Rewriting history

Lalu Yadav is the reformists8217; new poster boy. But behind every successful reformist minister is a low profile officer, in this case, Sudhir Kumar, OSD to Lalu. It was Kumar who hogged the show when the Railways made a presentation to the PM. There was the Railway Board Chairman J P Batra, there were other senior officers, there was the rail minister himself, ready with rustic bon mots. But the man Manmohan Singh heard most was Kumar who walked the PM through a long, elaborate show and tell. RCR insiders, however, say that the OSD perhaps was too conscientious. The PM isn8217;t overly fond of detailed presentations perhaps the phrase PowerPoint reminds him of something. But the invariably polite man that he is, Manmohan sat through every graph, chart and Venn diagram.

Cartoon characters

What are we the Centre doing to assuage Muslim hurt? asked Lalu Yadav after a UP minister raised the bar or the guillotine, perhaps on the Danish cartoon controversy. It fell to P R Dasmunsi to answer that question. And the minister was apparently not happy at all to, as he memorably said in another context, go to the issue of the bottom. But orders are orders, even if he thought that since this is a media matter the I038;B minister should be answering questions. Dasmunsi managed to dig up a letter the PM had written last November, expressing India8217;s official concern at the cartoons. The PMO, it is clear, missed out on a perfect opportunity to showcase 8216;8216;minority concern8217;8217;. The PM8217;s intervention could have have been publicised much before the UP minister made himself famous.

Flower power

In the garden of UPA politics, this is one flower one should be wary of picking. Blossom Fernandes, wife of Oscar, is said to not only take most decisions for her husband, she is also persuasive enough to have kept him in the Cabinet when everyone thought he was going back to the party. After the reshuffle, Oscar was supposed to have lost the programme implementation portfolio and headed back to 24 Akbar Road. But a month later, he8217;s still in the Cabinet, minus a portfolio. For those who wanted Oscar to go back to the party, Blossom is the thorn in their side.

Tough doctor

Who says Manmohan Singh is just a mild mannered man? Sometimes the iron hand shows from the velvet glove, especially to those who take a hammer and sickle to crucial national issues. Interrupted early and rather brusquely by the CPIM8217;s Brinda Karat during his foreign policy speech in Parliament, the PM gave her a cold, cutting glance. And then he waited, in pointed silence, until Karat8212;she was, of course, demanding that the US ambassador be recalled8212;ran out of words and perhaps courage. Manmohan resumed his speech then, having provided a valuable lesson in parliamentary power play.

Wood be conspiracy

For all anti-American conspiracy theorists, here8217;s some alarming news. The big, bad Yankees won8217;t even allow us to speak from the lectern of our choice. The Bush advance team had politely told the MEA that the lecterns used for dignitaries addressing the media were not up to scratch. Truth be told, the MEA already knew this because there have been complaints about those shabby pieces of furniture for years. But as usually happens in India, nothing was done. But as also happens in India, when foreigners point out a failing we get mighty upset. So, a bureaucratic battle of will was fought between Delhi and Washington, The result, we are happy to report, is an honorable draw: Yes, the Yanks will get new, improved lecterns but we are making them ourselves.

Who am I?

You have heard of Sharad Pawar, the NCP leader. You have heard of Praful Patel, the NCP leader8217;s closest advisor and the high profile civil aviation minister. But have you heard of NCP8217;s Vilas Muttemwar? You probably haven8217;t and that is precisely Muttemwar8217;s grievance. He says he deserved a big ministry because he is an original Indira loyalist he stayed with her when

Y B Chavan was revolting in 1979. He is also a six-time winner in Lok Sabha elections. Morever, he is the only NCP candidate who bucked the trend in Vidharva; Parful Patel, by the way, lost his election. So, why am I a minister of state for non-conventional energy, asks Muttemwar. There are, sadly, no conventional explanations.

Enforced silence

How can you talk about Iran8217;s nukes when ED officers are asking you about Iraq8217;s oil? Natwar Singh, whose first few weeks post resignation was made bearable by invitations to many lectures and seminars, has again been robbed of his tranquillity. The ED8217;s interrogations have begun and the 8216;8216;stress8217;8217;, we are told, is forcing the former external affairs minister to cancel lecture invites. Students at JNU8217;s Sutlej hostel were deprived of a chance to hear Natwar on why Iran8217;s rulers are such marvelous chaps precisely for this reason. Some fans of the former external affairs minister are worried that at this rate his book may never get written. Some others in the corridors of power, we are told, are quite pleased at that prospect.

Courtesy Bengal

Nilotpal Basu and Dipankar Bhattacharya, the CPIM8217;s media and agitationist faces in the Capital for long, are both set to retire from the Upper House. Replacement candidates? The biggest buzz is around Subhashini Ali Sehgal. That she is from UP Kanpur should present no problems for her getting a Bengal seat. There is Sitaram Yechury8217;s illustrious example of Bengal being a genial host to non-state comrades.