 For
Old Times Sake
Delhi: The much talked about
relationship between Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K.
Advani is now on a honeymoon mode. Recently, the two went together to the
Films Division auditorium on Mahadeo Road to watch the film Pukar, with
Vajpayee's adopted daughter and son-in-law and Advani's children in tow.
After the show, the two men reminisced about similar experiences earlier:
watching Ray's Pather Panchali in Calcutta and Raj Kapoor's Phir Subah
Hogi in Delhi. Within days, Vajpayee put protocol behind and drove to
Advani's Pandara Park residence to spend four hours together over dinner.
Obviously they were not humming old numbers.
Land Sale, No Bar
Hyderabad: Governments the world over
are known to disinvest to raise funds. But Chief Minister N. Chandrababu
Naidu is a trendsetter even here. He is said to be keen on selling
government land at prime locations. Prisoners in two crowded jails in the
city and one in Visakhapatnam will soon be moved to new locations to make
room for realtors.The price: over Rs 350 crore. The money, of course,
should come in handy for implementing Naidu's prison reforms.
Enemy as Mediator
Patna: Ask Mulayam Singh Yadav who is
in the forefront in the fight against communalism and chances are he will
point to himself. Ditto for Laloo Prasad. So why aren't the two Yadavs
joining hands to fight the common enemy? Perish the thought. Last week,
the duo, once close friends, were together in Patna airport's VIP lounge,
not ready to even acknowledge each other. It was for L.K. Advani who
walked in a little later to help them break the ice.
Dancing to Own Tune
Bhubaneswar: Has anyone seen Giridhar
Gomang of late? With poll fever at a pitch, he should have been
campaigning for the Congress but after his inept handling of the
administration, has been told to stay away. Last heard, he was in Calcutta
with a tribal music troupe, rehearsing for public renditions of the Changu
dance. Having danced to the tune of the Congress leadership for long, he
is dancing to his own tune for a change.
CONFESSIONAL
Last year, Purno Sangma led the
chorus to bar foreign- born Indians from holding high office. His
inclusion in the Constitution review panel has caused a stir.
Your presence in the committee has
sparked off a controversy.
The controversy is being created by a section that feels since I was
the first to raise the issue of debarring people of foreign origin from
holding high office, I will do it again. They are right, I will try again.
That's your only agenda?
My interest is the issue. I am not focusing on any individual.
Aren't there other issues you should
look at?
I intend to be a watchdog for the interests of SCs, STs, minorities
and the weaker sections. But if they try and tamper with Article 370, I
will oppose it.
Your party had opposed the committee. So
how come you are in it?
The NCP had opposed it initially because we thought the basic
structure of the Constitution would be tinkered with. We feared there
would be an attempt to foist a presidential form of government on us. But
the prime minister has made it clear there are no such moves.
Will you finally join the Sangh Parivar?
There is no question of that happening since I don't subscribe to its
ideology.
-Javed
M. Ansari
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