Party poopers

Two events got cancelled in the Capital on Wednesday,apparently because the people involved developed cold feet

Two events got cancelled in the Capital on Wednesday,apparently because the people involved developed cold feet. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was to hold a roadshow at the Leela Palace hotel on Thursday to attract investments in the state. Big advertisements were placed in newspapers to publicise the event. But considering the political environment in Delhi,the CM apparently realised that the questions from the press would have more to do with coal block allocations rather than the investment climate in the state. The function was cancelled without a reason. Another event,at the Foreign Correspondents Club where PDP Mehbooba Mufti was to be present,also got cancelled without a reason. The buzz is that Mehbooba was irked with the FCC for inviting people for cocktails with her.

The other reason

APART from the ideological opposition,there is probably another reason why the Samajwadi Party is against the Bill proposing reservation in promotions for SC/ST employees. The Bill introduced by the government in the Rajya Sabha draws heavily from a draft Bill prepared by the BSP. Satish Mishra,BSPs general secretary,and the National Commission on SC/ST had submitted their own versions of the proposed Bill to the government as suggestions. The governments draft incorporates most of the elements of Mishras version,but not from the other one.

Out of favour

THE Dardas in the line of fire after CBI filed FIRs against them have had everything going for themselves in the Congress for two generations. Therefore,the obvious question in the wake of the current goings-on is what have they done,apart from obtaining coal blocks,to deserve what they are faced with now. The sole issue that comes to ones mind is the praise heaped by Rajya Sabha member Vijay Darda on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over a month ago. Modis commitment and dedication towards work bears resemblance to that of a tiger, Darda,who had shared the dais with Modi at an award ceremony at Ahmedabad,had said.

Deal in offing

WEST Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra will once again be in Delhi to meet Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday to try and work out a financial package for his debt-stressed state. The last time Mitra was here for the same purpose,Pranab Mukherjee was the Finance Minister. Mukherjee could not offer anything that met Mitras boss,Mamata Banerjees,approval. This time,though,the Finance Ministry is learnt to have indicated that a package could be worked out. The agreement apparently is that West Bengal would be asked to pay the annual interests of its Central loans and the Centre,in turn,would reimburse it under some other heads. The financial package could be worth about Rs 25,000 crore.