Opinion Uncertified death

Desultory conversation

Sitting at Sonia Gandhi’s table was even more prestigious than being placed at the Prime Minister’s table at the UPA II’s second anniversary dinner,but the conversation was less than scintillating. Except for everyone enthusiastically congratulating Tarun Gogoi for his victory in Assam,politics was generally avoided. The DMK’s sole representative T R Baalu was singled out for special favour by being seated next to the Congress president,but the two hardly exchanged a word and Baalu excused himself and left before the dessert was served. Apart from Baalu,other guests like A K Antony and Lalu Yadav were also quiet. It was left to Farooq Abdullah,Pranab Mukherjee and Praful Patel to keep the conversation going. Food was considered a safe topic of conversation. Mukherjee praised the litchis of Mushirabad,Lalu extolled his favourite sattu and Patel jowar rotis.

Cancellation not option

The CAG has criticised Air India’s order of Rs 40,000 crore for Boeing aircraft and questioned whether such a large number of planes was required by the bankrupt airline. If Air India chooses to,it is still in a position to cancel Rs 16,000 crore worth of the order since thirty of the bigger size planes,787 Boeing dream liners,have yet to be delivered. Air India has a legally strong case to renege on the contract since the delivery of the planes is three years behind schedule. However,the airline has shown no inclination to do so.

Heaping coals of fire

Earlier this month,Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal cancelled over a dozen contracts for coal blocks in Jharkhand,including a contract for two blocks to be mined by the Jharkhand State Electricity Board. The issue threatens to blow up into a major scandal with Jaiswal trying to allocate the two blocks to a private company. Chief Minister Arjun Munda has shot off an angry letter to the central government. All the political parties in the state are united in condemning the minister’s action in favouring a private company over a public sector undertaking and threaten that not a single truck of coal will be permitted to be transported out of the state.

Business model

Whether or not the Congress-DMK alliance holds,it seems that Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran’s days in the DMK are definitely numbered. The DMK is furious with the publication of WikiLeaks in which Maran spoke blasphemously about both the party and the leader while talking to a US diplomat. ( A jittery Maran has sent a legal notice to the newspaper that published his alleged remarks without first checking their veracity with him.) Maran who has visited Kanimozhi in jail is anxious to demonstrate that he remains a loyal member of the clan,but Karunanidhi’s nuclear family’s resentment of the Marans is longstanding. The Karunanidhi family feels the Marans are more interested in business than politics and have made use of the DMK only to further their vast business interests.

Even Maran’s proximity to the Congress is viewed suspiciously by the Karunanidhi family. Once when Maran escorted MK Stalin to meet Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath,Stalin commented sarcastically that he seemed to be too familiar with Sonia’s house and was clearly a regular visitor. The grapevine in Tamil Nadu is that the Maran brothers even opened a communication channel to Jayalalithaa before the election result,working on the principle that business comes before politics.

Jaya ho

J Jayalalithaa who has returned as chief minister after five years looks a trimmer version of her old self. The trademark matching capes which she wore with her saris have disappeared. Rumour had it that the capes were to hide Jayalalithaa’s bullet proof jacket. Incidentally,Jayalalithaa who had vowed not to wear jewellery until she was voted back as chief minister,was seen sporting earrings at her oath taking ceremony.