Power play

M Veerappa Moilys move on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhis birthday has not gone unnoticed

M Veerappa Moilys move on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhis birthday has not gone unnoticed. The Power Ministry,which has been handed to Moily only recently as additional charge,put out the biggest advertisement,one full-page,on the occasion of Sadbhavna Diwas. The Corporate Affairs Ministry,which has been with Moily for over a year now,was one of the very few ministries not to have put out an advertisement. Coming as it does when talk of a reshuffle is in the air,the move is being seen as Moilys attempt to take permanent charge of the Power Ministry which is considered to have a higher profile than the Corporate Affairs Ministry.

Legal Tussle

A WEEK ago,the Madras High Court came down heavily on the Union government,especially Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office V Narayanasamy,for issuing statements on the commissioning of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant while the matter is still being heard by the court. The court was also upset over the fact that the Central government was not properly represented in the matter on that day. That is because the Law Ministry has still not been able to appoint an additional solicitor general for Chennai ever since the previous ASG,M Ravindran,expired a couple of months back. The reason for the delay is political tussle between the Congress and the DMK. On Monday,the Prime Ministers Office had to intervene and request ASG Mohan Parasaran to fly to Chennai to represent the Centre at the court hearing on Tuesday.

Moving On

DEPUTY Director at the Enforcement Directorate Sharad Chaudhary will soon have to join his cadre in the CISF as the Home Ministry has turned down his request for extension and absorption within the ED. Chaudhary was handling key investigations into 2G and CWG scams at the Delhi Zonal office of ED. A 1997 batch officer,Chaudhary joined ED in 2007 and has completed a tenure of five years after which he was to be repatriated to CISF. However,he made a representation before Revenue Secretary and MHA for absorption within ED. Interestingly,Chaudharys colleague and UP police officer,deputy director Rajeshwar Singh,is likely to get absorbed within ED. Singh is presently handling Headquarters Investigation Unit at the ED.

Wrong Message

HE may have done it to reach out to the Opposition,but Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs visit to BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussains residence on Monday to wish him on the occasion of Eid left many within his own party unhappy. These party men are of the view that if the Prime Minister had go to Shahnawaz Hussain,to make up for his absence at the BJP leaders Iftar last week,he should have made the effort to go to the houses of Cabinet ministers like Salman Khurshid and Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior leaders within his own party as well. Interestingly,Shahnawaz Hussain had deferred his Iftar party by one day to ensure that it did not coincide with the Iftar hosted by the Prime Minister.

Resignation Drama

A FEW months after Law Minister Salman Khurshid wrote to the Congress president offering to quit his ministerial position and work for the party,another flamboyant minister is learnt to be making a similar offer. This minister,who is considered close to 10,Janpath,has been telling people within the party that in the Cabinet reshuffle expected next month,he would demit office and take up a party position. Interestingly,this ministers name was doing the rounds for the positions of Finance Minister and then Power Minister when the vacancies had arisen recently.