They aren't printing posters yet but the whispers are clearly audible across the Western Ghats. Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar, it would seem, has scored yet again-perhaps unintentionally. In the past three months, the Congress high command has sacked the big three who managed the party's image in Maharashtra. It replaced Vilasrao Deshmukh with Sushil Kumar Shinde as the chief minister, installed Ranjit Deshmukh as MPCC chief and appointed Gurudas Kamat as the chief of Mumbai Congress after long-time MRCC chief Murli Deora "resigned".

As a Nationalist Congress Party leader told a senior Congress leader 10 Janpath has achieved a political miracle. "Saheb now controls both the Congresses in Maharashtra," he pointed out. His inference is not ill-founded. Shinde was introduced to politics by Pawar, Deshmukh was the Young Turk who was once in the anti-S.B. Chavan and Kamat was his poster boy in Mumbai. Sure they didn't leave with him when the Congress split but their association with Pawar is undeniable.

This train of events can be more than a coincidence. The NCP leader went on to speculate: "Guess who enabled all this-Vayalar Ravi who used to be a member of Pawar's Congress(S) in the 1980s." If any Congressman was to take this perception to Madam G, they would have to deal with another former Congress(S) member-Ambika Soni.

Embedded Envoy

Every crisis spawns its own bureaucracy and the Iraq war is no exception. The Ministry of External Affairs is reportedly planning to send a special envoy to Iraq like it did during the Afghan war. The question is, who should be picked? A retired ifs officer with an Iraq history or someone from those still in service? The jockeying has begun in earnest. In the fray is Prakash Shah of the retired club-he was UN special envoy in Iraq-and the "in-house" group has fielded ambassadors like R. Dayakar.

Afghan envoy S.K. Lambah was a part of India's initiative in Bonn which saw the creation of an India-friendly Government in Kabul. In Iraq, the stakes are high. With US General Tommy Franks looking set to administer Baghdad, India will need all its diplomatic skills to ensure a space for itself. The "Arabists" in South Block are bracing for the battle ahead.

CONFESSIONAL

Vikas Verma The Union minister for sports spoke to Editor Prabhu Chawla on Seedhi Baat on his new charge and his predecessor

Q. Did you go to see the cricket World Cup in South Africa?
A. Yes. I went to Johannesburg for three days.

Q. But you don't have time for Sunita Rani. Why is cricket given so much importance?
A. I carried the letter the prime minister had written to the cricket team. Besides, I was also there in Busan for the Asian Games.

Q. No, you weren't there at the second ceremony when Suresh Kalmadi presented the medals to Sunita Rani.
A. I was present, but it is the Olympic Association of India's decision to invite people. They decide the list of invitees.

Q. How much are you planning to spend on sports promotion?
A. We have increased the budget allocation for sports from Rs 285 crore to Rs 386 crore, out of which we are planning to spend Rs 200-250 crore on promotion. We are also planning to host the Commonwealth Games.

Q. Why not the Olympics? Uma Bharati had suggested it.
A. We do not have the infrastructure for the Olympic Games. We are not ready for it yet.

Q. According to you, is Uma Bharati in the race for the chief ministership of Madhya Pradesh?
A. There is no candidate as such for the chief minister's seat. At a rally, L.K. Advani and Venkaiah Naidu announced that the elections would be conducted under Uma's supervision.

Q. Will you accept Uma Bharati as chief minister?
A. Whatever the party decides, we will accept.

Seedhi Baat is telecast on Aaj Tak on Sundays at 9.30 p.m.