Rahul-congress communication gap

Sonia and the waiting game

Senior Congress leaders have lost sleep interpreting party president Sonia Gandhis concluding remarks at the AICC plenary last week. Sonia had said that while a large number of people did get some reward for their work,the majority comprised those who get nothing either in the party or the government but continue to work with full dedication. They are least bothered that their number has not come, she said,asking leaders who occupy positions in the party or government to learn from the ones who dont. A few weeks back,in her concluding remarks at the AICC session,she had said that people who keep dheeraj patience in Congress,unka number aa hi jata hai their number comes anyway or,the turn of people who are patient comes anyway. Many senior leaders holding organisational posts and ministerial portfolios interpret these remarks as Sonias way of preparing them for the worst as she and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prepare to rejig the organisation and the Union Cabinet next month.

Cabinet reshuffle: Stars not right

After months of dilly-dallying,the government seems to be finally ready for a cabinet reshuffle next month. But senior Congress leader Motilal Vora has pointed out another minor hurdle. He is learnt to have advised the party high command that the expansion must not happen in the first half of January because the time is not auspicious. Vora feels the exercise should be undertaken only after Makar Sankranti on January 14. Not surprisingly,many in the Congress agree.

CPM: A question of timing

The Communists do not believe in astrology but the way things are going for them,something seems to be terribly wrong with their stars. Not to be left behind by the main Opposition BJP,the CPM too wanted to launch a nationwide agitation against corruption,beginning with Andhra Pradesh. But their main ally in Andhra Pradesh,TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu,had already begun a different campaign a hunger strike. The party then looked towards Karnataka only to find that its cadre was busy with the coming local elections. To rub salt on their wounds,someone suggested the CPM should start its agitation from West Bengal. With their very survival at stake in the state,an agitation against the Central government is probably the last thing on the mind of CPM workers in West Bengal. The UPA government,it seems,does not have to contend with the Left fury for the time being.

Praying for Vajpayees health

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain did not want to leave any stone unturned in ensuring divine intervention for former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees good health. On Vajpayees 86th birthday last week,Hussain went to Nizamuddin Dargah and offered a chaddar for the leaders long life. His next stop was Kalkaji Mandir in South Delhi,where workers had organised a bhandara community kitchen and a special puja. Vijay Goel organised another prayer meeting at his residence,where Sudhanshu Mittal was also present. The party had been maintaining some distance from Mittal after Income Tax raids against him in connection with the CWG probe. Mittal was,however,found sitting just a couple of seats away from L K Advani.

An overdose of thanks

It is not every day that the little-known Indian Council of Philosophical Research has its brush with the power elite. So when the institute managed to get the Prime Minister himself for an awards ceremony last week,the excitement and nervousness among the staff was quite palpable. The official who went on the stage to welcome the Prime Minister and formally invite him to make his speech,continued to thank Manmohan Singh profusely for several minutes for coming to the institute. He did the same with Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal. They did not miss any opportunity during the function to thank all the eminent persons over and over again. So much so that when the vote of thanks was being offered,Sibal could not take it any more. Laughing,he told the organisers that the thanking was enough for everyone present.

Gadkari shows the legal way out

After BJP president Nitin Gadkari started the trend of issuing legal notices to people making personal allegations against him,party leaders are fast following in the footsteps of their leader. The latest to join the bandwagon is former union minister Ananth Kumar,who sent a legal notice to a person who accused him of hobnobbing with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia,as well as the television station that aired the allegations. It all started with Gadkari sending a notice to Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari for alleging that he owned a flat through proxy in Mumbais Adarsh Housing Society. It was immediately followed by Kirit Somayya,who sent a notice to Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh for calling him a scamster. The party then served a notice to the Congress for the alleged hijacking of its website. The RSS is not far behind. While troubled pracharak Indresh Kumar sent a notice to the Rajasthan Home Minister for linking him with the Ajmer blasts,some Sangh sympathisers sent another notice to Digvijay Singh for his Hindu terror remarks.

Mulayam missing the action

There were many occasions last week when Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav should have been seen or heard but was conspicuous by his absence. Mulayam who claims to belong to the socialist tradition was missing at the cremation and condolence ceremony of veteran socialist leader Surendra Mohan,who died recently. Neither was he present at the birth anniversary celebrations of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh. The hectic political developments in Delhi also did nothing to elicit a response from Mulayam. He was silent when the Prime Minister offered to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2G spectrum case and silent again when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the scam. The event that took precedence over all these developments and kept him completely occupied was the fortnight-long Saifai Mahotsav in his native place in Uttar Pradesh.

Intelligence Bureaus secret lecture

Having experimented with opening up their annual endowment lecture to the media for the past few years,the Intelligence Bureau went back to keeping it a secret affair this year. It was felt that this would help foster a more candid discussion and the speakers too may feel less constrained. But National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon,who delivered this years lecture last week,did not overstep even within this secret environment. It was a lecture that is said to have passed off without any mention of Pakistan or China while still drawing the praise Menon has got so accustomed to. What remains to be seen is whether the RAW also moves its Kao Memorial lecture away from the public domain.

Defence will have a say too

The long wait in the Defence services to have a say in the National Security Council Secretariat NSCS may get over soon,with Lt. Gen Prakash Menon,who is now NDC commandant,tipped to go on deputation to the NSCS. He is learnt to have a good rapport with the NSA and the grapevine has it that he may end up becoming Deputy NSA after his retirement sometime next year.

Marketing the Ganga

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar surely has powerful marketing skills. Last week,she received an official delegation from Mongolia,and during the course of conversation,explained at length the cultural and spiritual significance of Ganga water and the many magical properties associated with it. At the end of the meeting,she gifted Ganga water in brass pots to each member. So impressed were the guests with Meira Kumars presentation that they gulped down the water right there.

Tharoor clueless about his exit

Shashi Tharoor seems to be clueless on why he was shown the door from the Union Cabinet last year. Recently,Congress president Sonia Gandhi had clubbed his name with other leaders who had quit to make a point that her party was serious in acting against corruption. Tharoor objected to the remarks and wrote a letter to Sonia. With no clarification coming from either her or the party,Tharoor decided to wonder aloud. Am still unaware of my sin: Misuse of public office? No. Licenses/favours? No. Govt funds? No. Personal gain? No, he posted on Twitter. People who could give him the right answer are unlikely to be on Twitter though.

DD News maps weather in PoK too

The government never fails to tell its citizens that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin are still officially a part of India,even though these areas are not in our control for decades now. All Indian maps religiously show these areas within our international borders. Once in a while,the government takes on organisations that show maps that keep these areas out of India. Similar efforts by the government broadcaster,Doordarshan,however,have gone completely unnoticed. For quite some time now,the weather segment on DD News has been informing the viewers about temperature and weather conditions in Muzaffarabad,Gilgit and Baltistan.

IAS reigns supreme at North Block

As it is,there were only two IPS officers among the 25-odd top bureaucrats at the level of joint secretary and above in the Home Ministry. The IAS lobby has now ensured that one of them has had to move out to the CISF. Kashmir Singh,a 1978-batch IPS officer of UP cadre,had been working as a joint secretary in the Home Ministry despite being promoted to the rank of Additional Director General. With less than a year to go for his retirement,the officer is learnt to have requested that he be elevated to the position of Additional Secretary and allowed to continue to work in the ministry. But IAS officers were reportedly not too keen to let an AS-level post to be occupied by an IPS officer,especially since the other IPS officer in the ministry,U K Bansal,had already been elevated to rank of Secretary from Special Secretary sometime back. Left with little choice,Kashmir Singh had to take up the post of ADG in the CISF.