Stepping on the gas

New Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy had,initially,not shown much interest in the steel ministrys request for gas allocation to revive a steel unit in Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh

Stepping on the gas

New Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy had,initially,not shown much interest in the steel ministrys request for gas allocation to revive a steel unit in Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh. Things changed dramatically when Rahul Gandhi sought an appointment with Reddy on the same issue as the steel unit falls in his Amethi constituency. Reddy then went the extra mile and personally called on the Congress general secretary to discuss the issue. Last heard,the Petroleum Ministry is reconsidering its earlier stance.

Go directly to jail

Back in March 2008,Congress president Sonia Gandhi had exhorted party workers at a convention in Kanpur to be prepared to go to jail to seek accountability from the Mayawati government. She had mentioned then that even Rahul Gandhi would join them,if need be,and the announcement had drawn loud cheers. In the subsequent period though,few in the party had displayed an inclination to follow her advice. Now,however,after Rahuls token arrest at Bhatta-Parsaul,Congressmen have finally been motivated to follow suit. At the UP Congress convention at Varanasi last week,Union Minister Salman Khurshid said,If you Rahul ask your ministers to go to jail,we are ready to resign and go to jail. This time,the cheers werent as loud.

Vigilant screening

The controversy over the last Central Vigilance Commissioner CVC appointment notwithstanding,there is a flood of aspirants for the high-profile post as the government began the process for selection of the next CVC. The buzz is that the Department of Personnel and Training has received some 400-odd applications and after a thorough verification,a preliminary list of 49 has been drawn up. The idea is to whittle it down further to five or six after the committee comprising the Prime Minister,Home Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha sit together to pick the next CVC. Amid the rush,one gets to hear that Home Secretary G K Pillai,who was once said to be a hot favourite for the post,has ruled himself out of the race. He has apparently written to the screening committee and asked for his name to be deleted.

Under peer pressure

With the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party announcing names of their candidates for next years Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh,pressure is mounting on the BJP leadership to follow suit. The BJP like the Congress never announces candidates so early. But some UP leaders of the BJP are said to be of the view that the SP and BSP,by announcing their candidates,will corner the early bird advantage. However,its a tough call since apart from the exercise of thinking about selection of candidates,the BJP has not even been able to announce the return of Uma Bharti,whom party chief Nitin Gadkari wants to be deployed in UP to woo the backward sections.