NPAs

The BJP may go on a Vastu overdrive, constantly shifting its gates at party headquarters, but can its Vastu experts do something to bring officebearers back to office? The rooms of general secretaries are unlocked, cleaned and dusted every morning without fail six days a week but their allottees rarely show up. No one can recall if Ananth Kumar or Om Prakash Mathur were ever seen occupying their chairs. Vinay Katiyar and Thavar Chand are a shade better, coming to their offices at least once a while. Sanjay Joshi and Arun Jaitley are in a different category altogether. Joshi is a resident of the building so at least he’s spotted in the compound, Jaitley operates from an adjacent house allotted to him as an MP.

Political tourism

The Uttaranchal Tourism Board must be delirious about the political tourism the state is attracting—there has been a series of party conferences in its salubrious environs. First it was the BJP national executive on September 8-10, followed by the NCP national convention on September 16-17. Next week it will be the two-day Congress Chief Ministers Conclave. An NCP delegate who came all the way from Nashik was elated about the choice of venue—he discovered that Hardwar was close to Dehradun and said he would stay an extra 10 days before returning. Political parties are, however, calculating the gains of publicity for the forthcoming assembly election. Wonder if all this will thaw the chill of the Himalayan foothills?

Back, for a while

... contd.