Tower of Babble

With various government agencies, including RAW, IB, NSG, Coast Guards, NSC, naval commandos and even the naval chief...

With various government agencies, including RAW, IB, NSG, Coast Guards, NSC, naval commandos and even the naval chief, speaking in different voices to the media on the Mumbai terror attacks, the Home Ministry has conveyed that agencies under the Ministry should not give separate briefings to journalists. The idea is to have an official media spokesperson for the Home Ministry on the lines of the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs. Actually, as home minister, L.K. Advani had introduced the concept of a daily briefing to the media by the designated spokesperson, but the practice was abandoned since the home secretary felt overshadowed by P.D. Shenoy, special secretary appointed as spokesperson.

Naval Chief Suresh Mehta, in a bid to defend his men, aimed his ammunition at TV journalists, who buttressed by background data provided by RAW, returned the fire with equal force. Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, meanwhile, was away in Botswana during the terrorist attack and did not think it necessary to cut short his trip.

Rahul ki jeet

Rahul Gandhi had to step in for his mother in assembly election campaigns since Sonia Gandhi was not well. Congressmen hailed the results as 8216;Rahul ki jeet8217;. They want Rahul to be projected as the party8217;s main face in the general elections. The Gandhi scion spoke with new-found confidence during the debate on terrorism in Parliament. Maharashtra8217;s new Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was Rahul8217;s choice. If Ashok Gehlot had to sweat it out before being named Rajasthan chief minister, it is perhaps because he is not in Rahul8217;s good books. Digvijay Singh, a Rahul favourite, was not blamed for the Madhya Pradesh debacle, Suresh Pachauri was made the scapegoat.

Morning visitor

One of the few visitors allowed to enter 10 Janpath early in the morning of counting day was a tall, good-looking, blonde woman in a track suit. Since Rahul Gandhi was with his mother, the media jumped to the conclusion that the attractive foreigner must be his new girlfriend. It turned out, however, that the visitor was, in fact, Sonia Gandhi8217;s yoga teacher who visits the house every morning.

All in the family

sandip Dikshit, the Delhi Chief Minister8217;s son, is not usually given the importance that8217;s given to other party young turks such as Jitin Prasada, Milind Deora and Sachin Pilot, who are close to Rahul Gandhi. Sandip, a former NGO activist, proved his mettle by achieving a phenomenal strike rate in his East Delhi parliamentary constituency, winning 16 out of 20 assembly seats. Sheila Dikshit, in fact, relied heavily on her family in the campaign, including on her sisters Rama and Pamela, because she was never quite sure who in her own party would try to trip her up.

Old order will not yield

The knives are out in the BJP and old antagonists are keen on pinning the blame for defeat on rivals. Rajnath Singh would like to point a finger at Arun Jaitley for the Delhi debacle, though Vijay Kumar Malhotra was the consensus choice, with L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj backing him strongly. Murli Manohar Joshi is keen to make the point that in view of Malhotra8217;s advanced years, Advani too is not an inspired choice to lead the party, but at 73, Joshi is hardly the right person to make this point. In Rajasthan, old-timers like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Jaswant Singh, who helped bring about Vasundhara Raje8217;s downfall, now do not want her to be the opposition leader in the state. The real dilemma of the party is not one of individual failure, but that the old order doggedly refuses to yield place to the new.

Roses and thorns

On December 9, Sonia Gandhi8217;s birthday, security guards at 10 Janpath were busy vetting the stream of bouquets sent for the Congress president, since visitors were not allowed inside. Governor of Tamil Nadu Surjit Singh Barnala had dispatched a bouquet of roses but the policemen returned it, saying it had too many thorns. The Governor sent another bouquet.