Opinion Only yes men,no women

Diplomatic touch

When Meira Kumar was appointed Speaker of the Lok Sabha,some were sceptical of the choice,since her little girl voice,convent school accent and slow delivery were seen as handicaps in exerting authority. But the general consensus is that Kumar,in her first full parliament session,has acquitted herself very well,in comparison to her predecessor Somnath Chatterjee. Kumar’s cool demeanour helps lower the temperature and decibel levels of the more excitable MPs.

Two years back,in the Rajya Sabha,there were similar doubts as to whether a mild-mannered bureaucrat like Hamid Ansari,who had no previous political experience,would make an effective chairperson of the Upper House. But politeness and firmness,without any display of temper,have worked to his advantage. Incidentally,both speaker and chairperson are from the IFS cadre. Perhaps their training as diplomats has stood them in good stead.

Carrot and stick

Two of the four BJP rebels who wanted an immediate discussion on the party’s electoral setback,Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha,have not been invited to the Chintan Baithak in Shimla to discuss the BJP poll debacle. Shourie seems to have been dropped even from the party’s parliamentary core committee and Sinha appears to have lost out on chairpersonship of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs. A third rebel,Jaswant Singh,has been mollified somewhat by being made chairperson of the prestigious Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee. As for Murli Manohar Joshi,while he encouraged the other three to protest publicly,he himself never came out openly against the party high command. Much to the fury of the other rebels,he was asked to initiate the budget debate in the Lok Sabha.

Belated transfer

The Congress in Jharkhand was keener than the opposition for the removal of Sibte Rizvi as governor,since party persons were aware that he would be a major liability at election time. During President’s rule Rizvi personally took charge of all the key portfolios,including appointments and transfers,and delegated all responsibility to his OSD Avinash Kumar,an IAS officer. Last month,the CBI raided the OSD’s residence and discovered disproportionate assets in the form of numerous bank accounts,flats and real estate in Ranchi,Patna,Muzaffarpur and elsewhere.

Just ten days before the CBI raids,a reluctant Rizvi,an old Congress loyalist from Rae Bareli,was finally transferred to Assam as governor. Rizvi still has six months left of his term,but can he remain untouched by the embarrassing Jharkhand investigations?

Read my letter

The Gandhis generally prefer to keep their thoughts to themselves,so that their party members at times find it difficult to interpret their wishes. In Sonia Gandhi’s case,there is at least the party magazine,Congress Sandesh,which carries a monthly newsletter from the party president. But Rahul Gandhi remains an enigma. This may change with the Youth Congress re-launching the long defunct magazine,Young March,from August 20. Rahul is expected to write regularly for it.