Ceaser’s wife

Chief Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal portrayed as a champion against corruption has failed to respond to specific allegations made against him by BJP MP from Bihar, Jagdambir Prasad Yadav. In May, Yadav sent a letter to the prime minister alleging that Vittal, a Gujarat cadre officer, had rented his house in Gandhinagar to the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation and the PSU had spent Rs eight lakhs on renovations. He also alleged that as chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board, Vittal drew more than his entitlement as travel allowance. The government was only too happy to forward the allegations to Vittal for his comments. After all the CVC and the government do not see eye to eye on many issues.

For a start the government has ignored Vittal’s point of view in framing the CVC bill, to be passed by Parliament shortly, regarding the employment terms of the CVC. In a retrograde step the bill calls for government approval before the CBI can investigate a government officer of the rank of joint secretary or above.

Taming the tiger

Senapati Bal Thackeray has good reason to hold Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pramod Mahajan, primarily responsible for the deteriorating relations between the BJP and Shiv Sena. Last month, the Shiv Sena had hoped to topple the Vilasrao Deshmukh government in Maharashtra with the help of defectors from Sharad Pawar’s NCP. But Mahajan stymied the game plan. Mahajan did not want his brother-in-law Gopinath Munde to play second fiddle yet again to a Sena chief minister.

The bad blood between the two parties over the aborted attempt to form the state government was reflected in Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Nirupam’s attack on the PMO over UTI in Parliament. Interestingly, when George Fernandes flew to Mumbai to soothe Thackeray’s ruffled feathers, Mahajan was at pains to explain to the media in Delhi that Fernandes’ peace mission had not been authorised by the PM. Mahajan ensured that the prime minister did not meet Nirupam and proclaimed loudly that Nirupam’s statement of regret was not good enough. Incidentally, Nirupam, a Bihari settled in Mumbai, has been able to break into a parochial party like the SS by developing a close rapport with Thackeray.

Dynasty watch

It is still a matter of debate which of the three main political parties, the SP, the BSP and the BJP will win the maximum seats when assembly elections are held in Uttar Pradesh. But almost everyone has relegated the moribund Congress in the state to fourth place. But the Congress plans to use two powerful weapons to change the electoral odds; Priyanka Gandhi and her infant son Rehan. The fifth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty was to have been introduced to Amethi earlier this week by his mother, but the debut was postponed after the child fell ill.

Banking on past

As banking secretary Devi Dayal enjoyed enormous clout since he misused his position to influence nationalised banks on the sanctioning and withdrawal of individual loans. Predictably, some of his influence has evaporated with his retirement. But he is hopeful that he has enough IOUs left to ensure a suitable post retirement sinecure. First, Devi Dayal hoped he would be made deputy governor of the RBI, but the governor, Bimal Jalan, nixed the move. Then he set his sights on UPSC membership. Now news has leaked that he may become chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Although the selection committee has not included his name in it’s final list, the powers that be in government are working hard to facilitate a backdoor entry to the CERC.

General ambushed

The Rajya Sabha Vice Chairman Najma Heptullah was one of the few who got the better of General Pervez Musharraf during the recent summit. Heptullah is president of the Inter Parliamentary Union and by a strange coincidence on the very day she took over her new assignment last year, Musharraf pulled off a coup in Pakistan. Pakistan was automatically expelled from the IPU since only democracies are permitted membership. Heptullah when introduced to Musharraf by Prime Minister Vajpayee at a lunch in his honour, could not resist pointing out that his expulsion and her elevation took place on the same day. She added that she hoped that before her tenure ended in 2002 she would have the privilege of readmitting Pakistan to the international body, which has over 140 member countries. Musharraf was taken aback and explained rather sheepishly that Pakistan had its constraints.

Anglo-Indian quota

Anti-reservationists apprehend that once a quota is introduced it continues indefinitely. In fact the special job reservations in the customs, railways and the posts and telegraphs departments provided for the Anglo-Indian community ended 40 years back. Last week, the nominated representative of the Anglo-Indian community in Parliament, Denzil B Atkinson, filed a petition before the Constitutional Review Committee requesting that the lapsed reservations should be reintroduced along with the education grants for Anglo-Indians, which have also been discontinued. Atkinson points out the number of reservations required are minimal since the size of the community has dwindled, particularly with a large number migrating to Australia.

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