Role Reversal

For once,civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal refrained from accusing the government of playing dirty tricks against Team Anna

For once,civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal refrained from accusing the government of playing dirty tricks against Team Anna,when he was whisked away by security personnel from Parliament House on Wednesday. He was told that he could not address the media inside the Parliament Complex and the reason why this order had been passed was Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi who had landed in Parliament last week to promote his film Dirty Picture. BSP MP Dhananjay Singh had officially written to the Lok Sabha Speaker against Hashmis publicity stunt. Promptly,orders were issued banning non-parliamentarians from using Parliament Houses premises for media projection. Kejriwal was the first to find himself on the wrong side of this order.

Stand Down

When news channels invited a senior,telegenic BJP leader,whos also known for her oratorical skills,to the TV studios for a debate on the ongoing FDI imbroglio,she approached Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj to better understand the party stand. However,to her surprise,Swaraj advised her against participating in the TV discussion,saying the party already had half a dozen spokespersons who could do the job.

Cut Short

Parliament may not have functioned even for a single day,but the Winter Session has cost Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge quite a bit. Kharge was planning to spend four days in Japan next week to attend a conference of Labour Ministers from Asia Pacific region. But he did not get the Prime Ministers clearance in the first go because ministers are required to be present during House sessions. After some persuasion from the Labour Ministry,the PMO finally relented but asked Kharge to curtail his travel schedule. He will now spend only two days in Japan,which means leaving on Saturday night and returning on Tuesday. Incidentally,Parliament is shut on those days.

Seat Upgrades

Weeks before the Lok Sabhas privileges committee recommended a change in the warrant of precedence to upgrade MPs from serial number 21 to 17 to put them on par with chief justices of high courts outside their jurisdictions,Governors had raised a similar issue quite stridently at their annual conference hosted by the President in Rashtrapati Bhawan. They wanted pride of place for former governors,who do not find mention in the warrant of precedence. The suggestion was to list them at serial number 8 in their states and number 12 outside the states. Last heard,the Home Ministry is just not inclined to reopen this list and invite more trouble.

Killer Faux Pas

French writer Dominique Lapierre made a faux pas and a smart recovery while delivering a talk on AIDS at Alliance Francaise on Thursday which was World AIDS Day. Talking about the diseases that kill immunocompromised victims of AIDS,Lapierre said,8230;they die of dreaded diseases like Sarkozy. As the hall doubled over in mirth at the unusual description of the French president,Lapierre,embarrassed but thinking on his feet,said: I meant to say Kaposis sarcoma just that the sarc and the osi got together.