Magsaysay Muddle

Trust the ministers of this government to score a second self-goal in as many days. First,it was MoS V Narayansamy who claimed that Anna Hazare

TRUST the ministers of this government to score a second self-goal in as many days. First,it was MoS PMO V Narayansamy who claimed that Anna Hazare is surrounded by anti-national elements and is propped up by foreign forces. His colleague,Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi,took this vague allegation a step further and lower. He said the Magsaysay awards,won by Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi,hinted at the foreign connection because the award supported by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has American money written all over it. Someone should have alerted Ravi that there are three Magsaysay Award winners in the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council: M S Swaminathan,Aruna Roy and Deep Joshi. Ravi could,in the spirit of inner-party democracy in the Congress,check with his president if any of these three has shown dangerous signs of American influence.

The Joshi Effect

HAVING been forced to quit the BJP,Narendra Modis bete noire Sanjay Joshi appears to be slowly getting back to the RSS groove. Joshi is learnt to have gone to Nagpur on Monday ostensibly to participate in the concluding session of a training camp organised there. But,his visit to the RSS headquarters close on the heels of his resignation from the BJP is likely to keep party leaders in waiting mode pending a final word on the outcome of the visit in due time.

Austerity Diet

AFTER a marathon two-hour-long,particularly difficult meeting with Pranab Mukherjee over a financial package for his state,West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra rushed to his room at Bengal Bhawan on Monday for a late lunch. But soon after lunch was served,senior state government officials rushed out of the room yelling at those who had brought the food. It turns out that Mitra was served chicken fried rice and chilli chicken,when he does not eat chicken at all and follows a strict dietary regime. After the mix-up,officials rushed to the canteen,which then quickly prepared a simple meal for the minister.

Convoy Cuts

WHILE most politicians want to see more and more security personnel and longer convoy of cars when they travel,Congress president Sonia Gandhi apparently feels uncomfortable. Some time back she is learnt to have conveyed security authorities that she would want to see the elaborate security arrangements curtailed. As a result,there are two vehicles less in her convoy these days.

Visa Doubts

PAKISTANS Interior Minister Rahman Malik was said to be the reason why India and Pakistan did not sign the visa agreement during the Home Secretary-level meeting in Islamabad last month. Malik apparently wanted the agreement to be signed at a ministerial level preferably between him and Home Minister P Chidambaram. Not many in the Indian establishment are,however,buying the argument. It is learnt that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari,during a private visit to India in April,had assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the visa agreement would indeed be signed at the meeting of the Home Secretaries. The inability of Pakistan to honour the Presidents word is being seen in India with some concern. It has raised fresh doubts over whether the ruling political establishment in Pakistan is really in control.