Opinion Star wars
The fact that Bollywoods big two,Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan,are on opposite ends of the Shiv Senas approval rating meter is not mere happenstance.....
The fact that Bollywoods big two,Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan,are on opposite ends of the Shiv Senas approval rating meter is not mere happenstance. While Shah Rukh questioned the decision to exclude Pakistani players from the IPL,Bachchan praised Balasaheb Thackeray. True,the Big Bs compliments for Thackeray on his blog were not on the recent controversy but as a thank you to the Sena leader for commending Bachchan for rejecting an honorary degree from Australias Queensland University. Still,Bachchans timing is significant.
Khan is close to the Congresss first family and has often played host to the younger Gandhis. Both Rahul and Priyanka even attended an IPL match in Kolkata where they rooted for his team,the Kolkata Knight Riders. On the other hand,the Bachchans longstanding rift with the Gandhis continues,as was clear from a recent TV interview with Jaya Bachchan where she took swipes at the Congress. Significantly,Congress MP Rajiv Shukla,who helped bring Khan and the Gandhis together,was the first to criticise Bachchan for agreeing to be the brand ambassador for Narendra Modis Gujarat. There is an interesting footnote to such ego tussles,where the enemys enemy automatically becomes a friend. Raj Thackeray,at daggers drawn with his cousin Uddhav,has come out strongly against Bachchan.
Ignoring gender angle
The government has ignored the opportunity to appoint Indias first woman cabinet secretary. Sudha Pillai,Secretary Planning Commission,is a logical claimant for the post as the senior most in the 1972 batch. But since Pillai retires on May 31 and the Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar retires only on June 10,she will miss the chance. The government,if it so desired,could get around this minor hitch. But the PMO has other plans in mind. Most likely Chandrasekhar will be given a six-month extension on the pretext of the Commonwealth Games.
Uncommon expenditure
The seizure by the customs of a Rs 15-lakh ring meant for a senior Commonwealth Games official close to Suresh Kalmadi has heightened misgivings over inadequate supervision of a budget of some Rs 1,600 crore meant for conducting the Games. Last year,the PMO had deputed four senior officers,Jiji Thompson,Sudhir Mittal,Sanjiv Mittal and Jarnail Singh,to help monitor expenditure. Despite the PMOs intervention,Kalmadi continues to entrust key financial decisions only to two long-term members of his team,M. Jaichandran and N.P. Singh. Both officers retired last month,but have been granted extensions and retain the two key portfolios.
Countering the Rahul factor
The RSS advised BJP-ruled state governments not to tolerate the activities of lunatic fringe saffron outfits like the Sri Rama Sene on Valentines Day. It wants to make sure that the BJP does not appear out of sync with todays urban youth,a constituency which the party lost to the Congress in the parliamentary elections. It was RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat himself who set the agenda for the BJP to position itself against the Senas parochial politics. More significantly,the BJP has also opposed its ally over the boycott of the film,My Name is Khan,an issue for which in earlier times the BJP might have tacitly supported the Sena. Mumbai fashion designer and BJP spokesperson,Shaina NC,was permitted to hold two private screenings of the movie for the citys glitterati.
Jobs for the boys
Telangana proponents are fuming over the composition of the Srikrishna Committee to look into the demands for a Telangana state. Apart from the chairperson,the other members lack a southern sensibility,they complain. They mean that all five members are from North India. Former home secretary Vinod Duggal pipped another former home secretary Madhukhar Gupta to the post of member secretary,even though Duggal is already on the Centre State Relations Commission and the National Disaster Commission. Earlier,Gupta also lost out on becoming the governor of Tripura.
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