Making an exception

Pallam Raju was expected to join office this week,he was said to have changed his mind.

Over four weeks after ministers from Seemandhra region resigned in protest against the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is yet to accept or reject their resignation. All these ministers are,however,working from residence. While HRD Minister Pallam Raju was expected to join office this week,he was said to have changed his mind. He is,however,likely to make an exception for the Rashtrapati Bhawan. President Pranab Mukherjee is hosting a conference of all NIT directors this week and it is learnt that Raju in his capacity as HRD minister has decided to attend it in deference to the Presidents office.

Frayed tempers

BSP MP Dhananjay Singhs wife Jagriti,who was arrested in connection with the death of her maid Tuesday,is not known to be very popular among the families of parliamentarians. Some time back,she had got into an ugly brawl with the children of a Congress MP from Haryana at the gym of the Constitution Club in the capital. The Haryana MPs son,accompanied by his sister,was at the gym when Jagriti along with her four-year-old child arrived. The altercation started after the former asked the child to stay away from him as he was doing weight-lifting. It turned so nasty that security persons accompanying the two sides got involved. Consequently,sources said,the MPs son lodged a complaint at the Parliament Street police station.

Board on track

After remaining in a state of limbo due to delay in high-level appointments for months,some semblance of normalcy is returning to the Railway Board. On Tuesday,it got Alok Johri as full-time Member Mechanical. While he took charge from Allahabad,he will come to his Delhi office after attending a function presided over by Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge in Varanasi on Wednesday. The post of chairman and financial commissioner was filled a couple of weeks ago and now the only post that remains vacant is that of Member Staff,which is presently being looked after by the Member Engineering.

Dampened spirit

IT was with a tinge of disappointment that Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti fondly addressed as Didi by party workers celebrated Bhaiya Dooj Tuesday. Swaraj,who represents Vidisha in the LS,rued not being alongside CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan when he filed the nomination papers from Budhni constituency. The scheduled meeting of BJPs central election committee to finalise candidates for Delhi and Rajasthan in the national capital held Swaraj back. As for Bharti,the UP government denied her permission to meet partys MLAs,Sangeeta Som and Suresh Rana,who are lodged in Muzaffarnagar jail in connection with the recent riots. Both took to Twitter to express their disappointment.