In old company Ajit Singh may have joined the government but is still finding himself seated amidst the opposition parties. The RLD leader,who was last week inducted into the government as Civil Aviation Minister,has not yet got a seat on the treasury benches in the Lok Sabha and has been occupying his previous seat. His situation became particularly awkward during the voting on Lokpal Bill on Tuesday when he found himself amidst MPs from the Shiv Sena,JD(U) and BJD. Icing on the cake Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley,who turned 59 on Wednesday,celebrated his birthday in his Parliament office by cutting a saffron-coloured cake. The cake had chocolate inside and a mini sugar replica of Jaitley which many thought looked like B R Ambedkar. Ordered by his daughter Sonali,the Dear Dad cake thoughtfully also had law books and a mini cricket bat with BCCI written on it. Jaitley,who was congratulated by journalists,friends and MPs from across the political spectrum,jovially remarked that he shared his birthday with Ratan Tata and even the Congress foundation day. The right Time WHILE politicians looking for auspicious times to take charge of new offices is nothing new,the Karnataka Chief Minister has taken the practice to a new level. D V Sadananda Gowda was in town on Wednesday to submit his resignation as a Lok Sabha MP. He sought an appointment with Speaker Meira Kumar but made it clear that he wanted to resign only between 1:25 and 1:35 pm. While he did not specify any reason,the Speaker agreed to meet him at the sought time. Gowda,accompanied by many other BJP MPs,met the Speaker and submitted his resignation. The flying MP BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy,also a commercial pilot,has been flying Indigo Airlines aircraft without charging a penny and he logs about 50 hours a month when Parliament is not in session. He is the only Member of Parliament who flies a commercial aircraft. Limca Book of Records has now approached him for details. The Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar may finally have some recognition coming his way for his extra-political activities. Left divided THE debate on the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha may have led to the rare instance of the BJP and Left parties being on the same side of a debate. But it also brought out differences between the two Left parties the CPI and CPM. It is learnt that CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta upset over the defeat of one of his amendments to the Bill wanted the CPM to vote against the Bill that sought to give constitutional status to the Lokpal. But CPMs Basudeb Acharia refused and the party first voted in favour of House considering the Bill,then voted along with an Opposition amendment and later absented during a vote on clause. Earlier in the day,the CPI leadership had suggested to favour a motion seeking referring the Bill to the Standing Committee. But even that idea was shot down by the CPM.
