Uma Bharati has a tendency to shoot off angry letters denouncing her critics and ends up regretting her impulsive actions. But Bharati’s latest missile attacking Digvijay Singh, accusing him of trying to win favours from an Italian woman by abusing his fellow countrymen, seems to have been done with some forethough. (Bharati was reacting to Digvijay’s letter calling her ‘‘shameless and a liar’’ and Digvijay has now responded with yet another letter wondering why a sanyasin should be so hungry for power). Bharati has good reason to distance herself from Digvijay since Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur is trying to make out a case that the two former chief ministers, despite belonging to different parties, have a comfortable working relationship. Gaur’s attack is his way of defending himself against Bharati’s charge that he hobnobs with Congress politicians in the state. Bharati has collected data to show that during Gaur’s frequent trips to Delhi, he makes it a point to call on both Arjun Singh and Kamal Nath. Besides, Gaur played into his opponent’s hands by permitting Nath to use the chief minister’s plane. If the Congress spokespersons did not spring to Natwar Singh’s defence on the first day the news of the Volcker report broke in the Indian press, it was because they had not yet received instructions from 10 Janpath. The next day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, after a chat with Sonia Gandhi, made clear that he was backing Natwar for the time being. The external affairs minister has two things going for him. The Gandhi family puts a great store on loyalty and Natwar has been a loyal retainer helping with the administration of the Nehru-Gandhi trusts and archives even in the years the family was out of power. More importantly, the Congress realises that the moment Natwar steps down, the Opposition focus will shift to such questions as who collected the oil sale bonus from Saddam on behalf of the Congress Party. The Congress, therefore, would like to delay Natwar’s departure as long as possible. Not just friends Natwar Singh’s son Jagat and Andleep (Andy) Sehgal, the owner of Hamdan Exports, are not just friends, they are relatives. Both move in a smart circle populated with scions of royal houses. Jagat belongs to the royal family of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. His mother Hem is from the Patiala royal family of Punjab and the sister of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Hem is the cousin of Vijayendra Singh of the Nalagarh royal family in Himachal Pradesh. Andy is married to Singh’s daughter Suhani. AB Churning AB has become a favourite phrase among politicians these days and it stands not for Amitabh Bachchan, but for After Bihar. After the Bihar results, a churning is expected in national politics. Laloo, whether he wins or loses, is determined that Ram Vilas Paswan should be out of the government for his betrayal. Ajit Singh of the RLD is keen to fill the vacuum, though he has even fewer MPs than Paswan. The Congress continues to woo Mayawati in the hope that she will align with them in UP. The party is willing to concede most of the seats in UP to Mayawati in the event of an electoral tie-up. Meanwhile, Uma Bharati who has been told to wait till AB before a decision is taken on the Madhya Pradesh chief ministership is getting restive. Her meeting last month with Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh is significant. Security needs sensitivity If slogans were raised against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he visited Safdarjung Hospital to call on those injured in the Diwali-eve terrorist blasts, the SPG is largely to blame. The entire floor which the PM was to visit had to be sealed off 24 hours in advance along with the floors immediately above and below, creating enormous problems for the patients and their relatives. The SPG also dismantled the control room for the blast victims where all those making inquiries about missing persons could get information.
