By IANS,
The man who could be Kerala chief minister
New Delhi : Who will be the Congress leadership’s nominee for Kerala chief minister if the party wins the assembly polls next year? Perhaps a man who is a minister in the union government – and it’s not Defence Minister A.K. Antony.
Although it’s still months away, there are already many hats in the ring. While Antony has made it clear he will not go back to state politics, other top leaders, including the Congress’ state chief Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Oommen Chandy, Minister of State for Home Mullapally Ramachandran and senior leader V.M. Sudheeran are understood to be lobbying hard for the prized post.
The hopefuls, it is believed, are busy at the mudslinging game. But for all you know, none of these claimants will make it.
As the buzz has it, the party may opt for a senior leader who is Antony’s former colleague in the Kerala Students Union (KSU). Did someone say Vayalar Ravi?
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Pakistani diplomats in scarce waters
For Pakistani diplomats posted in the capital, it’s turning out to be the summer of discontent, albeit for rather mundane reasons.
Ever since they moved out of the spacious confines of Shanti Sports Club in Vasant Kunj following a court order a few months ago, this summer has been a veritable nightmare for them, with erratic water supply in their new lodgings in Vasant Vihar adding to their list of complaints.
“At times we have to shell out a couple of thousand to get water,” said a Pakistani high commission official in a parched voice. The Indus waters dispute can wait, but this water issue should be resolved right away, quipped another diplomat.
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Case of missing minister
It seems that Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath has little time to spare for her ministry. The minister, said a source, comes to office in the afternoon and spends just about two or three hours.
With female infanticide continuing unabated and UPA-II focused on its social agenda of empowering women, she should have her hands full. But it would appear the needs of her constituency have hijacked her.
An official finally unlocked the mystery. “She is mostly busy visiting her constituency in northwest Delhi,” he said. “Some time back there were complaints that after winning the elections, she has forgotten about her constituency, that’s why her concentration is focused there now,” he revealed.
With little ministerial supervision, things often go haywire as it happened last year when a government advertisement released by her ministry had the photo of a Pakistani air force officer, a fiasco that led to the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) issue an apology to the nation.
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Tent to five-star, BJP style
Perhaps it is the wilting heat or perhaps the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party are finding it difficult to go back to basics. This time the two-day BJP national executive at Patna is being held at a posh five-star Maurya hotel unlike the austere conclave in Indore earlier this year which was held in tents.
At that time its new chief, Nitin Gadkari, wanted to send out a message, but perhaps this time the top leadership thought the ‘lotus’ – the party symbol – would wilt in Patna’s scorching sun.
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No one takes responsibility
This is a familiar subterfuge that the central ministers have perfected. If there is a project or scheme which has seen tardy progress, their reply is simple: “It is a state subject”.
At a function, when Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Trivedi was asked about the delay over a bill on regulating medical devices, pat came his reply: “Whether we like it or not, health is a state subject.”
Seems like he has taken a lesson from his friend and party mate, Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi, who has come to be known for shifting the burden on states every time he is asked about a scheme that is lagging behind.
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Where are Congress’ spokespersons?
At a time when a cornered Congress needs its spokespersons to defend its position on the Bhopal gas leak case, most of them are out of the country on tours, holiday or family visits.
Abhishek Singhvi is off to the United States, Manish Tewari to Australia and Shakeel Ahmed to Canada. Jayanthi Natarajan, who has been holding the fort, is expected to attend meetings in Bangalore next week. Mohan Prakash, the only other spokesperson in the panel of five, rarely takes a press conference.
The party is hoping that Tewari – expected to return this week – will keep its daily briefings rolling.
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An MP’s own report card
The UPA-II government brought out a report to mark one year in office and so did one of its party MPs, Sanjay Nirupam, from north Mumbai.
He flashed a glossy 44-page “Performance Report 2009-10”. But this one only detailed the welfare activities he has undertaken in his constituency over the past year, including steps towards “urban middle class empowerment.”
The voluble MP, who was earlier an energetic leader of the Shiv Sena, seems to be setting a new precedent for the elected representatives of the Congress.
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Capital gets Bollywood high
Nothing like good whisky to get Bollywood stars rocking. Of all the lovely things that the capital has to offer, it was whisky that brought Karan Johar, Shankar Mahadevan and Boman Irani here.
While Karan was dressed to kill in a black suit to host the Chivas Studio Spotlight as the brand ambassador of the whisky brand Chivas Regal, Boman and Shankar totally rocked the Teacher’s Origin Highnights. Shankar made the audiences groove to his many hits. Boman surprised many by strumming the guitar and singing songs. One wonders if he had a peg or two!
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No ministerial vacation till Games
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is so worried over the delay in Commonwealth Games projects that she is not ready to let any of the six Delhi ministers go on long leave – even in smouldering June – when they generally like to cool their frayed nerves in hill stations.
A source said when two ministers recently sought her permission for long vacation, she told them to forget about it till the Oct 3-14 Games are over.