C for Congress,D for Dynasty

Dangers of ticket distribution

TICKET distribution may lend the leader at the helm a distinct aura of importance,but the job comes with its share of hazards. Ask Maharashtra Congress president Manikrao Thakre. An hour after the party released its list of candidates for the state Assembly polls on Wednesday evening,a disappointed woman aspirant from Nagpur accosted Thakre at the AICC headquarters,grabbing him by the collar. It was with some difficulty that Thakre was able to shake her off and disappear. As the news about the incident spread,party old-timers expressed surprise at Thakre’s “naivety”. According to them,experienced leaders know a basic thumb-rule: get out of sight before a list of candidates is made public!

Nitish heartburn is BJP relief

PARTNER BJP is learnt to be silently rejoicing at the electoral setback suffered by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the recent bypolls. Nitish had left many feathers ruffled in the BJP with his growing “arrogance” and,what the party saw as,attempts to undermine its importance. “Nitish Kumar was under the impression that he alone can win elections. The bypolls have proved otherwise,” a BJP leader was heard chuckling. The party hopes that this means Nitish will think twice before doing a Naveen Patnaik on it — like dumping the BJP before the Bihar Assembly elections in 2010.

Abani may have a plan B

IF THE RSP decides to take action against him for “flirting with corporates”,Abani Roy has an alternative now. He can join the RSP(B),a breakaway faction of the party that has a small base in Kerala. For Roy has a wellwisher in Shibu Baby John,the leader of the RSP(B). Shibu had a meeting with Roy this week during which the Rajya Sabha MP shared his woes with him. While Roy and Shibu,son of RSP veteran Baby John,were all smiles after the meeting,those in the know say they discussed the issue of bringing together all disgruntled RSP leaders on a common platform. The only hitch is that the RSP(B) is part of the Congress-led coalition in Kerala and Roy has been a Congress-baiter for long. Those close to Shibu say he feels that he is not a big enough leader to become a rallying point for all unhappy RSP leaders,but Roy could accomplish that. Also on Shibu’s radar is Joachim Baxla,a former RSP MP who quit the party earlier this year on being denied a Lok Sabha ticket.

Tharoor’s taste set in stone

CURRENTLY on slippery ground,austerity wise,Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor is quite sure of where he stands on tiles. According to sources,he had requested the CPWD that is “restoring” his allocated government bungalow in Lodhi Estate to do up his drawing,dining and foyer area in expensive stone flooring,which he found quite tasteful. The CPWD,however,claims to have gone strictly by the book and informed him that this particular stone flooring was not permissible under its rules. But if Tharoor will have to put up with a drabber floor under his feet when he does move into his bungalow,he can take heart from the fact that the building itself will be quite impressive. Red sandstone will mark the bungalow periphery.

Sibal’s Mission USA

VISITING the US next month,HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is making an extra effort to ensure that his trip is successful. Keen to forge some kind of tie-up with Ivy League institutes like Harvard,MIT or Stanford University for Indian varsities and the proposed new Innovation Universities,Sibal met US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer this week. However,it is learnt that the minister’s passion on the issue is not shared by the Americans. Not one to be deterred though,Sibal is not only touching base with his friends at Harvard,where he has studied,but also sending off a high-powered delegation to the US this week to garner the support of the NRI/PIO academic community across prominent US varsities.

A SAARC meet in works

EVEN as India and Pakistan remain caught up in terror diplomacy,the stage seems set for at least cabinet secretaries of all SAARC nations,including Pakistan,to hold their first meeting here in November. This has been in the works for a long time but was often held hostage to politics. So now the first condition that has been laid is that the cabinet secretaries will not discuss diplomacy or politics but look at ways to strengthen administration in their respective countries,besides sharing ideas. For now,as India makes preparations for the important event,all countries are on board.

