Sonia ka gussa8230;

Everybody who8217;s anybody in the Congress is flabbergasted and rattled by Ghulam Nabi Azad8217;s banishment from the AICC to head the Ja...

Everybody who8217;s anybody in the Congress is flabbergasted and rattled by Ghulam Nabi Azad8217;s banishment from the AICC to head the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party. The announcement came like a bolt out of the blue and despite frantic inquiries, no one seems to have figured out why Sonia Gandhi decided to axe him.

Azad is known as the Great Survivor in Congress circles. He was one of Sanjay Gandhi8217;s boys and has been a power to reckon with in Delhi since the eighties. He switched from the Gandhis to Narasimha Rao and then back to the Gandhis with superlative ease and was thought to have perfected the art of flourishing in the Congress. No wonder his sudden exile has sent waves of panic rippling through the party. If Azad could be shunted out just like that, then nobody could claim immunity. All the officebearers are on tenterhooks now wondering whose head will be on the chopping block next.

With a series of electoral victories under her belt, Sonia seems to have decided to take a leaf out of Indira Gandhi8217;s book to keep her party on its toes. After delivering her thunderbolt, she went into retreat at her farmhouse with her family members and remained incommunicado over the Holi weekend.

8230; aur Ghulam ka gham

While stunned Congress bigwigs are trying to digest the implications of Ghulam Nabi Azad8217;s transfer to Jammu and Kashmir, the man himself is believed to be in deep dungeon over what is commonly seen as a demotion. It didn8217;t help that the transfer orders were issued on his wedding anniversary. A celebration, with his son flying in from abroad, turned into a wake instead.

His confidantes are trying to drum up sympathy using the security threat plea. Azad was a Z-category protectee until Home Minister L K Advani decided to prune the security list and cut down his cover to Y-category. Now that he8217;s headed for J038;K, his aides are arguing that he8217;ll become a target of militants again.

Knowing Azad8217;s considerable manipulative skills, his supporters are hoping he8217;ll soon bounce back at the Centre. But if the fate of another stalwart, Pranab Mukherjee, is any indication, it8217;s not going to be so easy. Mukherjee was exiled from headquarters to lead the West Bengal PCC on the eve of assembly elections in the State. It8217;s been over a year and despite Mukherjee8217;s open desire to return to Delhi, he remains stuck in Kolkata.

After RS polls, party time

Now that the Rajya Sabha elections are over, it8217;s party time for MLAs at the expense of newly elected grateful MPs. Shipping Minister Ved Prakash Goyal kicked off the thanksgiving with a lavish do aboard a ship off the Mumbai port for BJP MLAs. Congress MP Murli Deora was a little more restrained. He threw a dinner for his MLAs at the Cricket Club of India in south Mumbai. But the most eagerly awaited events are the parties promised by liquor baron Vijay Mallya and the man who8217;s built himself a reputation for his outsize invitation cards and grandiose parties dotted with film stars, Congress secretary Subbarami Reddy. Move over Gandhian socialism. The new breed of politicians are eager wannabe socialites.

The Bellary bahu blitz

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Sonia Gandhi may have abandoned Bellary in Karnataka for Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. But much to the despair of the MP who stood aside in her favour in the 1999 elections, K C Kondaiah, she8217;s kept in touch with the parliamentary constituency which gave her a second Lok Sabha seat. It seems Kondaiah was denied a second term in the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka after the local Congress units in Bellary complained against him. They were upset enough to put down their grievances in writing in a memorandum to Sonia.

Kondaiah was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat after he gave up the Bellary seat for Sonia. After that brief moment of glory, he8217;s sunk without a trace.