Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was not the only one to have run into trouble with airport officials at Chicago. It turns out that even Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar was denied the customary courtesy of being exempted from full body security check at the same airport. About a month or so ago,Shankar was apparently singled out and put through detailed security check. Subsequently,the matter was taken up forcefully through diplomatic channels. Its believed that while the US authorities apologised for the inconvenience caused to the Indian Ambassador,they also politely reminded their Indian counterparts that US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer was also having trouble with such courtesies during domestic travels here.
When Obama comes calling
The loneliness of Bhardwaj
Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj is sulking nowadays. He had expected a pat on his back for his zealous endeavour to nail the B S Yeddyurappa government and recommend imposition of Presidents Rule in the state. The Congress,however,chose to distance itself from his actions leaving him to fend for himself against the Oppositions onslaught. While the Governors aides in Bangalore were at pains to convince people that the Governor could not have taken any drastic step without obtaining concurrence of the party bosses,the latter argued that the party high command had made its equations with Bhardwaj loud and clear when the former Law Minister was left out of Manmohan Singhs team in his second stint. Last heard,Bhardwaj was carping about unfairness and injustice on the part of the party. As the Governor was said to have conveyed to some of his old party friends his desire to call it a day,party bosses were quick to convey to him not to precipitate matters any further. Given the partys disapproval of his words and actions in recent times,Bhardwaj was said to have decided not to go public with his views until the High Courts ruling on the disqualification of legislators on Monday.
The road ahead for Manpreet
Former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal apparently had no clue about the marching orders he got from his uncle,Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. He has been calling up friends across the political spectrum seeking their advice on what to do next. The advice was varied from joining a friends party to going back to London for a few years on some academic pursuit. Manpreet also got in touch with some Congress politicians from Punjab,but was non-committal on joining any other party at the moment. He first wanted to read the minds of his voters in Gidderbaha Assembly constituency. While the Congress is eager to welcome a Badal into the party fold,the grand old party is not known to lay down red carpets for many a fact that might deter Manpreet who has been used to privileges attached with his surname in the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Public welfare lessons from minister
Minister of State for Agriculture,Consumer Affairs,Food amp; Public Distribution K V Thomas was in for a pleasant surprise last week when a group of Delhi University teachers and students landed in his office and informed him that Rahul Gandhi had sent them to seek his advice on what they could do in terms of public welfare. The minister gave them a brief on his initiatives in his Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency and then asked them to work for homeless children in Delhi. He asked them to collaborate with NGOs to work for these children. While the group of teachers and NSUI students were visibly impressed,not much is known about any follow up action.
Cong CMs vie to host party
There is an intense competition going on among Congress Chief Ministers to host the plenary session of the party,which is expected to be held before December 20. Among them are Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot. Hoodas USP is Haryanas proximity to the Capital and Gehlot flaunts Jaipurs attraction for one and all. As they go about trying to swing the event their way,the two face competition from Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan. Mumbai being the venue of the Congress foundation way back in 1885,Chavan has an inherent advantage.
A matter of protocol
Before it happened with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games when his seat was changed by the presidential staff at the last minute to accommodate President Pratibha Patils husband Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office Prithviraj Chavan had also faced a similar situation with the President at a cultural function. As they reached the stage,Chavan,following protocol,made way for the President to climb the stairs first. But Patil asked him to go first,indicating that she would climb up the stage only after her husband did. Left with little option,Chavan did as directed. Patils husband Devisingh Shekhawat followed Chavan and after that the President took the stage.
No political interlocutor please
Many eyebrows were raised when the name of a political person failed to find a place in the panel of interlocutors announced by the Home Ministry last week for Jammu and Kashmir. Given the sensitivity of the issue,the popular perception had been that the government could entrust the task to someone with a political background. In fact,the names that had been doing the rounds were that of AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh,Minister of State independent charge Prithviraj Chavan and CPM leader Sitaram Yechury. What was,however,not known is that one senior minister in the UPA government had even offered his services to the Prime Minister. The minister,hailing from a north Indian state and belonging to the minority community,is understood to have written a letter to the PM indicating that he was ready for any role,if it would help in bringing down the tension in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir. Though he had hoped for a favourable response,all that he apparently got was a standard thank you reply that was a mere acknowledgment.
