Rushdie 038; women

While most of his time at the India Today conclave was devoted to mocking Rahul Gandhi for his electoral performance in Uttar Pradesh

While most of his time at the India Today conclave was devoted to mocking Rahul Gandhi for his electoral performance in Uttar Pradesh,and Pakistans ex-cricketer Imran Khan for backing out of the conclave because of him,celebrity author Salman Rushdie also gleefully let out the secret of his supposedly successful love life. Asked how he managed to attract the large number of beautiful women to his side,his quick reply was I am irresistible.

Terror Twist

If the National Investigation Agency has its way then the trial of all the so-called Hindu terror cases may soon be shifted to Mumbai. The New Delhi-based agency is finding it increasing difficult in managing its resources for the day to day trial of Hindu terror cases spread across Panchkula,Hyderabad,Ajmer,Modasa,and Malegaon. It has therefore proposed that all the cases be shifted to Mumbai. The move,however,is yet to get the required clearance from the Home Ministry.

Selective Invites

Neither Law Minister Salman Khurshid nor Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma was invited by the Samajwadi Party to attend Akhilesh Yadavs swearing-in ceremony in Lucknow last week. The party was apparently not very happy with the bad-mouthing it received from these two Congress leaders. Verma,in fact,was in the Samajwadi Party before joining the Congress a few years ago. The other central government ministers from Uttar Pradesh,like Jitin Prasad and R P N Singh,were all invited. Even some of the members of the so-called youth brigade of the Congress,like Jyotiraditya Scindia,were also invited. None of them turned up for the event,however,unsure about how the reaction in the Congress party would be,considering the heartburn that the election result has caused to Rahul Gandhi.

Law and Parliament

The higher judiciary has had many a run-in with Parliament in recent times. But on this occasion,the Supreme Court solidly backed the rights of a parliamentarian. While summarily dismissing a PIL that sought a ban on MPs and MLAs from practising law,the Supreme Court said there was no provision to do so. In fact,we would like more lawyers to join Parliament, the bench,headed by the Chief Justice,remarked.

Learning from Vajpayee

At a time when Manmohan Singh seems utterly clueless in dealing with Mamata Banerjee,some old NDA insiders are being reminded of the ways of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in keeping the mercurial Bengal leader in good humour. Banerjee was as unpredictable then as she is now,and Vajpayee had apparently worked out a reasonably successful formula to maintain a good working relation with her. He used to make it a point to call her on her birthday,and used to invite her for a meeting whenever she was in Delhi even after she had quit the NDA coalition midway through. The third thing Vajpayee apparently ensured was that there never was any objection whenever Banerjee,as minister,proposed foreign travel for her or her officials.