The big fight for Intelligence

Former bureaucrats don8217;t fade away, they make themselves available. Last week, NN Vohra, the Centre8217;s interlocutor in Kashmir, bobbed up again when rumours swirled that the veteran official was all set to talk to Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. The Mirwaiz promptly denied it, saying he wanted nothing short of a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But in all this, Vohra reinforced his image as a man for all seasons. However, it must be said that in January and May, Vohra had told the PM he wanted to quit his job but was asked to stay on. A senior official also told him the PM looks at Kashmir through many windows8230;one of these days the PM would need him. Has the time come to look at Kashmir through Vohra8217;s eyes?

Down in the east

The Prime Minister8217;s trip to Manipur was full of confusion, but with elections in February, the PM had no choice. Dr Singh did not have much to offer8212;repealing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act was out of the question, the Army has point blank refused to accept it. The PM was keen to open the 6000 MW Tipaimukh power project, but the Environment Ministry did not give the clearance certificate. Poor Dr Singh then ended up committing to the integrity of Manipur as a state, which was not liked by the NSCNIM. The matter did not end there. With the NSCN IM leadership upset, the Centre decided to rush a three-member team to Amsterdam to assuage their feelings. But Prithviraj Chavan, MoS, PMO, and S Raghupathy, MoS, Home, opted out, citing the Parliament session. The real reason is they had nothing to offer. Watch this space for more developments.

Too old to rock and roll

It8217;s a candid confession, that too coming from the man who would like to be known as the second in command of the government. Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had timed his return to Delhi from Manila for just when the Prime Minister left for the Philippines to attend the ASEAN summit beginning December 13. The reason he gave was that as Leader of the House he had to reply on the US-India N-deal in Parliament. The plan was that Commerce Minister Kamal Nath would accompany the PM when he proceeded to Japan, and be the de facto Foreign Minister during the trip. Kamal Nath, however, expressed reluctance, pointing out that he had been living out of a suitcase over the past few weeks, travelling to Geneva and Dubai among other places. But he was persuaded to go after Mukherjee pointed out that he was too old for such extensive travel. The typhoon in the Philippines8212;and the subsequent cancellation of the PM8217;s trip8212;was fortuitous, to say the least.

Daughter in need

Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the Dalit victim from Khailarnji in Maharashtra, whose entire family was killed in caste violence two months ago, called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi this past week. Apparently, Sonia virtually broke down, listening to the torture that the family had to undergo, with the mother and the daughter brutally raped before being killed. Agitated and troubled, Sonia assured the victim of justice. She was particularly moved by the fact that Bhotmange8217;s daughter and her daughter shared the same name: Priyanka. And Sonia noted it, saying 8220;Priyanka is my daughter too.8221;

House of fortune

Desperate to move into a Lutyens8217; bungalow soon after his victory from Bhagalpur, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain took up cudgels with Lok Sabha housing committee chairman Madhusudan Mistri of the Congress the other day for the 8220;delay8221; in the allotment of a house. Mistri soon allotted Hussain 7 Pant Marg, but with a clear design8212; it is occupied by Hussain8217;s party colleague, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Hussain is fast discovering the perils of trying to evict a mate. Chouhan is determined to retain it8212;in the name of the newly elected MP from Vidisha Ram Pal Singh. But the real reason is Chouhan8217;s wife Sadhana Singh considers the house very auspicious; he became chief minister while staying there. She believes he will go places only if he retains the house.

Slipping through

Incidents in the past two weeks have taught Home Minister Shivraj Patil the virtue of maintaining absolute secrecy about speeches and facts. The first faux pas was when he was quoted as saying that the Indo-US nuclear deal had increased the threat to nuclear installations in the country. Though it was in the text of the speech released before the event, the minister had actually deleted the statement when he spoke. If this was not enough for bad publicity, then the ministry8217;s 75-page booklet, 8220;Status Paper on Internal Security8221;, circulated to MPs, gave enough ammunition to the Opposition to corner the government on home security. So while release of speeches before an event has almost been ruled out, it may take a while before the next brochure on internal security rolls out.

Song sung blue

Union minister Vilas Muttemwar is hardly feeling charged up by non-conventional energy resources, his rather dull beat. The only Congressman to win a seat from the Vidarbha region last elections, he not only lost out on the much-coveted civil aviation portfolio to NCP8217;s smart and savvy Praful Patel8212;who is only a Rajya Sabha member. To add to his woes, the multi-crore rupee international cargo hub in Nagpur, Muttemwar8217;s associates assert, was not Patel8217;s but their leader8217;s brainchild. Ministry lost, lucrative project lost, Muttemwar admits to one and all that he spends his time singing the old Salma Agha soul-burner, Dil ki arman ansoo o mein behegaya8230;

Jointly disagreeable

Who said it is the lack of chemistry between Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Leader of Opposition LK Advani which is at the root of the tense relations the former has with the Opposition? To prove carping critics wrong, the two grey eminences from the deep ends of their political spectrum took a car ride together to the unveiling of MGR8217;s statue8212;the function which the top Congress leadership chose to skip. The duo even watched a cultural programme sitting next to each other. On second thoughts, maybe the detractors were right8212;things were back to square one the next day in Parliament.

Tailpiece

The tiger population is indeed in great danger8212;in the precincts of Matoshree, Mumbai. Imagine, the sitting Sena MLA from Sinnar in Nashik travelled all the way to 10 Janpath in Delhi to wish Sonia Gandhi on her birthday! Former Sena strongman Narayan Rane has called the recent Congress win in bypolls in Sena strongholds as 8220;gifts for Soniaji8221; on her birthday. Did someone say something about a tiger census?