Opinion Autocratic maharaja

The Congress position is similar to the BJP stand,which is that the law must take its course.

Coomi Kapoor

April 1, 2012 10:47 PM IST First published on: Apr 1, 2012 at 10:47 PM IST

Autocratic maharaja

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh did not take his party into confidence before issuing his statement endorsing the Akali line that Balwant Singh Rajoana,convicted of murdering former Congress chief Minister Beant Singh,should be spared the noose. The Congress position is similar to the BJP stand,which is that the law must take its course. The issue is particularly sensitive for the Congress since several of its members were victims of terrorism. Manish Tewari,Partap Singh Bajwa,Ravneet Bittu and Mohinder Singh Kaypee are four Congress MPs from Punjab whose close kin were killed during the Khalistan movement. Some in the Congress complain that autocratic descendants of royal houses do not make good state-level leaders since they are insulated from reality. A Congress MP quipped that Captain Amarinder Singh is dependent on history whereas elections are fought and won on chemistry. The party high command,however,has yet to accept Singhs resignation as PCC chief after his electoral defeat.

Fishing in troubled waters

A prominent Lucknow-based businessman has written a thank-you letter to politicians and industrialists who have taken on Anshuman Mishra,the controversial London-based NRI who wanted to come to the Rajya Sabha via the Jharkhand route. The businessman claims that Mishra once worked for him but betrayed his trust. In their hurry to disassociate themselves from Mishra,the BJP took a hasty decision that the partys 39 MLAs in Jharkhand would not vote at all so that they could not be accused of being swayed by moneybags contesting for the Rajya Sabha. But now some in the party high command have second thoughts,since it has upset many BJP MLAs as also the BJPs main ally,the JMM. Shibu Sorens son Hemant Soren rushed to Delhi to plead for support for Sanjeev Kumar,the JMMs legal adviser who is the party candidate. The Congress is fishing in troubled waters. In the run-up to the presidential poll,the Congress is also targeting the BJP state units in Uttarakhand and Karnataka where there is considerable disaffection.

Queen of TT

The photograph of President Pratibha Patil in a silk sari,with her pallu pinned to her hair,wearing a long sleeved blouse and wielding a table tennis racket at M J College in Jalgaon,was flashed all over the country. Joking about her inappropriate sports gear,a mischievous blog suggested that Suresh Kalmadi had recommended the Presidents name for our Olympic squad for London. Actually,for Patil,playing table tennis was more than just a photo-op,it was a trip down memory lane. Patil was the table tennis champion of M J College,Jalgaon in her student days and took part in various inter-college tournaments. In fact,it is her table-tennis skills rather than her degree which is singled out for special mention in her bio data. She was anointed M J College queen in 1962.

Gratuitously ungracious

Considering that the MEA has been proclaiming that Indo-Pak relations are on an upswing,surprisingly,no Central minister showed up at the Pakistani High Commission for the countrys national day even though Parliament was in session. It was the last official function for departing Pakistani ambassador Shahid Malik and it was left to Mani Shankar Aiyar to make a speech on behalf of India as even senior government officials stayed away. Hurriyat leaders Syed Geelani,Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah were as usual conspicuous,sitting on a sofa in the front row.

Netting a self-goal

Of late,the government,particularly the PMO and the MEA,has taken to utilising the services of the internet in a big way to demonstrate that it believes in transparency. But glasnost obviously went too far recently when the MEA posted on the net a background briefing to journalists to explain why India voted in favour of the UN resolution against Sri Lanka when all our neighbours voted against the resolution. Journalists are routinely warned that they cannot quote directly the source of the background briefings or reveal the identity of the spokesperson but the MEA website happily put out the designation of the official who briefed the media and the exact contents of his talk. Shortly afterwards,there was an embarrassed message on the website to please ignore the earlier information which was hastily removed from the net.