Unkindest Cut

Amitabh Bachchan walked out of director Madhur Bhandarkar8217;s film, Police Force, reportedly because Bhandarkar demurred over accepting a...

Amitabh Bachchan walked out of director Madhur Bhandarkar8217;s film, Police Force, reportedly because Bhandarkar demurred over accepting a project for directing a TV serial starring Bachchan8217;s soon to be daughter-in-law, Karisma Kapoor.

But the Big B did not bargain that his replacement in the film would be old rival Shatrughan Sinha. The Health Minister was only to happy to grab the role meant for Bachchan after the government verbally cleared his request.

Sinha was keen to establish that as a member of the ruling BJP he had more clout than the legendary Bachchan, who is backed by the Samajwadi Party. At the Mumbai launch of the film8212;which has been renamed Aan8212;there was an impressive turnout of VIPs. Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj sportingly agreed to give the clap.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Shipping Minister Ved Prakash Goyal and leading MPs like Sushil Kumar Shinde and Rajeev Shukla were present alongwith Bollywood veterans Dilip Kumar and Sunil Dutt. For Bachchan, perhaps the unkindest cut was that co-stars Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon did not follow his lead but agreed to work in the movie.

Total Decommission

After Justice K Venkataswami resigned from the Tehelka Commission, the 12 members of the staff were reverted immediately to their parent departments. Only the registrar now works for the defunct commission. When it was discovered that some former staff members were busy photocopying sensitive documents concerning the commission8217;s proceedings, the Intelligence Bureau, fearing a media leak, stepped in to keep vigil on the commission office in the Vigyan Bhawan annexe. All computer hard discs and cupboards containing files have been sealed.

A journalist even questioned Justice Venkataswami for calling a press conference in the courtroom of the Tehelka Commission after he had resigned as its chairman. Stung to the quick, Venkataswamiretorted, 8216;8216;Shall I hold the press conference on the roadside8217;8217; and ended the press meet abruptly.

Cong8217;s Patel Rap

CONGRESS rivalries in New Delhi are reflected in the distribution of tickets for the Gujarat elections. The criteria has not been the winnability of the candidates but factional loyalties.

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Kamal Nath, general secretary in charge of Gujarat, has doled out the lion8217;s share to the nominees of his favourites; Shankersinh Vaghela, Urmila Patel, Chimanbhai Patel8217;s widow, and Narhari Amin. In the bargain, the group led by Congress political secretary Ahmed Patel, who is aligned with Amarsinh Chaudhary and Madhavsinh Solanki, has got a raw deal.

The Congress has opted for a preponderance of Patels and upper caste candidates who represent vested interests not unlike the caste composition of the BJP nominees. It made better political sense for the Congress to rely on Muslims, SCs and OBC candidates rather than fielding a B team of the BJP.

Arjun Singh, meanwhile, has come out strongly against the soft Hindutva line adopted by Vaghela and has warned that regardless of whether the Congress wins or loses in Gujarat, it will be harm the party8217;s secular image in the rest of the country.

Not so vigilant

WITH a CAT ruling in his favour, Air India8217;s controversial Chief Vigilance Officer S P Yadav turned up uninvited at Air India headquarters to reclaim his old office, throwing the Civil Aviation Ministry into a tizzy. Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and Secretary Roy Pal, who played a stellar role in his removal, are now trying to get the Cabinet Committee on Appointments CCA to clear Yadav8217;s transfer from Air India, something which they had failed to do in their haste to get rid off him!

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The new Chief Vigilance Commissioner, P Shankar, is also in a bind since N Vittal had cleared Yadav8217;s removal before his five year term was up without considering the question of prior CCA approval. Shankar would not like to embarrass his predecessor by reversing his order.

Iffy about iftars

IT is no longer fashionable for politicians to throw iftar parties. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi and President Abdul Kalam have decided not to hold their annual iftars.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit sent out the invitations for her iftar at Talkatora Garden and then cancelled it. The usual iftar party hosts in Delhi, such as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mohsina Kidwai and C K Jaffer Sharief, have either not thrown a party this year or else are keeping their functions extremely low key.

The ostensible reason for calling off the iftars is the need to observe austerity in view of the drought. But the excuse sounds rather weak considering that lavish spreads continue to be thrown in Delhi and drought was not a damper on the Diwali parties. The real reason is the impending Gujarat elections. Politicians don8217;t want to upset the hardcore Hindu voter by appearing to be too overtly keen to woo the minority community.

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Among the few who kept up the iftar tradition in Delhi were Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and Ram Vilas Paswan.