Chandrika flashes an Indian card
It looks as if Indian politicians and bureaucrats are not the only ones who look to soothsayers, crystal ball gazers, healers and numerologists to solve personal problems or anticipate events. Sri Lankan leaders seem to have a similar predilection. In February 2007 Mata Amritanandamayi, Amma, the famous “Hugging Mother” of Kerala, visited the island nation and gave a healing hug to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
More recently, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga was in Srinagar, Kashmir to attend a meeting of the UNESCO-affiliated South Asia Foundation headed by Ambassador Madanjeet Singh. Kumaratunga, who was staying at one of the Kashmiri capital’s poshest hotels, made a beeline for a special room that is reserved for a famous Indian tarot card reader and colour therapy healer. She spent close to an hour having her cards read, most of the questions pertaining to the island nation’s political future as well as the personal fortunes of some of her political rivals. What she learned she isn’t telling but she may now be holding a few cards of her own regarding what lies ahead in her troubled country.
Off with his head, said the Queen
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, after her return to power, brought in PK Mishra, a 1972-batch IAS officer, as Chief Secretary in an attempt to project honesty in her new government’s dealings.
Sadly, hardly a year later, Mishra was made to resign from the post and the service when he declined to oblige the Chief Minister’s unlawful diktats. Sources say Mayawati wanted to allot 70 acres of land to an NGO on Lucknow’s Mohan Road for establishing a private university for differently abled persons. The NGO, Dr Shakuntala Mishra Smriti Sewa Sansthan, is owned by the de facto chief minister of the state, Satish Chandra Mishra, and is named after his mother.
The Chief Secretary had objected on the grounds that the size of the plot was out of proportion with the size of the NGO, the financial status of the NGO had not been made available, the plan for infrastructural development had not been spelt out, and the piece of land, being agricultural, requires farmers’ consent before acquisition. At a Cabinet meeting, Mayawati held out a prepared note and asked Mishra to sign and substitute it for the note containing his objections in the file. When he refused, she became furious and asked him to resign. The issue has not yet died down.
The Shia Waqf Board is also opposing the land acquisition for this university, claiming that the state government is forcibly acquiring 18 acres belonging to the Shahadra mosque, imambara and graveyard.
Driver raj at AICC
high and mighty charioteers
The powers that be at the headquarters of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) at 24 Akbar Road, New Delhi are laid low by one common fear – that of their drivers.
When Union Minister for Tourism Ambika Soni was an all-powerful AICC General Secretary, she used her personal Esteem (number 3330). Later, lowering the bar, the AICC purchased it for a price much too high. This deal was her last hurrah before her exit from the party organization. The AICC then spent a considerable amount on its repair and it was AICC treasurer Motilal Vora’s official car for quite some time.
Its next stint of duty was at the official residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, where a powerful staffer used it. One fine morning, its driver, Dhanraj, an AICC employee, arrived with the keys at 10 Janpath and casually stated that the car had been stolen from Connaught Place. The police has been unable to trace a car belonging to the country’s most powerful household till now. And the AICC has not dared fix responsibility on the driver, who is still attached to 10 Janpath.
Another AICC driver, Munna, is particular about his hours of duty: 10am to 5 pm. If he is driving a Congress leader to some place, at 5 pm he will halt, switch off the engine and hand the keys to his hapless passenger. Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ambika Soni have been at the receiving end.
Now, why is the AICC so helpless when it comes to these errant drivers? Simple! Drivers, of all staffers, know about skeletons in closets. If angered, they just might spill the beans to the media.
Aiyar’s women problems
Minister for Development of North-Eastern Region, Mani Shankar Aiyar is known for his passion for women’s empowerment and decentralization of power, pursuing it with missionary zeal since his days as an IFS officer. And his reputation helped him out of a tricky situation recently, as he narrated with great glee to the senior officers of his ministry.
It seems that complaints about the large number of women friends Aiyar has found their way to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She summoned him and sought an explanation. He replied with a counter-question: is there anything wrong in having women friends? No, she smiled. Aiyar then elaborated that Panchayati Raj had been a victim of gender bias and it was imperative that women be brought on a par with men and be treated well. I treat them honourably, give them their dues and have no qualms, he asserted.
He then enquired if any woman had complained against him. When the reply came in the negative, he left 10 Janpath with a Cheshire cat-like smile on his face.
