Opinion Return gift still awaited

The PMO blames the PM’s lacklustre press conference on the uninspiring questions from the media. The PM’s media adviser,Harish Khare,believes,“The PM was not tested. We expected that he would be cross-examined more vigorously.”

But can the quality of questions be held responsible for the PM’s waffling responses? For example,on the issue of his ministers speaking out of turn,the PM had two views. On the one hand,he welcomed a dialogue between ministers,“since we are a democracy”. On the other,he observed that it is “not good that ministers air their differences in public. Views should be first aired in the Cabinet.”

Singh’s remark that “there is no question of retirement” till he had completed the job assigned to him was highlighted. But to another query,the PM responded differently. “I sometimes feel that young people should take over,” he said,adding that he would be very happy to make place for anybody the party chooses.

Club’s class

DELHI Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP JP Agarwal persuaded 50 MPs to sign a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar protesting over commercialisation of the Constitution Club facilities. Now Rs 15,000 for lifetime club membership and Rs 1,500 as monthly fee for a gym which offers state-of-the art equipment,qualified trainers,free imported fruit,tea and towels,is hardly excessive by the standards of the general public but to some MPs,accustomed to freebies,including subsidised meals at the Parliament canteen,it seems steep.

Actually,the club’s elected managing committee,consisting of Agarwal’s fellow parliamentarians,has been given high marks for sprucing up the once rather shabby premises,broadbasing its activities and stabilising finances. The protest letter may reflect Agarwal’s own personal peeve. Although he is chairperson of the Lok Sabha Housing Committee,he has no say in running the club since former speaker Somnath Chatterjee decreed that there should be an election among MPs for managing committee posts. Some signatories to the protest letter have subsequently backed down. BJP MP Pradeep Kumar claims his signature was taken under false pretences.

Working president

BJP President Nitin Gadkari was criticised for ducking his responsibilities by leaving for Spain on a holiday at the critical juncture when the BJP was still trying to form a government in Jharkhand.

Actually,Gadkari was not on a holiday but on a business trip. His sugar cooperative,the Purti Group,had fixed an appointment long back to visit a factory in Spain which uses sugarcane waste (baggas) for generating electricity. Gadkari’s cooperative wants to adopt the same technology. Although BJP leaders Ananth Kumar and Rajnath Singh were in charge of Jharkhand in his absence,Gadkari did not permit them to act on their own. Before the BJP president left,he gave specific instructions that if the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha continued shilly-shallying over support to a BJP CM beyond May 25,then the BJP was to withdraw support.

No communication gap

AT his press conference last week,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh disclosed that he meets the Congress president once a week to discuss all major issues. Sonia Gandhi normally calls on Singh at Race Course Road. This is in contrast to the protocol when P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister. Then,Gandhi declined to visit the PM’s official residence as it brought back unhappy memories. Instead,Rao visited 10 Janpath. Initially,Rao called on Sonia at her residence once every ten days,but gradually the meetings became less frequent and finally almost stopped. There were enough narad munis in the Congress to create a rift between the two power centres because of the lack of direct communication.