They may live in Delhi, but the Gandhi family’s loyalty is to the Kolkata Knight Riders and not the Delhi Daredevils, because of its friendship with the team owner, Shah Rukh Khan. During the IPL Rahul, Priyanka, Robert Vadra and their children were at the Kolkata stadium cheering the Knight Riders. In fact at the recent Rajiv Gandhi Rural Cricket Tournament in Amethi, little Rehan Vadra was seen sporting a Knight Riders T-shirt. Rahul, who organised the cricket tournament in his constituency, was as a young boy more fond of football. But he has now become an enthusiastic follower of the national sport. One politician who dares to profess openly his disinterest in cricket is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He prefers hockey, a game he played as a young boy. Once, when Singh commented on his indifference to cricket, BCCI vice-president and Congress MP Rajiv Shukla remarked as an aside: “That may be the reason I have not been made a minister.”

Brahmin rule continues

Minister of State for Surface Transport K.H. Muniyappa rushed back to Delhi from Bangalore on the very day of the counting for the assembly polls. His trip was to canvass support for the post of president of the Harijan Sewa Samiti, held earlier by the late Nirmala Deshpande. It is a coveted position since the head of the venerable organisation founded by Mahatma Gandhi gets several perks, including a house in Delhi. Muniyappa, a Dalit, nevertheless lost out to S.K. Malaviya, a Brahmin. Sonia Gandhi instructed all members of the board, including Muniyappa, to vote for Malaviya.

... contd.