Sonia, the N-dealer

Agra as the venue of the Indo-Pak summit was a disaster. Or maybe it wasn’t the place but the visitor who was to blame? Anyway, that is probably what M K Narayanan thinks. The National Security Advisor has been giving careful thought to venues for talks with foreign representatives. It was his idea to hold the last round of the border talks with China in the backwaters of Kerala. And over the weekend Narayanan hosted his British counterpart Nigel Sheinwald in Shimla, where the two exchanged notes on a range of issues from Iran to Nepal and the diplomacy under way on securing the Indo-US nuclear deal. For th British, history tells us, Shimla has been a favourite summer destination. Now let’s hope the ideas produce results.

Head space

The MEA’s plans to ape the US State Department and create a new public diplomacy division may sound swell, but that’s only a cover. The objective is to accommodate the far too many joint secretaries and additional secretaries in the IFS, who now number more than the posts available for them. While the ministry is sharpening the pyramid so that fewer officers attain to the peak positions, its sweep has passed what is called the Special Publicity Division. Headed by a 1975 batch joint secretary, this department was created in the early 1990s to counter Pakistan’s ‘‘psychological warfare’’. Indo-Pak ties have moved on since, the IFS officer heading it hasn’t—for over a decade. Special privilege or simply a case of escaping attention?

Hand-shaking distance

It isn’t often that India’s diplomatic efforts find consonance in the neighbourhood. So it was a special moment for the CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury and the NCP’s D P Tripathi when Chitralekha Yadav, Speaker of the reconvened Nepalese Parliament, spied the Indian guests in the back rows of the visitor’s gallery at the momentous resitting of the Pratinidhi Sabha. She promptly expressed gratitude to India for having helped democracy make a comeback in the kingdom, indicating perhaps that the days of Hrithik Roshan riots and hate SMSs may be over.

Wedding politics-I

There’s much speculation in the Congress over a recent alliance between the son of senior Congress leader and ex-Karnataka Minister R V Deshpande and the daughter of flamboyant Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel. Akbar Road politicos are wondering whether this means that Patel wants to keep his options open for a future comeback to Congress.

Wedding politics-II

Weddings in political families are often more than matrimonial linkages. These can be occasions when backslapping can mean a signal of peace. As it is in all probabality for Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Paswan has rearranged his campaign schedule in West Bengal to be able to attend the wedding of the third daughter of archrival Railway Minister Lalu Praad. But festivities can cut both ways. Making capital of Lalu’s preoccupation, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has reportedly fixed the inauguration of a bridge built jointly by the state government and the Railways during the time. Which means it will be one occasion when Lalu cannot boast about what he has done for Bihar.

No doubt Hu’s winning

It’s the Indian elephant plodding again as the Chinese tiger leaps in for the kill. Saudi King Abdullah visited New Delhi, Beijing and Islamabad in January, and we were led to believe that the royal was enamoured of India and wanted bilateral cooperation to reach new heights. Considering that India and China are both competing for energy security in the world, one thought that South Block would follow up on Abdullah’s visit. But it was Chinese President Hu Jintao, with a little help from Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, former ambassador to US and head of the Saudi National Security Council, who beat India to it. Hu flew to Jeddah after his recent visit to the US and signed a series of agreements, including on strategic oil reserves. Last heard he was in Kenya to secure more hydrocarbons. Apparently, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan did visit Saudi Arabia this month but tangible results are yet to show.

Red faces

Political words have a way of standing on their head, as CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat will tell you. When he said during campaigning in Kerala that the party might review its support to the UPA government in Delhi, it was ment as a morale booster for the Marxist comrades. But it left sections of the state’s Muslim population alarmed that the Congress-led government could fall and the vibes between the community and the CPI(M) suddenly ran cold. Karat had no option but to invite Malayalee journalists to explain his statement did not mean the UPA government would be pulled down.

The sonorous truth

Everything that leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh says acquires a touch of profundity—mainly because the accented words seems to rumble out of some cavernous pit of wisdom. But this has its pitfalls: reporters have a tough time following him. At his last press conference, a chorus of ‘‘we cannot follow you’’ erupted as soon as he started reading his statement. Jaswant responded by asking, ‘‘Yu always complain of this, is it a regular problem with me?’’ Laughter followed. The mediapeople were happy that Singh had at last realised where the problem lay. Let’s see if he fixes it also.

The missing jacket

BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan had worn a bullet-proof jacket during his poll tours of Assam. A party activist, who dabbled in astrology, had warned him that the stars decreed a deadly attack on him. Mahajan took the warning seriously, coming as it did after a gun attack at his election rally at Nokha in Bihar last October, in which party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad was injured. However, how was Mahajan to know he would not have the bullet-proof jacket on when he needed it most at his own house.

Eggsasperated

Yoga baba Ramdev seems to fascinate politicians either way. If the CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat went hammer and tongs after him, Lalu Prasad, Rabri Devi, Nitish Kumar, Shiela Dikshit and N D Tiwari showed themselves up as his friends. Add to that list the name of the Haryana chief minister now. The Haryana government recently held a yoga camp in Gurgaon for schoolchildren— compelled to attend it after being threatened they would lose marks in school if they didn’t. But Ramdev has a bigger ally in Bhupinder Singh Hooda than the youngsters, who came back complaining that the swami was a ‘‘dirty man’’. Apparently, he asked the kids to desist from having eggs which came from jahan se chicken peshab karte hain.

No profit in office

Seasoned politicians hardly resign to a disadvantageous situation. But A R Antulay, minister for Minority Affairs, seems to have capitulated. A cabinet minister without an office, he had made it known in his close circle that he will not demand office space—formally or otherwise—in Delhi or elsewhere. Antulay feels it’s demeaning to beg for an office. True too, considering the clout this former Maharashtra CM once wielded.

Knowledge economy

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s obsession with GDP and the country’s economic growth rate may be well known to those who meet him regularly. The Imam of Jama Masjid is certainly not one of them. During the recent meeting between the two, Syed Ahmed Bukhari was completely perplexed when the PM told him that close relations with the US were important for GDP/economic growth. The Imam was heard whispering to his aides, ‘‘Who is this GDP? Why is he so important?’’