Happy Birthday,Atalji

L K Advani will go to the Krishna Menon Marg home of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 88th birthday this week.

L K Advani may be among the few BJP leaders who will go to the Krishna Menon Marg home of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 88th birthday this week. Vajpayee is not in a position to talk or respond appropriately to visitors,so BJP circles feel it is unlikely the family would agree to entertain many VVIP visitors. Advani met Vajpayee before embarking on his Jan Chetna Yatra,and again after it ended. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was among those who called on Vajpayee on his birthday last year. Jaswant Singh,another BJP leader who was close to Vajpayee,says Vajpayees absence has left a void. He knew how to rise above the limitations of the immediate and show a way out, Singh said.

SHORT CIRCUIT

The Rajasthan government is of late having to turn down requests for accommodation at circuit houses. Reason: many circuit houses are full of CBI officers investigating a number of cases in the state,including the Bhanwari Devi abduction,the Bharatpur riots and the burning of the SHO at Sawai Madhopur.

LEAKY BILL

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was unusually stern and sarcastic at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Just before the meeting took up the Lokpal Bill,the prime minister expressed annoyance that all key features of the Bill had already being reported by the media. He sarcastically told his Cabinet colleagues that since the entire bill was already out,there was no need for them to take it with them.

TEXT IS BEST

The Railways have been sending up to 12 lakh SMSes every day to people in Punjab,Haryana,Uttar Pradesh and other areas affected by the fog,asking them to take precautions,especially at unmanned level crossings,where several deaths have occurred this season. The Railways feel that appeals in the print or electronic media often get ignored,and this is the best way to alert people on their safety.