Standing-up comedy show?

The forthcoming Congress Plenary at Hyderabad may be a lackadaisical affair. For one, the political resolution drafted by Arjun Singh—which calls for fighting against divisive and corrupt forces—is interesting only for doing a u-turn on Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s appeasement policy on Naxalites. The other resolutions on the economy, agriculture and diplomacy seem to have been lifted straight from the annual statements of the Finance, Agriculture and Foreign ministries. What might be a point of minor friction is the PMO’s relations with the party. The party, or more specifically the 10 Janpath coterie, feel Manmohan Singh is not giving due credit to Sonia Gandhi. The PMO feels quite the contrary. That is why at the Resolution Drafting Committee meeting last week, Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh, deliberating on how many marks the Congress should give the Manmohan Singh government, was categorical that the party could not be seen praising the government on all fronts. Committee chairman Pranab Mukherjee, as usual, did the balancing act.

Happening Hyderabad

Move over Bangalore and Mumbai, Hyderabad is the most happening political city right now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have visited Cyberabad three times by the end of this month after addressing the Science Congress, Pravasi Diwas function and the Congress Plenary. President A P J Abdul Kalam also visited the city for the Science Congress. Now US President George W Bush might drop in Hyderabad for a day during his trip to India at the end of February. Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen advised the PMO to suggest Hyderabad to Bush just as President Bill Clinton had visited Bangalore in 2001. A month or two later, Manmohan will return to Hyderabad for the Asian Finance Minister’s conference.

Home affairs

The Supreme Court has asked the Urban Development Ministry to evict illegal occupants from 436 official bungalows. The deadline is January 24. With weeks to go, the government is still trying to help out the high and mighty and the old retainers. Though the ministry has managed to get around 200 official houses vacated, these are the smaller Type IV, V and VI bungalows. Barring Bihar Governor Buta Singh, no one has let go of Type VIII houses. To top it all Raisina Hill is quietly telling the ministry to go slow on the likes of Jaswant Singh (who occupies two Type VII bungalows on Teen Murti Lane), Rajnath Singh (two Type V houses on Ashok Road), relatives of the late P V Narasimha Rao on Moti Lal Nehru Marg, Akali Dal MP Sukhbir Badal on Safdarjung Road and one has-been journalist once related through marriage to a top BJP leader. The ministry is adamant and wants to avoid becoming a scapegoat for the government in the court. Solicitor-General Goolam Vahanvati may not even argue the case on January 24 if such pressure tactics continue.

Ola takes on Kamal Nath

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had been insisting on briefing the Cabinet about the WTO Ministerial at Hong Kong last month but found no takers since the event was televised live across the globe. Last Friday, Nath finally got the chance to brief the poorly attended Cabinet on the WTO issue. Though the PM and his cabinet colleagues heard Nath out, no one seemed in a mood to ask questions after a labourious half-an-hour briefing. Except 82-year-old Mines Minister Sis Ram Ola, who decided to haul Nath over the coals to the chagrin of those attending the meeting. Reading from prepared questions, the Jat leader grilled Nath, who had no options but to provide answers. Result: the cabinet meeting got extended by a full hour. The uncharitable ones in the government say that Ola decided to harangue Nath as the two do not see eye-to-eye on the diamond mining policy.

All in the name

Cairn Energy of UK, which has named all its discoveries in Rajasthan after Hindu goddesses, is set to make a big departure by naming its next discovery after a ‘‘dancer’’. This break with tradition came about in Jaipur last month at a gala party hosted at Rambagh Palace during the World Oil & Gas Assembly. The entertainment included a western dance performance by Indian dancer Sylvia. Her performance and stage presence caught the eye of Cairn’s exploration director Mike Watts, who took the microphone and proclaimed proudly that his company’s next Indian discovery would be named Sylvia, after the dancer. Cairn’s biggest field, Mangala, is named after the goddess of energy. Likewise Aishwariya (goddess of wealth) and Bhagyam (goddess of fortune). No new discovery has been found by Cairn since the announcement.

Wannabe South Block

If you cannot get the External Affairs Ministry, make yours into one. That is what former diplomat turned minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is doing. After sprucing up his Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to beat the grandeur of External Affairs, Aiyar is considering an external publicity division in his ministry to tom-tom his dialogues abroad. The plan, already shot down once by former Petroleum Secretary S C Tripathi, is to create a post of a joint secretary, as in the MEA, to extol Aiyar’s never-ending diplomatic initiatives. Moreover, he is hiring an Indian Foreign Service officer, despite the Foreign Secretary’s objection, to work as his private secretary.

Stem cell politics

During his visit to South Korea next month, the scientist in President Abdul Kalam wanted to witness the massive progress being reported on stem cell research in that country. The famed research facility in the Seoul National University, however, came under cloud last month when one of its scientists was accused of fabricating evidence. This matter caught the attention of diplomats and other officials earlier this month as they firmed up the itinerary of the President. After much deliberation it was decided to propose to the President that putting stem-cell research on the four plan would mean more politics than science. The Prez is still to give his final word.

Green pastures

The Rajya Sabha terms of Arjun Singh and H R Bharadwaj, both from Madhya Pradesh, will end in April this year. The trouble is, given the Congress strength in the MP Assembly, only one can return to the Upper House. What will the other do? Arjun Singh detractors are floating the idea of kicking him upstairs as a governor. On his part, Singh seems convinced his proximity to 10 Janpath will stand him in good stead. If both Bhardwaj and Singh have to stay on, one will require a RS nomination from another state, perhaps Andhra Pradesh. It is the state favoured by the party’s paratroopers; last year, Jairam Ramesh and Rashid Alavi were elected from AP, ignoring the protests of local aspirants. But this time the AP legislature will have an upper house to absorb disgruntled Congressmen.