Kalam greeting governors at the conference

Here is another missile from the quiver of our President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. After introducing informality in his public interaction and relaxing dress codes, Kalam left his unmistakable stamp on the Governors' Conference he hosted recently. No, it's not about his unconventional advice that governors should play a pro-active role in developmental work. It relates to the manner in which he made a power-point presentation of his road map for development-Vision 2020. He was literally hands-on: he operated the slide projector himself and moderated the conference so that each governor got a chance to speak. The President's interest in the proceedings apparently kept the ageing governors on their toes. No one was allowed to catch the customary forty winks.

US Ambassador Robert Blackwill has been a favourite of the establishment in Delhi. His friend-of-India image has been bolstered with tours to state capitals. He even hosted a dinner for eminent NRIs. The image, however, got its first blot when he met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Syeed and promised generous US aid to the state.

Eyebrows went up in both North and South Blocks. Various agencies in the Home Ministry were ready with records of his conversation with Mufti, with the promise of direct US aid heavily blue-pencilled.

Blackwill got the hint, and met his friend Finance Minister Jaswant Singh to refute the possibility of aid to Kashmir except through multilateral agencies. A diplomatic spat was averted with a friendly pressing of hands.

CONFESSIONAL

Vinay Katiyar The Uttar Pradesh BJP president on Hindutva and his controversial quoting of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar

Q. Q. Why have you suddenly started attacking Muslims?
A. First of all, it is not me who is attacking the Muslims. I am simply quoting from a book by Babasaheb Ambedkar, who saw the Muslims as the main "impediment" in national development. Ambedkar and his followers had been the victims of tyranny of the Mughal rulers. Secondly, it is not a sudden outburst. When I took over as president of the state unit, I had quoted the same excerpts in my first speech before the office bearers of the party.

Q. Are you trying to create a divide between the Dalits and the Muslims?
A. No, not at all. I am simply creating awareness.

Q. But your diatribe is hurting the sentiments of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Chief Minister Mayawati.
A. I don't think that is correct. I am simply presenting the true picture of Ambedkar.

Q. If Mayawati starts quoting Dravidian leader E.V.R. Periyar and his views on the relationship between Ram and Sita and Sita and Laxman, would you not feel hurt?
A. I will reply to that at an appropriate time.

Q. But wouldn't this affect the relationship between the BJP and the BSP.
A. No, not at all. We are on good terms.

Q. Do you want to become the Narendra Modi of Uttar Pradesh?
A. It was the misdeeds of the Congress that made Modi a hero. You, the media, have been describing me as firebrand for quite a long time. Main to pehle ka hero hoon
(I am already a hero).

-Subhash Mishra