and Osaka and is now bound for Australia!