Long Rope

After all,whats in a name? said TMCs Derek OBrien as he stood up to deliver his first speech in Rajya Sabha,after Tariq Anwar,who was in the chair,called out his name as Derek Oberoi

After all,whats in a name? said TMCs Derek OBrien as he stood up to deliver his first speech in Rajya Sabha,after Tariq Anwar,who was in the chair,called out his name as Derek Oberoi. Realising the mistake,Anwar became magnanimous. This is your maiden speech. You can take 15 minutes, he offered. OBrien,a famous quiz master before he became MP,said he did not need that much time. I work on television where we do things short. Seven or eight minutes will be okay, he said. But then,the business of bashing an estranged friend,who still happens to be a party colleague,probably takes time. As OBrien lashed out at ousted Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedis proposed passenger fare hikes,he went beyond not just the 7-8 minutes he had sought for himself but well beyond the 15 minutes he said he did not need. He had to be reminded by the Chair before he stopped.

Sympathy Vote

Sympathy for the BJPs S S Ahluwalia,who has been denied re-election to Rajya Sabha,has come from the unlikeliest of quarters. The CPIs Gurudas Dasgupta launched a veiled attack on the BJP in the Lok Sabha for denying Ahluwalia a ticket. Though he did not name either the party or Ahluwalia,he made it amply clear whose case he was referring to. Later,he also walked up to BJP leader L K Advani and is learnt to have inquired why his party had not re-nominated Ahluwalia. Advani is understood to have told him that Ahluwalia himself was reluctant to get re-nominated from Jharkhand.

Common Cause

While walking out of the Parliament complex on Monday,the day after he resigned as Railway Minister,Dinesh Trivedi found some sympathy from Congress MP Jagadmbika Pal,who walked up to him,embraced the ousted minister and lauded him for his courage. The embrace showed a picture of two interesting figures in Indian politics Pal was UP Chief Minister for just one day,while Trivedi was the Railway Minister who was disowned by his party on the day he presented his first Railway budget.

What a spectacle

After blowing hot and cold on Twitter over a bloody wind that had swept through the Valley on Wednesday,causing extensive damage,Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had something more personal to share on Thursday. The young leader put up a picture of himself,wearing spectacles and tweeted: Im getting old. I now need to start using glasses to read.