Fit to fight

Though he has been extremely busy in the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly polls,BJP president Nitin Gadkari ensured that he was present to cast his vote in Nagpur for the municipal corporation elections

Though he has been extremely busy in the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly polls,BJP president Nitin Gadkari ensured that he was present to cast his vote in Nagpur for the municipal corporation elections. Looking a lot fitter after shedding about 20 kg in the last few weeks,Gadkari rode a scooter to the polling booth,in stark contrast to his journeys in Uttar Pradesh where he has been hopping on helicopters and small planes to address three to four rallies every day. Soon after casting his vote,Gadkari flew back to Lucknow to carry forward his partys campaign.

Waiting Game

In the absence of a common consensus on the next Enforcement Directorate chief,the present director Arun Mathur is likely to get an extension and continue heading the unit till a suitable replacement is found. A 1977-batch IAS officer,Mathur is due for retirement at the end of this month. The Finance Ministry is yet to take a final decision on the names of those who can succeed Mathur. Bimal Julka,a 1979-batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh,was earlier the frontrunner for the top job but no clear choice has emerged so far.

Minute Minutes

The Cabinet meeting on Thursday was the second consecutive week that the meeting was over in a few minutes,giving little time for many ministers to even finish their tea and refreshments. Last week,the meeting had lasted barely 20 minutes. The Coal Minister had jokingly told Cabinet Secretary A K Seth to go slow while reading out the agenda items just to prolong the meeting. With the election model code of conduct in place,the Cabinet is compelled to take up only routine matters for discussion.

General Confusion

While the controversy surrounding the Army Chiefs age has been diffused,the selection of Lt Generals has been stuck for the past three months due to a disagreement between the Defence Ministry and policy makers at Army HQ. The Army has pushed for a policy under which Army Commanders will be given the authority to award five marks to officers being considered by the board without knowing the overall marks of the candidate and the effect of their rating on the selection. However,the ministry is not very convinced about the legality of the policy,resulting in a logjam with several top appointments on hold.