Where loyalties lie

Mani Shanker Aiyars undiluted loyalty to Rajiv Gandhi and his family is no secret. So what he did last Monday came as no surprise

Where loyalties lie

Mani Shanker Aiyars undiluted loyalty to Rajiv Gandhi and his family is no secret. So what he did last Monday came as no surprise. As head of a panel to review the functioning and restructuring of Zonal Cultural Committees ZCCs,Aiyar was supposed to submit his panels report to Culture Minister Kumari Selja. But before doing that,he thought it appropriate to present a copy of the report to Sonia Gandhi in the morning. After all,it was Rajiv Gandhi,who had constituted the ZCCs in the mid-80s. A few hours later,he made the formal submission at the Culture Ministers office. But he did not stop at that. Immediately thereafter,he drove to South Block to present another copy of the report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was Manmohan Singh who,in his capacity as the Culture Minister,had formed this committee. Aiyar knows who he needs to humour.

Sulking Congress MPs

While Congress observers are in the process of finalising their lists of candidates for next years Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh,a number of party MPs are upset at their views being ignored. Having brought the party new political credibility in the Hindi heartland because of their performance in the last Lok Sabha elections,these MPs feel they should have the right to choose the candidates in their respective parliamentary constituencies. The party had,however,sent 10 observers in the state to do an independent survey about prospective candidates without involving local party units. One of the observers,Madhusudan Mistry,for instance,travelled to about 40 constituencies to identify winnable candidates. Congress MPs from the state,however,are not happy about being kept out of the candidate selection process as they feel that the responsibility to ensure victory of party candidates in the Assembly elections will be theirs.

The Lancet bug

It is an all out war between the reputed medical journal Lancet and the Union Health Ministry over the superbug issue. Last year,when Lancet first published a piece over the the existence of antibiotic resistant superbug in India,the Health Ministry was not well prepared for a counter attack. But this time around they were better armed. The National Centre for Disease Control NCDC,under the Health Ministry,has been quick to post on its website a copy of the correspondence between them and the Lancet editor who apparently refused to publish the Health Ministrys rejoinder to the publication. The Lancet editor responded to NCDCs rebuttal saying that since they receive far more submissions than they have space to publish,they have to reject many otherwise worthy papers. We are sorry we cannot be more helpful on this occasion,and we hope you will think of us again in the future, the letter said. The Health Ministry clearly considers that exchange as a propaganda victory.

The Ramnavami special

This Ramnavami was special for L K Advani the BJPs rath yatri who once catapulted the Ram Temple movement onto the nations collective consciousness and his party into the centrestage of Indian politics. Advanis daughter Pratibha has produced a short film narrating the Ramayan,with relevant scenes from Hindi movies made on Ram interspersed in between. A special screening of the film was organised at Advanis residence and the BJP veteran himself welcomed the guests. This is not the first time that Pratibha,who anchors a film-based show on a television channel,has come up with this kind of documentary,having done similar assignments on other festivals as well. Advani recollected that she had done a film some years ago on how fathers are depicted in Hindi movies and dedicated it to him on his birthday.

The Anti-Hazare Brigade

Even before the first meeting of the joint committee on the Lokpal Bill is to take place on April 16,groups and organisations against Anna Hazare and the civil activists supporting him have begun moves to counter his crusade. One such group from Maharashtra,said to have links with the NCP,reached the Capital on Monday and began doing the rounds of residences and offices of government nominees in the panel. Meeting one of the senior ministers,they handed over documents,including what appeared to be affidavits that purportedly allege that Anna Hazare had indulged in misappropriation of funds in some of the trusts which he heads or is a member. These include the Hind Swaraj Trust which received money from the government for watershed development programmes. Anna Hazare has already refuted the allegations earlier,but in the light of the recent agitation and Hazares criticism of key political leaders,one can expect more such twists and turns in the immediate future.

Age factor

Does one age in just eight months? The answer is yes,if you think the way Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi apparently does. For how else does one explain his objection to 87-year-old V S Achutanandan leading the LDF in Kerala when he has no problem with M Karunanidhi at the helm in Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi is younger to Achutanandan by only eight months,but he is confined to a wheelchair. Achutanandan,on the other hand,is not only fighting fit,but has the nerve to take on his rivals both within and outside the CPIM.