Opinion Guarding their positions

For propriety’s sake President Pratibha Patil has kept away from Maharashtra since her son Rajendra Shekhawat is a Congress candidate from the Amravati assembly constituency. Nevertheless,her name has cropped up in the campaign. A local Congress leader Bhau Saheb Dhera claimed in a campaign speech that the President was responsible for getting two additional trains to halt at Amravati and reviving the defunct Finlay Mills. Shekhawat,more discreet,does not mention his mother’s name but he does take credit for these two achievements without explaining why.

Home truths

National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Home Minister P Chidambaram barely exchange a word at the Home Minister’s morning meeting at which intelligence heads give their daily briefing. Another indication of a somewhat cold relationship is the fact that the NSA is at pains to make clear that policies on terrorism and fighting Naxalism have been framed not by the Home Ministry alone but by the Government of India.

Kamaraj to Azhagiri

When actor-turned-politician Vijaykant was asked whether his lack of fluency in both English and Hindu was a handicap,a DMDK follower was quick to cite the example of the late Kamaraj. But that was long ago,a journalist pointed out. Vijaykant retorted sarcastically,“I don’t think times have changed so much,now is the time of Azhagiri.” He was referring to the Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers,who has asked for a Tamil translator in Parliament and wants a joint secretary who knows his mother tongue. Vijaykant,however,makes it clear that he knows a little Hindi—“Thoda thoda Hindi maloom.”

Enemies within

The fact that both Narayan Rane and Vilasrao Deshmukh,long-time rivals,have buried the hatchet does not necessarily augur well for the Congress in Maharashtra. Their common goal is to cut Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to size. Chavan has ignored both Deshmukh and Rane in the party’s campaign and the two men are suspected to have backed several rebels against official Congress candidates. The NCP’s Sharad Pawar is,of course,an old hand at this tactic and is seething over his humiliation at the hands of the Congress high command. The Maharashtra polls could throw up a hung assembly,with independents winning some 15 to 20 seats. Politicians are already speculating on who could be potential allies in the post-poll scenario.

Caste aside

Murli Manohar Joshi’s aspiration to step into L K Advani’s shoes as Leader of the Opposition may turn out to be a pipe dream. For one,Advani shows no sign of bowing out of office. For another,Joshi’s caste stands in his way. Both the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha,Arun Jaitley,and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj,are Brahmins. For the same reason,Nitin Gadkari,Manohar Parrikar and Bal Apte,the three names most often mentioned as possible replacements for party president Rajnath Singh,could be handicapped by their caste. All three are Brahmins. Apte and Gadkari are in fact both Maharashtrian Brahmins,the same close knit community to which RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and his deputy Bhaiya Joshi belong. Of course,some do see this as an advantage.

Boiling pot

The floods in Andhra Pradesh have put Jaganmohan Reddy’s battle for leadership of the state Congress temporarily on hold. All ministers,including those from the Jagan faction,attended Chief Minister K Rosaiah’s Cabinet meeting last week. The Congress has indefinitely postponed a meeting of the legislative party to prevent the rebellion erupting into the open. But it cannot keep a lid over the boiling pot forever. The party high command wants YSR’s widow to contest from his constituency in a by-election. It knows that if Jagan,presently an MP,insists on standing,the tempo for the showdown will step up.