Weddings and the 10 Janpath popularity graph

Congress circles in Delhi are abuzz with allegations of irregularities and corruption in the organisational elections in Uttar Pradesh. Party leaders from the state claim that the names of at least 40 per cent elected PCC members and those elected to block and district committees have been changed. Pradesh Returning Officer PRO Pawan Singh Ghatowar and APROs,including JD Seelam and Suraj Khatri,are under attack from senior leaders,MLAs and MPs from UP. Last heard in the central hall of Parliament,Congress MPs from UP were planning to complain to the party high command about the travesty and mockery of organisational elections.

Latest in the Ajit Singh-Cong bout

There is never a dull moment in the see-saw between the Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal RLD president Ajit Singh. First,as a part of a bargain,Singh had the Lucknow airport named after his late father Charan Singh,only to ditch the Congress and join hands with the Left in an attempt to topple the UPA-I government over the nuclear deal. Then,the Congress helped itself to his UP Assembly votes to get the old dynasty loyalist Satish Sharma into the Rajya Sabha,but kept his demand for two ministerial berths at the Centre hanging. The Congress now wants Singh to merge his party with it. And Singh,who has no intention of settling down in the Congress,has retaliated with a farmers rally in the Capital,addressed by leaders of most Opposition parties.

Top bureaucrat feels the bite

The dengue outbreak has not spared senior government officials in the Capital. Higher Education Secretary in the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development,Vibha Puri Das,was recently diagnosed with the infection. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad took preventive action and also set an example by getting himself tested for dengue after going through a spell of fever while in Parliament.

Our busy,busy Justices

As the government gears up to table a Bill to enhance the retirement age of High Court judges to 65 from 62,former Bombay High Court judge,Justice MF Saldanha,narrates a story about how several judges plunge into a busy second innings as soon as their tenures are over. Justice Saldanha recounts a chance meeting with a former Chief Justice of India on a London-bound flight the very evening the latter retired. I asked him,Chief,are you on holiday? says Justice Saldanha. He said he was going on arbitration work for the government. Which means he would have been briefed even before his retirement as CJI! Justice Saldanha,incidentally,has kept his promise to not take any legal work after retirement.

Surprise! One more for the Left

Under siege in their home turfs of West Bengal and Kerala,the Left parties were pleasantly surprised to find a small increase in their support during the voting pressed by them for amendments to the nuclear liability bill in the Lok Sabha. Left parties,whose numerical strength has dropped to 24 in this House,found that they had actually mustered the support of 25 MPs in their opposition to the Bill. The 25th vote,it turned out,was that of the BJDs Tathagata Satpathy,who had supported the Lefts amendment.

Sikkim suits Justice Dinakaran

The Sikkim High Court is the smallest high court in the country. The state is also considered to be the most peaceful in the country. Former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran,who was recently shifted to Sikkim under controversial circumstances,has been moved by the people of the calm state. On at least two occasions in the last fortnight,he has complimented the lawyers of the state. The Bar Association of Sikkim,which had earlier announced a boycott of Dinakaran,recently held a dinner reception for him. The Association president clarified that the Bar had never opposed Dinakarans posting to Sikkim; it was only opposed to the manner in which the transfer was made.

Misguided in Jammu,complain Cong leaders

The Congress has so far backed Omar Abdullahs National Conference-Congress government in Jammu and Kashmir. The first strains were,however,visible last week after a peace march by Youth Congress activists in Jammu was lathicharged,and several YC leaders were arrested. State Congress leaders have complained to the partys central leadership that while the Jamp;K Police have been unable to quell the protests in the Valley,the state government has been using them to disrupt peaceful programmes of the Youth Congress.

BJP has no use for misuse of CBI

Amid the recent collaboration in Parliament between the government and the BJP,the issue of the misuse of the CBI seems to have been quietly dropped. Days before the session began,top BJP leaders skipped a lunch with the Prime Minister to protest the CBIs move against Gujarat minister Amit Shah,and vowed to put the government in the dock in Parliament. Now that the session is coming to an end,BJP leaders say the issue could not be raised due to a paucity of time. They have been consistently demanding a debate in the meetings of the business advisory committee,they insist.

Spreading the Games good word

As part of its firefight to salvage the reputation of the Delhi Commonwealth Games,the government held a special briefing for Indias High Commissioners in Commonwealth countries. The diplomats in Delhi for the annual Indian Heads of Missions conference were learnt to have been briefed by Home Secretary G K Pillai on the preparations and security arrangements for the Games,so they could begin a synchronised diplomatic effort to encourage better participation in the Games and allay apprehensions. New Delhi fears that small delegations would tarnish its image.

Rlys embarrassed,section officer gets the rap

A section officer in Railway Minister Mamata Banerjees Rail Bhavan secretariat was recently shunted out of his post after the Ministry decided to put the blame on him for letting out too much sensitive information in reply to an RTI query. Days after news reports,quoting the RTI reply,said that over Rs 11 lakh were spent transporting files to Banerjee while she was in West Bengal,the Ministry issued a clarification saying the reports were erroneous. But when this failed to calm the minister,a scapegoat was found in the section officer,even though several officials privately admitted that the section officers reply had been vetted by his seniors before it was sent out.

Disaster Authority is no disaster posting

Over 300 applications comprising the whos who of the top bureaucracy and the directors general of several paramilitary forces have been received for senior positions in the National Disaster Management Authority NDMA. Six vacancies,including that of Members and Vice-Chairperson,will arise in a months time. Many IPS and IAS officials who have some months to go before retirement are learnt to have expressed their keenness to join the statutory body that lays down policies,plans and guidelines for disaster management in the country. Offering an assured five-year term and appropriate rank,the NDMA ranks among the best post-retirement options these days.

Desperately seeking coverage

National broadcaster Doordarshans cameramen covering this years Independence Day function at the Red Fort were busy trying to locate and film a particular special secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The special secretarys office had called up the DD office asking it to ensure that the officer was shown prominently on TV. However,none of the DD cameras could get a clear view of the seat which this officer was initially occupying. So the officer went and grabbed a seat in an enclosure meant for foreign diplomats despite the fact that many other officials had earlier been told not to sit in that enclosure. Once he reached the vantage point he was looking for,the DD cameras finally managed to get him in the frame.

Meira,Nirupama batchmates,roommates

At a recent dinner hosted for the Heads of Indian Missions abroad,Lok Speaker Meira Kumar,who was the chief guest,showered praise on Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. Kumar revealed that not only was Rao her batchmate in Indian Foreign Services ,but also her roommate. Needless to say,this nugget of information was savoured by many present on the occasion.