Caught unawares

After the partys dismal show in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in which he had taken personal interviews of ticket-seekers and played a key role in the selection of candidates,Rahul Gandhi had withdrawn from the process,leaving it to party veterans,although he did continue to pitch for Youth Congress candidates. Even in the last Lok Sabha elections,he had remained in the background during the ticket-distribution process. The young Congress general secretary is,however,back in the thick of things to make his Mission 2012 a success. He had sent 10 central observers to UP to identify prospective candidates in each constituency without involving the local party units. They have submitted the list of candidates to Rahul who is now screening it. So far,he is keeping the list close to his chest,leaving party veterans guessing.

UPA II plus two

Next month,UPA II completes two years in office and the administrative machinery is working overtime to compile and collate the Manmohan Singh governments progress report to the people for 2010-2011. All the respective ministries have been directed to send their inputs of what has been achieved in the year gone by so that the annual report can be prepared to highlight the governments positives during this period. One chapter,though,could pose a problem for the government should it decide to carry on with last years format. The UPA managers may just have a difficult time in spelling out the achievements in the chapter Governance and Civil Society given the trying situation it had landed itself in because of the civil society agitation led by Anna Hazare against corruption. The spate of scams in the year gone by,starting with the CWG,2G and Adarsh,has also prompted some officers to wonder if a picture of the former telecom minister A Raja being arrested would have been appropriate for the chapter. Incidentally,the same chapter in last years report carries a telling quote from the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi,that: An active citizenry is the foundation of a strong democracy.

No Bedi bytes

At the round-table on the Lokpal Bill organised on Sunday,IPS officer-turned-activist Kiran Bedi accompanied the two former chief justices M N Venkatachaliah and J S Verma and Loksatta founder Jayaprakash Narayan to the area outside the Indian International Centre IIC where an interaction had been scheduled with the media. Probably hoping that she would also be invited to address the media,Bedi kept waiting for some minutes but left after it became apparent that only the two ex-CJIs and Narayan would address the media. In fact,just before the interaction began,one of the organisers,as if on cue,removed an extra chair that had been kept alongside the three meant for those addressing the media.

Belated arrival

Hours after Sathya Sai Baba was dead,many of his devotees were not aware of the development. These included some of his high-profile devotees,including former Maharashtra chief minister and Union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Playing host at National Panchayat Raj Day function here on Sunday,Deshmukh first learnt about the spiritual leaders demise from the Prime Minister himself,who reached Vigyan Bhawan for the same function. Every bit a faithful devotee,Deshmukh dashed down to Puttaparthi to pay his last respects.

The Jammu rebellion

In politics,it is always a good idea to know what is cooking in your neighbourhood. As the BJP faces a revolt by seven of its 11 MLAs in Jammu and Kashmir,Congress leaders are keeping a close watch on the rumblings within the saffron camp. Congress and the BJP happen to be traditional rivals in the Jammu region. What has raised Congress hopes is the scale of rebellion the strength of BJP rebels is well past the halfway mark. On the face of it,the oldest party may look indifferent to the goings-on,but should an opportunity arise,Ghulam Nabi Azad can be trusted to put his skills to play.