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New Frame of Mind
Delhi: The BJP-led Government at the Centre
is up in arms against the Congress administrations in Madhya Pradesh,
Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Delhi. The reason: Delhi feels that
non-Congress prime ministers -- past and present -- are not given due
place in Congress dispensations. The Union Home Ministry has, therefore,
written to the five state governments asking them to display photographs
of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Charan Singh and Morarji Desai on the walls of
government offices, till now reserved for the Nehru-Gandhi clan.
Cover Story
Hyderabad: Every year on May 28, the Telugu
Desam Party organises a mahanadu (convention) to celebrate the birthday of
founder N.T. Rama Rao. This year will be no different and Vijayawada is
gearing up for the two-day show. What will differ this year is that Chief
Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will use the occasion to release his book
Plain Speaking, in which he talks about his innovative ways of governance.
Critics would carp though that a chapter is missing: on how Naidu upstaged
father-in-law NTR to become the chief minister.
What a Relief
Gandhinagar: Drought-hit Kundalia village in
Gujarat's Banaskantha district had an unusual visitor last week. He worked
as a labourer at a relief site for three days. Later, impressed by the
state Government's measures, he rang up the state chief secretary to
congratulate him. For the Keshubhai Patel Government, reeling under media
attacks for its "mishandling" of the crisis, it came as a
pleasant surprise. For the visitor was none other than Gopalkrishna
Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma and secretary to President K.R. Narayanan.
Alphabet Coup
Bhubaneswar: Orissa Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik, like his counterparts elsewhere, is a busy man. But the busiest
part of day is between eight and nine in the morning. For that's when he
takes his tuitions in Oriya from a private tutor. The tutor is said to be
highly pleased with the devotion shown by his pupil so far.
CONFESSIONAL
A.K. Antony, the Mr Clean of the Congress,
for no fault of his finds himself saddled with a Rs 14-lakh bill from the
Defence Ministry.
»Do you think the party should pay
the Rs 14-lakh bill? After all, the defence aircraft was hired for a
political purpose.
A. Nobody has ever consulted me or asked me about this matter for the past
five years.
»What really happened? Did you ask
for the plane?
A. I don't know what happened. I never requested a plane. It was a request
from then prime minister Narasimha Raoji which was heeded by the Defence
Ministry. I will wait to explain my position to an official query before
going public on this.
»You are a stickler for value-based
politics. Why did you make the trip at public expense?
A. I am proud to be known for my value-based politics. I have never taken
a paisa in any shady manner. As chief minister earlier and now as
opposition leader, I stay in my own house. I know people who stay in
official bungalows and let out their homes.
- M.G.Radhakrishnan
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