Luxury Ride

But her party colleague and successor in the Railways Ministry,Dinesh Trivedi,clearly appears to be in no mood to emulate his leader.

Luxury Ride

Former Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee had attempted to set a lofty precedent by deciding not to travel in a railway saloon a fully equipped luxurious coach exclusively earmarked for Railway Ministers. But her party colleague and successor in the Railways Ministry,Dinesh Trivedi,clearly appears to be in no mood to emulate his leader. Less than 48 hours after he was sworn in,Trivedi travelled in a railway saloon belonging to the general manager of a zonal railway from Howrah to Bankura where Mamata was scheduled to address a rally. Sources said that the Railways ran a special two-coach train one of the coaches was the saloon just to ferry Trivedi to Bankura. Of course,Railway authorities maintained that Railway Ministers are entitled to this facility and all of them,except Banerjee,have used it in the past. But whether Didi,who used to take a moral high ground on issues like these,approves of Trivedis move,remains to be seen.

Dual Power

As Congress president Sonia Gandhi accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Mumbai following Wednesdays bomb blasts in the city,some government officials pointed out how she has increasingly started going with the Prime Minister whenever there is a disaster or tragedy in any part of the country. She has also accompanied the Prime Minister on some other important occasions like his cricket diplomacy with Pakistan in Mohali. Last year,she and the Prime Minister had visited the flood-hit areas in Leh. She also went with him to Puttaparthi to pay their last respects to Sathya Sai Baba.

Proximity Problems

OPINION in the Congress seems to be divided over Alwar MP Jitendra Singhs induction in the Council of Ministers. While many believe that he has been rewarded for his hard work in his capacity as AICC Secretary attached with Rahul Gandhi,a section of partymen believe that the ministership is actually meant to distance him from the Amethi MP. Party sources clarified that Singh no longer continues as AICC Secretary after becoming a minister. This means the Alwar MP may no longer have reasons to see Rahul as frequently as he used to. The conspiracy theory authors believe that Singhs increasing proximity with Rahul was making many others in his team uncomfortable.

Tailpiece

AT the hearing in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy treasure case,Travancore royals lawyer KK Venugopal digressed in his submissions to tell the court how in ancient times Romans were constantly anxious about their wives purchasing jewels from India. Justice RV Raveendran retorted saying the situation had now been reversed. Indian men are the ones now worried about their wives jewellery purchases, said the judge.