Snapshots

Move over ManiMani Shankar Aiyar, the Congress' resident wit, is now passe. The newest light in the Capital's cocktail-seminar circuit is...

Move over Mani

Mani Shankar Aiyar, the Congress8217; resident wit, is now passe. The newest light in the Capital8217;s cocktail-seminar circuit is the Congress joint secretary Jairam Ramesh who really bloomed to full potential during the saturation television coverage during the elections. Sample some Jairamisms liberally sprinkled over the last week:

With the gang from Bihar like Ram Vilas Paswan already threatening to run amok Paswan8217;s refusing to give up any turf to the new Infotech ministry, for instance, according to a concerned Jairam, it8217;s now Atal vs Bihari!

On why the DMK8217;s T R Baalu didn8217;t get the coveted Petroleum Minister8217;s job: asked to summon the petroleum minister, senior PMO officials would have called the other Baalu Reliance Industries top official in Delhi, V Balasubramanian.There8217;s more, but some of it is politically incorrect.

No Cause To Celebrate

The first-ever election defeat of former chief minister Bhajan Lal could not havebeen more ill-timed than this one. With the Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine making a clean sweep of all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the State, the former Union minister had to taste defeat on his birthday October 6. The former chief minister, who just turned 69, however, lived up to his reputation for sang froid; his face bore not a trace of frustration. He was found celebrating his birthday along with family members at his Panchkula residence just hours after he had been declared defeated.

Cross Connection

Nobody likes to stay put on a sinking ship. Gopinath Munde, deputy chief minister and home minister in the Sena-BJP government, had to learn this old lesson all over again on the day Chhagan Bhujbal replaced him. It so happened that a very senior police officer, considered close to the BJP establishment, was quick to send his congratulatory message to Bhujbal on assuming charge. Nothing out of place there except that the commissioner8217;spersonal staff mixed up the fax numbers. Instead of going to the Home Minister8217;s office, the fax landed up at Ramtek, Munde8217;s residence. Nobody knows if Munde forwarded it or spiked it.

Free Trade

When a minister, technocrats and businessmen happen to share a common platform, it is the minister who hogs the limelight. And hard-headed businessmen are ready to bend over backward to please the minister even in this age of economic liberalisation.

Gujarat8217;s Minister for Information Technology Bimal Shah was to attend a session on IT industry as part of a grand exhibition of office equipment held by the Confederation of Indian Industries CII. While everybody else was dot on time, the minister was missing. Nevertheless, the proceedings began. After the customary welcome address and completion of two presentations, lo and behold, the minister arrived. A thoughtful CII president for Gujarat, Ramesh Wadhwani, then repeated his welcome address. Further, Wadhwani asked the two participantsto once again give their presentations 8220;for the benefit of the minister8221;. A bored audience sat through the re-run. When his turn to speak came, the minister did not consider it necessary even to apologise for coming late.