By IANS,
Why Didi is afraid of Dada
New Delhi : It appears no Congress minister dares to talk with West Bengal’s Communist leaders in the formidable presence of Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. But Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is an exception.
Popularly called “Pranab da”, he even shared a car with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee – archrival of Mamata Banerjee – after a meeting at the prime minister’s residence over price rise.
Mukherjee is not believed to be too happy about Banerjee meddling in the central government’s handling of problems in the Left-ruled state.
But Banerjee, often addressed as “Didi”, had to be silent on Pranab da’s open bonhomie with the Marxists because she fears he may lose his temper, which he often does. She also believes that he has the ability to broker a political alliance with the Communists in the state where she is making an all-out effort to end three decades of leftist rule, they say.
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A Thackeray waits
Is the Congress reluctant to open its doors to Smita Thackeray, who has fallen out with her father-in-law Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray? Or has she set her sights too high?
Though it has been over four months since she sent clear feelers to the grand old party, matters haven’t moved much. While Smita wants to be invited by no less than Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the party’s Maharashtra unit finds no reason for the leadership to indulge her.
State Congress leaders feel she is being over-ambitious and does not merit the prominence she seeks, a little birdie has it. They say she has the option of joining the party the way millions of others do – by filling up a membership form.
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What an idea, madam ji
The Jammu and Kashmir government faced a breakdown over a controversial bill allowing educated youths to apply for government jobs only in one’s home district. But it seems the crisis was averted, thanks to “madam”!
The legislation would mean that Scheduled Caste candidates would have to stick to districts in the Jammu region only as there is nobody from Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley who falls in that category.
Pitted against each other were lawmakers from the Valley and Jammu until Chief Minister Omar Abdullah knocked on 10, Janpath, the residence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
From there he got a brief to ensure a provision under which Scheduled Caste candidates could apply for government jobs in any of the 22 districts in the state, sources say.
The crisis was defused and the National Conference-Congress coalition saved.
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Azad’s tobacco tale
It’s health hazard, of course, but there’s another reason why Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is working hard to curb chewing tobacco! The story dates back to 1975 when he was a Youth Congress leader.
The minister said a friend from Bhopal once gave him a betel leaf laced with tobacco after a conference here. “I had never had it before and when I chewed I was down within minutes. My head was reeling and I was feeling giddy for two days. That was my first and last experience with tobacco.”
No wonder, he speaks of bringing in legislation to control the consumption of tobacco.
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`Untamed’ Aiyar
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s entry to the Rajya Sabha in the nominated category has virtually ruled out a place for him in the cabinet. But he is still unflappable.
Aiyar, who was part of the last United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, says he had seen the system inside out when he was part of the cabinet and “had no particular desire to be a minister.”
Aiyar now wishes to fulfil his role as an “untamed” MP, something he could not do earlier as a minister.
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Peer rivalry?
Call it a deliberate slipup or peer rivalry, but prominent lawyer faces of the Congress media team chose to stay away from the national convention of lawyers organised by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who heads the party’s legal and human rights department.
Prominent lawyers Manish Tewari and Jayanthi Natarajan, who are also spokespersons of the party, were conspicuous by their absence at the convention addressed by top Congress leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram and M. Veerappa Moily.
Tewari and Natarajan were not among the speakers and were apparently not interested in just being listeners. Two other prominent lawyer faces of the party – Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma – too were not present.
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Operation Azad at AIIMS
After months of severe opposition from within the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has finally had his way.
He has managed to inject A.H. Zargar, a doctor from his home state of Jammu and Kashmir, into the the highest decision making body of the premier medical institute.
Zargar, an endocrinologist from Srinagar hospital, will share the official position with political bigwigs like Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Rajya Sabha MP R.K. Dhawan, Lok Sabha MP Jyoti Mirdha and Delhi University vice chancellor Deepak Pental.