Fight of the fighters

WITH trials for the Indian Air Force’s $10 billion tender to acquire fighter aircraft finally on,the sparring between the six competitors vying for the largest open global tender in the world is out in the open. As trials of three of the six fighters were being held the last few weeks,there were a flurry of comments and snide remarks by the competing companies against each other. At one point,a certain global aerospace giant openly accused its (much smaller) European competitor of “lying”. Upset with the global attention over the public spat,the IAF issued a strict diktat that companies in the competition should refrain from making any comments while the trials were on. In fact,the IAF is said to have seriously reprimanded one of the companies for sharing details on the ongoing trials.

Defence Expo may lose sting

THE Defence Ministry is finalising the details for the forthcoming Defence Expo 2010,which has traditionally been a high-profile event with scores of top global defence companies participating. However,fears that the venue of the event may change have put a spanner in the works. While the event is always held at Pragati Maidan,this year there is apprehension that the venue may not be available,partly due to other bookings and security issues regarding the Commonwealth Games. The Ministry is worried that if the event is moved out — one of the locations proposed is the Hindon airbase — some companies might see it as not worth their while to participate.

Towards ‘just’,‘fair’ hearing

THE Supreme Court seems to have decided to emulate all ministries and government departments in preparation of Annual Performance Appraisal Reports of its employees. It has decided to convey to court servants the adverse entries and remarks which may render them ineligible for consideration for promotion. It took repeated memoranda from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for the apex court reportedly to finally send a circular to all the courts servants recently,informing them that such entries would now onwards be communicated to them “to enable them to make a representation in that regard”.

Kicked around in Rajasthan

WHEN Home Minister P Chidambaram recently advised police officers to speak out against being kicked like a football from one post to another,his words must have hit home in Rajasthan. In the past 10 months since the party took over the reins of power in the state,the government has issued 27 orders transferring or posting IPS officers,36 regarding IAS officers,and 69 concerning RAS officers. Some IPS officers have been transferred four to seven times in one year. Out of the total 159 IPS officers in the state,121 have figured on 27 lists of transfers and postings. Incidentally,the Cabinet Secretary had earlier written to all the states asking them to have a fixed tenure of at least two years for IAS and IPS officers. Only 13 states responded positively.

The Friedman fan in Advani

AS THE party undergoes an existential crisis,a group of BJP leaders was surprised when it sought to discuss the issue of climate change with senior leader L K Advani recently. Advani showed them a passage from Thomas L Friedman’s latest work Hot,Flat and Crowded,where former White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer is quoted as saying: “(Former) President (George W Bush) believes that it’s (the amount of energy Americans consume per capita) an American way of life,and that should be the goal of policy makers,to protect the American way of life. ‘The American way of life is a blessed one’.” “Yeh unka ravaiyya hai,aur hamein kehte hain energy consumption kum karein (This is their attitude,and they tell us to reduce energy consumption!),” Advani told the BJP leaders. Advani is said to keenly follow the works of The New York Times columnist,whom he has met once.

A BJP Eid Milan

ONE has lost count of the number of factions in the BJP,but Shahnawaz Hussain managed to achieve the near-impossible last week. The BJP’s Muslim face organised an Eid Milan at his residence,where the entire party brass showed up. L K Advani,with daughter Pratibha in tow,was the first to come,while Rajnath Singh came late in the evening. Arun Jaitley,Ravi Shankar Prasad,Rajiv Pratap Rudy also came. But Murli Manohar Joshi was the surprise package of the day — he stayed over for over an hour,applied ittar (perfume) to guests,and also made observations on skull caps that some BJP enthusiasts had sported for the occasion.

Lalu in no mood to chicken out

THE Lok Sabha debacle in Bihar had caused RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to give up his vow of remaining a vegetarian all his life,and he had gone back to enjoying his chicken. Following the good showing by his party in the just concluded bypolls,Lalu’s confidants had thought the old,“deeply religious” RJD chief may make a reappearance. However,that was not to be. Having stomached a lot since his general election rout,Lalu seems to have decided to not let elections decide his menu,and had fish and chicken even during the holy Navratra period. For Dussehra on Monday,Lalu had a piece of advice for his men: sacrifice goats.