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Clipping the Trust Delhi: Hard-liners in
the BJP Government seem to be training their guns on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. At least
that's the indication from HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi's latest missive to the
attorney-general of India. It seems Joshi's secret letter is aimed at making Sonia's life
trusteeship of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) ineffective. In 1995,
the then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao had got the IGNCA's trust deed, which
stipulated a 10-year term, amended in order to placate Sonia. But with a new government at
the Centre, a concerted campaign is on to oust Sonia from this prestigious and rich trust
located on prime government land on Rajpath.
Mistaken Identity
Delhi: With
Jayalalitha's tantrums becoming more pronounced by the day, mediapersons are an
exasperated lot. The problem becomes acute as the lady is inaccessible, forcing even
veteran newshounds to develop new "sources". Not all such sources are
unimpeachable though. Last week, the capital was rife with rumours that the prime minister
had called on the President. The guessing game began: will he resign? will he opt for
fresh polls? The flutter was caused by an eveninger reporting the meeting that never took
place. A correspondent was presumably told by the Rashtrapati Bhavan cook who was a friend
of the guard at the main gate that the pradhan mantri had come by. Actually, the paper was
slightly off the mark. It was former prime minister I.K. Gujral who had made a courtesy
call.
Demand of its Own
Delhi: The BJP
may be hamstrung by allies who keep demanding the dismissal of various state governments.
But last week, in the midst of the Cauvery imbroglio, as Jayalalitha's threat of
withdrawal of support loomed large, the party did some demanding of its own. At its daily
press briefing, a day before Amma's August 12 deadline, the BJP paraded a party delegation
from Bihar which made a loud demand for the dismissal of the Rabri Devi Government.
Jayalalitha could learn a few lessons from the Bihar BJP leaders who circulated a detailed
folder outlining the case for the sacking of the Rabri regime. The moral of the story, as
put by a senior party leader: whether Jayalalitha pulls out or not, life in the BJP must
go on.
Eating His Words
Mumbai:
Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi excelled himself while defending his Government's
rejection of the Srikrishna Commission report in the Assembly. Such was the impact of his
scathing attack on Congress strongman Sharad Pawar, that 20 MLAs touched Joshi's feet
after his speech. But even as Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and party mouthpiece Saamna
were busy applauding his performance, Joshi realised that discretion should have been the
better part of valour. Now that the deed was done, Joshi decided he might as well mend his
fences with the Maratha chieftain. So, within 24 hours, he called up Pawar and expressed
regret for the "harsh words" used against him. This disclosure came not from the
Joshi camp but from Pawar himself when he briefed journalists last week.
Open Rivalry
Mumbai: As
president of the city Congress unit, Murli Deora played host to Sonia Gandhi last week,
chaperoning her through various appointments. Sharad Pawar, as senior state leader, had to
mark his presence but given the cold war between him and Deora, he did his best to
distance himself from the day's events. So, at one juncture, when a section of Congress
workers got rough with mediapersons, Pawar, usually the first to appeal for calm, not only
watched the humiliating scene unfold but also held back his man Chhagan Bhujbal from
intervening. It was a Deora show after all, wasn't it? Never mind that the Shiv Sena,
famous for its attacks on the media, picked on the incident to ram the Congress. A
Congressman explained Pawar's reticence with the aphorism -- one sheath cannot hold two
swords. |
