No special traeatment

Congress leaders were extremely upset by reports about party president Sonia Gandhi purportedly jumping the queue to cast her vote.

Already perturbed by exit poll predictions about the BJP taking a decisive lead in the Assembly elections in four states,Congress leaders were extremely upset by reports about party president Sonia Gandhi purportedly jumping the queue to cast her vote at Nirman Bhawan on Wednesday. Party leaders explained on Thursday that Sonia was very much in the queue at polling booth no. 86 before SPG personnel came to her informing that she was actually supposed to vote at booth no. 85. It was then that she left the queue and went to vote at another polling booth. She most certainly did not jump the queue, said a senior Congress leader.

PLAYING SAFE

Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi was extra cautious during the annual naval press conference this week while dealing with questions relating to China. Last year,the Admiral had raised a storm after asserting that Indian warships can be deployed off Vietnam to protect Indian oil interests,drawing protests from Beijing. This time,Joshi avoided the China word throughout the press conference. In fact,a leading English news channel known for its strong stance on China was banned from attending the annual presser a first instance of blacklisting by the armed forces. When contacted,the Navy said it had conveyed the reasons to the said channel.

PEACE MOVE

In her first public statement on the curious order that her ministry brought out last week asking all bureau heads to send files directly to the minister,effectively bypassing the secretary,Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath on Thursday struck a conciliatory note. Just because two people do not get along they cannot be removed from the family,she said. She did not respond to queries about her reported letter to the PMO asking for a replacement to WCD secretary Nita Chaudhry. With rules of business and the manual of procedure clearly laying down that the administrative head of a department is its secretary,Tirath may have to soon look for a face saver,unless Chaudhry becomes the third secretary in a row to have less than a years term at the ministry.

COURSE CORRECTION

Even as it released the finding against its former judge A K Ganguly in the sexual harassment allegations made against him by a young lawyer,a serious mistake seemed to have crept in as the order was uploaded on the Supreme Court website. The initial order published on the website disclosed the name of the victim,although the matter related to sexual harassment. The apex court itself has repeatedly cautioned all authorities against making the victims names public in such cases. Within a short time though,a revised order,withholding the name of the victim,was uploaded after withdrawing the initial order.