Vis-a-Vis

V.K. MALHOTRA BJP's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha versus SHIBU SOREN Union coal minister

"Instead of dropping tainted ministers, the prime minister has re-inducted one and damaged whatever image was left of the Government."

"The BJP has no issues to fight and is at liberty to say anything. When I am not tainted, what they say does not matter."

EPILOGUE: With Soren's reinduction, the winter session of Parliament promises to be stormy.

VOICES

"There is a public perception at times that Parliament is turning irrelevant as it is not sitting for longer periods."

Somnath Chatterjee, Lok Sabha Speaker

"There is no contradiction between Hindutva and Bharatiyata (Indianness). The issue is to preserve the ethos and take it forward."

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister

"If the CPI(M) has objections to the pooja, let it be. We are not forcing them to perform pooja. They should also not force us to refrain from doing so."

K. Chandrasekara Rao, Union labour minister, on the CPI(M)'s
criticism of his performing pooja before assuming office

"If any swindling worth even Rs 8 is detected, I will quit politics."

Ram Vilas Paswan, Union steel minister, on RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav's charge that he is involved in a Rs 800 crore scam

"I don't have respect for the films I make after I have made them."

Ram Gopal Varma, filmmaker

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

The first stage of Rahul Gandhi's political career-election to Parliament and taking over Amethi-is over. The second sees him visiting other states, like Assam, and assuming a national identity.

PICTURE SPEAK

LOSING GROUND: Alva

DELHI Of late, the fortunes of Congress leaders have become rather uncertain. Winners are losers and losers crowned winners. And it is not just chief ministers like Sushil Kumar Shinde who win the polls yet lose their jobs but even AICC general secretaries who lead the state units to victory but get turfed out. Margaret Alva, who was in charge of Maharashtra, has been appointed as head of the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training. With former Karnataka chief minister S.M. Krishna being made Maharashtra governor, Alva's days at 24 Akbar Road could be numbered.

The trouble with Alva is she has not been able to fully neutralise Ambika Soni, much as Ahmed Patel may have wished, or fellow Mangalorean Oscar Fernandes. While Soni has managed to bounce back-she accompanied Sonia Gandhi to Mauritius-Sonia has been relying on Fernandes to do party work in the North-east and Jharkhand, where polls are due. Party circles feel Alva is not suitable for party work. Apparently, her previous ministerial stint had made her too officious and inaccessible both to media and partymen.

-By Lakshmi Iyer

RANCHI The BJP's style mavens were in for an uncomfortable stay at the party's National Executive in Ranchi last week. Fed up of being targeted for its five-star venues, the party booked its leaders in at the local-and somewhat downmarket-Ashoka Hotel. But once the leaders discovered the spartan arrangements on offer, most of them shifted elsewhere. The only ones who didn't were the two high-profile general secretaries-Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley. As one of them quipped, "If either of us moves out, we will be targeted for our five-star lifestyle." But this was not the end of Jaitley's adventures in the cowbelt. As he proudly wore a checked pashmina shawl, he was asked by party workers if he wearing a table cloth or a lungi. Perhaps Jaitley could restrict his style for P3 dos and not BJP meetings.

-By Priya Sahgal

EQUALLED: The record for maximum Tests played since debut without missing a match, by cricketer Rahul Dravid. Dravid equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of 84 Tests.

SET ASIDE: By the Supreme Court, the Bombay High Court decision to convict Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in a contempt case and sentence him to two years imprisonment.

NAMED: Lt-General Joginder Jaswant Singh, the next Chief of Army Staff. He will be the first Sikh officer to head the army.

HANDED OVER: The first home-built Sukhoi-30 MKI multi-role fighter aircraft, to the IAF, by makers Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. The aircraft is made from assembled Russian parts as also major Indian avionics.

HONOURED: Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, santoor maestro, with this year's Tansen Award, by the Madhya Pradesh Government.

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