VVIP security

The elderly European woman dressed in a long black coat with a walking stick in her hand was given VVIP treatment when she came to Kamani auditorium last Sunday to see the English version of Pino DiBuduo's Italian play Fellini's Dream. The Italian drama was part of Bharat Rang Mahotsav, an annual theatre festival in New Delhi of the National School of Drama. The special guest, who was escorted by Amal Allana, chairperson of the National School of Drama, was none other than Paola Maino, Sonia Gandhi's octogenarian mother. Maino, who came along with a female relative, was accompanied by security personnel armed with walkie-talkies. The two women took the front row seats while the commandos were seated behind her in the second row.

Heritage tour

President Abdul Kalam began the practice of allowing visitors a peep at the interiors of Rashtrapati Bhavan, but under President Pranab Mukherjee, the Rashtrapati Bhavan tour has become far more professional and imaginative. Omita Paul, Secretary to the President, has ordered that the many pieces of furniture which were stored haphazardly in various nooks and crannies should be refurbished and placed in appropriate spaces. Cupboards lying randomly in corridors are being gradually removed and rolled up carpets are being spread out. Visitors now get to see the Darbar Hall in all its glory with the furniture and floral arrangements and not just an empty shell. The long drawing room, the north drawing room and the renovated library have also been opened to the public for the first time. A guidebook on the main rooms in the president's residence is being prepared. A maximum of 700 visitors are permitted daily on weekends with most of the tourists booking their passes through the internet.

Wooing Vasan

The rumblings in the DMK may have an impact on the Tamil Nadu Congress. Some of emissaries of Chief Minister

J Jayalalithaa, such as Cho Ramaswamy, have called on Congress leader G K Vasan. They are trying to sell the line that Vasan, G K Moopanar's son, will lose out if he stays on in the Congress since he gets little credit for the fact that the overwhelming majority of the cadres are with him. They claim that the DMK, weakened by factionalism, is unlikely to allot the Congress more than five seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections compared to the nine that was the Congress's share in 2009. Jayalalithaa's friends assure Vasan that if he were to form a regional party, the AIADMK would reserve 10 parliamentary seats for his party in the coming general election.

No presents, please

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma celebrated his 60th birthday on June 6 and he put up a notice outside his bungalow declaring that no gifts were to be presented on the occasion. Instead, Sharma distributed thousands of blankets, not just in homeless shelters in Delhi but all over the country.

Potential allies

At a function to mark the first phase of the Ganga Samagra Abhiyan, Nitin Gadkari, L K Advani and Uma Bharti were on the same stage. Gadkari was fulsome in his praise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his river water irrigation projects. He also congratulated Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his impressive performance on the agricultural front. However, Gadkari was less effusive towards Advani, who was sitting by his side, merely describing him as one of the party's tall leaders. Political pundits see this as an indication that while Gadkari is anxious to woo Modi and other party chief ministers, he is conscious that Advani is implacably opposed to his getting a second term as president. Uma Bharti, who is in charge of the Ganga project, compensated by showering praises on Advani's daughter Pratibha. Indresh Kumar, the RSS pracharak being linked with the Hindu terror conspiracy, was sitting in the front row. A year ago, Indresh had gone underground and the RSS was extremely apprehensive that it would be tarnished because of Indresh's alleged involvement. But these fears seem to have receded, judging by Indresh's public appearances.

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