Opinion Divorce in offing

Too clever by half

A number of Congress persons rushed to their dictionaries to look up the meaning of “cameo” after Salman Khurshid,in an interview to The Indian Express,commented that Rahul Gandhi had thus far only offered cameos of his thoughts. They were relieved to find that “cameo’’ simply means a brief role and not a comic role as they had first assumed. Nevertheless,Khurshid is in the doghouse for speaking out of turn about a member of the party’s first family. Many in the Congress point out that it is always the ones who have the fanciest educational backgrounds and flaunt their superior knowledge of English,like Mani Shankar Aiyar,Kapil Sibal and Jairam Ramesh,who suffer from foot-in-the-mouth disease. Others in the party are,however,convinced that Khurshid’s was not an innocent remark but part of a plan to try and arrange things so that Rahul Gandhi takes a back seat and Priyanka Gandhi emerges as the main vote-getter for the party in the next general election.

Only pleasantries

Although Dinesh Trivedi was removed by Mamata Banerjee as railway minister and he has made it clear that he is not in agreement with many of Didi’s policies,Trivedi has still not burnt his bridges with Banerjee. Last week,the two met for a cosy chat in Writers’ Buildings,Kolkata,lunching on fried fish. They discussed a variety of subjects from the weather to the forthcoming Durga puja celebrations,but studiously avoided such ticklish issues as the forthcoming presidential election and the TMC’s economic policies.

Home-cooked fare

Foreign minister S M Krishna flew to Dushanbe recently on a two-day visit to Tajikistan. But the flat breads,salty cheeses and non-vegetarian fare,which are the staple diet of this central Asian republic,were not to the 80-year-old Kannadiga’s liking. His staff made special arrangements to supply the minister the kind of food he is accustomed to. A Mangalorean cook turned out rasams,sambar,coconut-stuffed vegetables and other delicacies from Karnataka for the journey to and from Dushanbe. Similarly on his trip to Myanmar,the minister was seen feasting on food from his state rather than sampling the local fare.

Praise from wrong quarters

At a recent conference in Delhi,Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was taken aback to find the Chief Minister of Gujarat,Narendra Modi,showering him with praises. Modi admired his name which is very similar to the BJP slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’,and called the minister a doer. Another BJP Chief Minister Raman Singh also appreciated the Rural Development Ministry’s performance in the Maoist-affected regions of his state. He said Ramesh’s work would serve as a model for an NDA government. Ramesh is not sure how he should take the praise from such unlikely quarters. He fears it could have a negative impact in his own party.

Trip aborted

The Director General,Sports Authority of India,Desh Deepak Verma,was all set to leave for London as a delegate to the Olympic Games. But before he could depart on his fortnight-long visit,he found the CCA had promoted him to Secretary,Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Verma lost his all expenses paid junket. Since he was expected to join his new post with immediate effect,although he wanted a three-month extension in his old job,the post of Parliamentary Affairs Secretary,with just one joint secretary under him and a non-AC official car,seems a bit of a climbdown for him.