Opinion No pending dues

The note,however,does not clarify whether the bungalow was formally handed back to the CPWD and why there was a board outside proclaiming that the bungalow is a memorial to Jagjivan Ram.

Coomi Kapoor

May 27, 2012 03:25 AM IST First published on: May 27, 2012 at 03:25 AM IST

No pending dues

A long standing charge against Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is that she owed the Urban Development ministry Rs 2 crore towards rent arrears for 6 Krishna Menon Marg where her father Babu Jagjivan Ram lived. Recently,the ministry went out of its way to clarify that the Speaker does not owe it any money. When the media reports suggested that the amount pending against Kumar was waived,a second press release offered a lengthy explanation,stating that the dues were wrongly calculated. After Babujis death,his widow Indrani Devi was given permission to continue living in the house. She died in November 2002. Kumar says she moved out then and instructed the CPWD and NDMC to disconnect the water and electricity supply. The note,however,does not clarify whether the bungalow was formally handed back to the CPWD and why there was a board outside proclaiming that the bungalow is a memorial to Jagjivan Ram. To date there is no official sanction to convert the house into a memorial. While one black mark against Kumar is sought to be scrubbed clean,another has surfaced. An RTI query has elicited the response that Kumar made as many as 29 trips abroad in 35 months since she took over as Lok Sabha Speaker. The RTI query,coming so close to the presidential elections,suggests rival claimants for the presidents job might be at work. Some,however,view Kumars ability to conduct herself gracefully on her many travels abroad as a qualification for the presidents post and not

a disqualification.

Missing sentiment

It is generally assumed that if a presidential candidate is from a particular state then all parties in the state automatically support the candidate. Even the Shiv Sena broke ranks with the NDA to back Pratibha Patil because she was from Maharashtra. But in the forthcoming presidential election,the son-of-the-soil sentiment does not seem to be working. Mamata Banerjee,when asked about Mukherjees candidature,sniffed,Is he the son of Bengal? He may be the son of the world. Similarly,Lalu Yadav says just because Meira Kumar is from Bihar does not mean he would automatically support her. Nor has Mulayam Singh Yadav supported Hamid Ansari,though he hails from his home state. On the contrary,Singh has talked of the need to have a politician as president and not a bureaucrat,an indirect rejection of Ansari.

Cricket rivalries

Cricket evokes such strong passions that enmities crop up even among those on the same side politically. For instance,there is no love lost between junior ministers Ajay Maken and Rajiv Shukla,who is chairperson of the IPL. Maken has often criticised the BCCI and IPL for allegedly violating foreign exchange rules and even suggested that Shukla should step down. Makens detractors feel his hostility is directed at the BCCI and IPL because they do not give him due deference. BJP MP Kirti Azad,meanwhile,sporadically takes a dig at the Delhi and District Cricket Association of which Arun Jaitley is president.

Cold shoulder

While the speeches were on at the UPA anniversary party,Rahul Gandhi sat in a back row looking glum. Later when journalists tried to question him on UP elections,he snapped,I am here to eat dinner,not to answer questions. It was noticeable earlier this month that when Rahul Gandhi made an appearance in Parliaments central hall,the usual buzz of excitement that surrounds him was missing. While normally he is mobbed,this time he only had half-a-dozen young MPs in attendance. This may be partly because of his falling stock but it was more because the journalists who had crowded around him in central hall in an earlier parliamentary session were given the cold shoulder.

Unnoticed absentee

The BJP central leadership had to deal with Gujarat CM Narendra Modis demand to oust Sanjay Joshi and BS Yeddyurappas threat to keep away from the partys national executive in Mumbai. However,another cause for concern which went unaddressed is Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumals decision to not attend the executive,ostensibly because of ongoing state civic elections. Dhumal is unhappy because of pressure on him to mend fences with the party veteran Shanta Kumar. Kumar wants the BJP Pradesh chief changed and several chairpersons of corporations and local bodies removed.

Ordeal not over

A Raja may have finally got bail in the 2G scam but that does not mean he is out of the woods. He has to make regular appearances in the Patiala House court while the case is on and cannot go home to Tamil Nadu. Another accused,Kanimozhi has gamely learnt to juggle her parliamentary duties with daily court appearances. She can fly to Chennai to visit her son only over the weekend.