In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, politics is known to be volatile. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan appears to be in command yet, at the same time, it’s hardly smooth sailing for him. Chauhan is currently facing two enormous challenges. The first is the prospect of the return of Uma Bharati. This is a spectre that always haunts him, though, by simply returning, she will hardly leap into the Chief Minister’s chair.
The second challenge is posed by his firebrand Cabinet colleague, Kailash Vijayvargee, Minister for PWD and Energy. Vijayvargee hails from Indore, possesses considerable clout and is a direct threat to the Chief Minister. However, Chauhan has mastered the art of keeping Vijayvargee reined in. Rather than directly confronting him, Chauhan reportedly ordered the arrest of his supporters in Indore. This has kept Vijayvargee busy in bailing out his supporters.
Plain living in Rashtrapati Bhavan
patil’s simple ways
President Pratibha Patil has a simple lifestyle and, what is more, is content with it. However, whenever and wherever she travels, a huge team of officials accompanies her. The team comprises ADCs, doctors, PAs, and peons. Ahead of the visit, a complete itinerary is sent to the destination. Along with it is despatched a list of items required for the President during the visit. Patil is apparently very cautious about food and avoids eating anything not cooked by her personal cook.
Recently, when she visited western India, the list of items sent to the state government included peepal, tulsi and banana leaves. Before beginning her day, the President worships and does jal abhishekam. After that, she has breakfast cooked in ghee.
Muttemwar plays mediator
soothes ruffled mps in goa
Vilas Muttemwar, MP from Nagpur and Chairman, Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, recently displayed his skills as a seasoned politician. He was part of a parliamentary delegation that visited Goa to survey the Public Distribution System in the state. A dinner was hosted for the delegation by Jose Philip D’Souza, the Minister for Civil Supplies, Factories and Boilers. However, though all the arrangements were impeccable, the host was not seen.
As the other MPs began threatening to boycott the dinner if the host was not present, Muttemwar stepped in and requested them to wait for some time. Senior bureaucrats, highly embarrassed, also requested him to persuade the others not to boycott the dinner. Finally, one officer among them telephoned D’Souza and the Minister arrived. It was Muttemwar’s sagacity that had saved the day for Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.
Swanky spa nets VVIPs
Rahul among amatrra members
If you are among those chasing Rahul Gandhi in vain, unable to get a meeting, help is at hand. You can meet him if you spend Rs 1,93,000. Whenever he is in Delhi, Rahul visits the Amatrra Spa, at the Ashok Hotel in Chanakyapuri, almost daily. Ashok Hotel leased its recreation facility to builder Ajit Kumar Sood, who tied up with Amatrra to set up the VVIP spa in the capital. Not only Rahul, even brother-in-law Robert Vadra spends a lot of time in the spa. So do many young MPs like Manish Tiwari. Naturally, Sood is the happiest man of all since half of the problems are automatically solved because Rahul and Vadra are members of the spa.
