Deshmukhs heart is still where his home is Former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,who had to quit after 26/11 and was rehabilitated as a Union minister,is apparently uncomfortable in Delhi. At the Global Maharashtra Trade Fair in Aurangabad last week,Deshmukh seemed homesick and indicated that his heart is still in Mumbai. He said Delhi does not have anything of its own; it is influenced by the politics of other states. Mumbai,he said,has its own charm,climate and political atmosphere. Chances of a return dont look bright though,with a recent stricture and fine by the Supreme Court on the state government for his intervention in preventing action against a moneylender. Moreover,Deshmukhs detractors,who believe that he had played a role in exposing the Adarsh Society scam that forced Chavan to quit,would not want him back in the state. Onion price equation not as simple as it seems Exports have been restricted,onion traders have been raided,and the rise in the vegetables prices marginally arrested. The fact is,however,that onions grown in monsoon season could not have been hoarded anyway: they are highly perishable and not of export quality. The marginal dip in prices is because a cut in profit margins has put pressure on the chain of traders. Onions are not included in the list of essential commodities. So when summer onions,which can be stored for over six months,are harvested,they are exported and hoarded by traders. Most farmers have no storage facilities and sell the produce in bulk cheap in summer to meet expenses such as weddings. Till November-December traders make profits by controlling the supply of the depleting stock of summer onions. Failure of the monsoon crop,which cannot be stored,leads to spiralling prices till the late kharif arrives in January-February. Raids on traders in the state have not unearthed hoarded onions. Nephew shadow on Pawar-Thackeray friendship Sharad Pawar and Bal Thackeray are old friends with their relationship having survived political affiliations and difficult times. Now,both the NCP and the Shiv Sena are witnessing the rise of the nephews,Ajit Pawar and Raj Thackeray respectively. The difference is that while Raj has broken away from the Sena to form the MNS,Ajit is with the NCP. But the manner in which NCP MLAs insisted on Ajit becoming the Deputy Chief Minister (after the removal of Ashok Chavan) indicates that it was a minor coup,keeping Pawar Sr in the dark. The latest update is that with Kiran Pawaskar (Sena trade union leader) joining the NCP,Ajit has started winning over Sena men. The buzz is that knowingly,or unknowingly,Ajit might jeopardise the Pawar Sr-Thackeray Sr friendship. Call to demonstrate falls flat on Cong workers When Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi of being deputed by the Vatican to destroy Hindu culture,and the Marathi literary conferences souvenir in Thane called Nathuram Godse a patriot who respected Mahatma Gandhi,Chief Minster Prithviraj Chavan and Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre asked Congress workers to react on the streets. The message was that they had to exhibit their wrath like Sena and MNS workers. It was also a ploy by Chavan and Thakre to exhibit their loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi family. However,Congress workers did not bother to react,probably because they were comfortable about their party having been in power longer than any other party. Rakshit Sonawane
