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Journalism of Courage
The return of Drinking Water and Sanitation portfolio under Rural Development Minister Jairam Rameshs wing meant that he is now in charge of three departments which he could have distributed among the three Ministers of State under him. Instead of assigning departments to each one of them,Ramesh,on the other hand,tried to keep all his three MoSs Sisir Adhikari,Pradeep Jain and Agatha Sangma happy by distributing different programmes from the three departments to them. What is expected to cheer them the most is the specific order by Jairam that all files related to those programmes should come to him through the respective MoSs.
Losing Patience
Allied Friction
Nationalist Youth Congress NYC,the youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party NCP,was in for disappointment last Saturday as party president Sharad Pawar could not make it to the NYCs conference of district presidents and state office-bearers in New Delhi. The Union Minister was in the Capital that day and NYC office-bearers waited for him till evening before Tariq Anwar clarified in his valedictory remarks that Pawar could not come due to a bout of flu. The NCP chiefs presence at the function could have caused quite a few blushes to UPA managers given the fact that the NCPs resolution lambasted the UPA governments economic policies and targeted it for inflation. Anwar actually took a leaf out of Rahul Gandhis book and elaborated on how there were two Bharats. Incidentally,in a souvenir brought out by the NYC,titled Swabhimaan,Pawar wrote in his message that all workers of NYC were working too hard to reach to the masses.
Courting Access
Guess who Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda collided with outside Wimbledons Centre Court recently? No prize for guessing. It was External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. In the absence of the requisite passes,Krishna was not being allowed inside. Hooda,himself a tennis player,tried to help the External Affairs Minister,but Wimbledon authorities would not budge. Krishna was apparently stranded outside for quite some time before being able to gain entry.
Tall Claims
In what may alarm Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati,Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has been claiming that many senior Bahujan Samaj Party leaders have approached him with the desire to joining the Congress. He,however,says that the party has not shown much keenness to welcome them because they want an assurance of party tickets in next years election. The Congress cannot give any such assurance because loyalists come first for the party,says Singh. That should alarm the defectors as well.
