| Sentimental
Minister Delhi:
For the stern Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, the
unnerving part of his journey from Rabat to Delhi was having the Minister of State for
External Affairs Vasundhara Raje Scindia seated beside him. The glamorous maharani of
Dholpur spent much of the journey watching films and shedding profuse tears over the mushy
plot. It disoriented Mishra no end and he declared her crazy. But Air-India's male cabin
crew was more understanding. They presented the blushing minister a collective Valentine's
Day gift. Who says the BJP is fuddy-duddy?
Winner Takes All
Bangalore: The
adulation over leg-spinner Anil Kumble, the 10-wicket hero from Bangalore, has not
stopped. While the Karnataka State Cricket Association and a car dealer jointly gifted him
a Maruti Esteem VX -- registration number 10, of course -- the JD-controlled Bangalore
city corporation changed the name of the MacIver Junction on the busy Mahatma Gandhi
Road-St Mark's Road to Anil Kumble Junction. The state Government for its part awarded him
a housing site. Not to be left behind, Davanagere MP S. Shivashankarappa of the Congress
gave the cricket star a Rs 1 lakh cheque. Last heard, the state BJP was still working out
a strategy to beat the two parties.
Gandhi March
Jaipur: Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot may not belong to the Gandhian generation but he does respect
the Mahatma's values. So the first thing he did after taking over was to pay homage at the
forgotten statue of Mahatma near the Jaipur railway station. And during his first audience
with journalists thereafter, Gehlot, a teetotaller himself, made it known that he did not
favour drinking -- as a result all bars in the state will have to close down. The chief
minister's love for Gandhi does not end there. He has now asked for the installation of a
Gandhi statue in the secretariat. One wonders why nobody ever thought of it before. That
too when the high court next door has a statue of Manu on its premises and the crossing
adjacent to it flaunts B.R. Ambedkar's.
Proxy Battles
Chandigarh:
Punjab Congress leaders have been watching the ongoing Akali soap opera with glee. But
their elation gave way to panic when state Congress chief Amarinder Singh got wind of the
"dethrone Badal" plan being hatched by beleaguered SGPC President G.S. Tohra
with the tacit support of the CPI(M)'s H.S. Surjeet and some Congress leaders in Delhi.
Soon Amarinder and his supporters were at Sonia Gandhi's doors to apprise the party chief
of the "ominous plot". Given the Congress' past brinkmanship in Punjab, their
stance was understandable. Besides, Amarinder stands to gain if Tohra is decimated
politically. After all, he is the only potential challenger on Amarinder's home turf,
Patiala.
'Son' et Lumiere
Calcutta: Having
lost the anti-CPI(M) space to Mamata Banerjee, the West Bengal Congress is now relying on
gizmos to attract crowds. One such planned for its rally this week is a replica of an
aircraft from which will alight dummies of Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and his son Chandan.
There will be other dummies asking Basu pointed questions, like "How has your son
become so rich under your rule?" The papier mache Basu will even lose his temper,
yelling, "Do you expect me to help your son become rich?" The last scene of the
son et lumiere farce shows the father and son fleeing along a ropeway, with people chasing
them. The ropeway is a reminder of charges in the local media that the Basus played a role
in the selective award of a coal supply contract to a favourite businessman. |