CWG passes: The haves and have-nots
As the whos who of Delhi was scrounging for passes from the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games,many turned to M Ramachandran,who handles Delhi Police in the Home Ministry,who somehow never fell short of them. No wonder,he had many Cabinet Ministers and government officials on his phone line as long as the Games lasted. Among the diplomatic community,the Australians had the highest number of passes. These were all corporate sponsored passes since Aussie firms were involved in every aspect of the Games.
The missing crisis manager
When the rebellion in Karnataka BJP threatened to topple the B S Yeddyurappa government,party chief Nitin Gadkari immediately deployed senior leader Venkaiah Naidu to Bangalore on a fire fighting mission. While Naidu did eventually succeed in getting BSY a fresh leash in power,many in the party were wondering about the whereabouts of partys Karnataka in-charge Shanta Kumar. He was nowhere on the scene. When he surfaced,it was to join a delegation to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.
Why Didi said no to Cambridge
While her predecessor Lalu Prasad Yadav never missed an opportunity to showcase his achievements in the Railways to international audience,Mamata Banerjee,it seems,prefers domestic audience. She had given her consent to inaugurate a new faculty and deliver a lecture on The Rising Power at the Cambridge University towards the end of this month. She suddenly decided to cancel her trip. Her close aides attributed her decision to recent incidents of violence in West Bengal in which four TMC workers were killed. Grapevine has it that her decision had much to do with the fact that CPM general secretary Prakash Karat was scheduled to speak at the same venue just a day before her. Banerjees now-cancelled itinerary comprised a cruise on the Thames and a visit to Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagores house in Hampstead.
A quiz show on NREGA
In a pleasant surprise to the mandarins of the Rural Development Ministry,UPAs flagship rural job guarantee scheme NREGA got free publicity when actor Amitabh Bachchan asked a question regarding the scheme in the very first episode of his quiz show. The ministry had earlier planned a quiz show on national television on October 2. Their plan got stalled midway due to the model code of conduct for Bihar Assembly elections. Last heard,the ministry was revising their publicity plan with a quiz show that would cost above Rs 1 crore per episode.
BJPs high-fliers in Bihar
The BJP has hired several helicopters for its party leaders to campaign in Bihar. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and state BJP chief C P Thakur have been given one chopper each for their exclusive use during campaigning. Party spokespersons Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy,who are also close friends,would share a chopper. Of course,another one will be at the service of senior leader Sushma Swaraj who is much in demand from party candidates.
Rahul does not have his way
When Rahul Gandhi was inducted as Congress general secretary in 2007,it was expected that his writ would run large in the party. Three years since,party veterans have proved why they never fail,though with chuckles,to call the Congress a democratic party. During this period,veteran leaders managed to undermine his democratisation process in the Indian Youth Congress by getting their relatives and protégés to manipulate internal elections in the IYCs state units. The most recent was Chhattisgarh Youth Congress election in which former chief minister Ajit Jogis son Amit outwitted and outmanoeuvred Rahuls lieutenants. They had forced Amit not to contest the Youth Congress elections,but he managed to get his men elected to all key posts,including state and Lok Sabha Youth Congress presidents. As for the parent organisation,Rahul had urged his senior party colleagues at a Congress Working Committee meeting that difficult seats,which the party has been losing for a long time,should be given to the youth. The AICC screening committee for Bihar elections,headed by Mukul Wasnik,however,did not let Rahuls explicit desire come in the way of their choice of candidates. Out of the 24 candidates recommended by the Indian Youth Congress for party tickets in Bihar elections,only 11 were accommodated. Bihar Youth Congress president Lallan Kumar had earlier laid claims to 80 seats.
