Opinion Instructions down the toilet

Unlike China,which is clear on its position at the climate change conference in Copenhagen next month,India is still waffling. There is a sharp divide on whether to stick to the traditional position or adopt a more accommodating stance because of the pressure from the developed world. Both Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia are pushing for the latter approach.

The international community seems aware of the divide. At the climate change conference in Bangkok last month,the Indian delegation was taken aback when a senior American delegate,Jonathan Pershing,interjected during India’s presentation to say that perhaps the Indian speakers had not been briefed properly. He said he got a very different perspective on India’s position during his talks with the minister. An Indian delegate,Chandrashekhar Dasgupta,appealed to the conference chairperson to intervene. His point,which was accepted,was that a delegate was entitled to speak only on his own country’s position and not on behalf of another nation.

Not a housekeeper’s cabinet

Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar has sent out several circulars to ministries expressing concern over matters such as structural alterations in buildings without permission,erratically strung electricity and telephone wires and where to place fire extinguishers. Some of Chandrashekhar’s colleagues feel that such advisories should be left to housekeeping departments or the CPWD. The Cabinet Secretary’s circulars should be on more weighty mattes concerning policy issues.

St Antony’s approach

A K Antony’s appointment as deputy chairperson of the preparatory committee for the Congress’ 125th anniversary celebrations in December has upset some of his party colleagues who feel there are more leaders better qualified to hold that position. They carp that Antony gets rewarded repeatedly by Sonia Gandhi despite his non-performance. (Others term it a saintly approach). As an example,they cite the case of Maharashtra where Antony was in charge. The Congress received a raw deal in ministerial allocations in the Maharashtra cabinet because of Antony’s hands-off approach,they allege. Antony should have made it clear at the time of finalising the alliance with Sharad Pawar that key ministerial portfolios could not go to the NCP since the numbers were in the Congress’s favour. After the results were announced,the Congress had to concede to the NCP’s pressure.

Tactics in timing

After carefully building a case over the last few months that his term does not,in fact,end till next February—he only got formally sworn in after the shradh in February 2006—Rajnath Singh has abruptly reversed his position and wants to relinquish his job immediately. Now that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has had his way in installing fellow Nagpur Brahmin Nitin Gadkari as Singh’s replacement,he is willing to be gracious and allow L K Advani to chose his own time to bow out. AfterVenkiah Naidu called on Bhagwat in Nagpur to express unhappiness over his disparaging remark on the Delhi four—Arun Jaitley,Sushma Swaraj,Venkiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar—the RSS in an interview issued a retraction. The statement claimed that the media had got it wrong. Apparently,the interviewer injected his personal pique in the way he framed his questions,which confused the sarsanghchalak.

No bar on beer

There is a dispute between the Games Committee and the Delhi government over one important aspect of the proposed media centre for the Commonwealth Games: Should there be a bar for journalists? The Games Committee feels that to meet international standards,a bar is mandatory. The Delhi government sees it differently. It apprehends that some people would protest against liquor being served on government premises. As a compromise,it was decided that the only hard drink available to the scribes would be beer.