Warning Bells

Ahead of the Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh,the Congress is getting alarming signals from Union Minister and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh

Ahead of the Assembly election in Himachal Pradesh,the Congress is getting alarming signals from Union Minister and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He is said to have told his party colleagues that unless the party declares its Chief Ministerial candidate before the election,he will not campaign actively. The minister is also said to be upset by the way his son Vikramadityas election as state Youth Congress president was recently set aside for violation of code of conduct by FAME,the IYCs poll body.

Pawar cut

Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar was an unusual victim to Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs tight schedule. Pawar,who was slated to speak ahead of the PM as a special invitee to the India Water Week function organised by the Water Resources Ministry,found his session dropped at the last minute because Singh had to leave early. As a result,Water Resources Minister Pawan Bansal gave the welcome address,then the PM spoke for about 10 minutes,followed by the vote of thanks by MoS Vincent Pala. The function ended in a flat 40 minutes,leaving Pawar wondering why he came at all.

Army rules

A young lieutenant colonel of the Army had the CBI quite bemused on Tuesday as he insisted on handing over the sealed cover carrying Army Chief Gen V K Singhs complaint,in the Tatra bribery matter,only to Special Director V K Gupta. When he first came in,he was escorted to the dealing DIG but he politely insisted that his instructions were clear,so the DIG took him to his boss,the Joint Director. There again,the officer was clear that he has to hand over the packet in-person to the Special Director dealing with the case. This was eventually arranged and the officer went back satisfied as Gupta opened the packet and personally examined the contents.

Flight plans

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Tuesday evenings thunderstorm in Delhi had a freak impact on the administrative machinery in faraway West Bengal. Seeing the stormy weather and the subsequent downpour,West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,in Delhi to attend a meeting with the Planning Commission,advised all her ministers who had joined her in the Delhi trip this time for the crucial meeting not to board their flights back home on Tuesday evening as the weather was turbulent. Standing in the portico of Yojana Bhawan,Mamata instructed Finance Minister Amit Mitra,Planning Minister Manish Gupta,her Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim who also had a government function to attend in Bengal on Wednesday morning and others. While many ministers cancelled their flights,even though the weather was clearing out by late evening,many of the 25 secretaries and other senior officials,too had no choice but to follow suit.

Home stay

Ever heard of officials rejecting Lutyens Delhi bungalows because they are small? Well,this is apparently the unstated reason for which both Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and Home Secretary R K Singh have decided against shifting to their well-nursed appointment homes in Lutyens Delhi. Both of them needed more space one for family,the other for domestic pets. And,for this reason,they have both opted to continue staying in the newly constructed houses,meant for Ministers of State,in New Moti Bagh. They are apparently more spacious with more number of rooms and bigger lawns.