Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi is on a mission to establish Deputy Chief Minister and son MK Stalin as his heir apparent. And there is not an iota of opposition anywhere in the State. Coimbatore was the chosen venue for the anointing. The State’s second biggest city, called the Manchester of the South for its textile industry, was all decked up for the World Tamil Classical Conference held there for five days from June 23.
To the delight of Coimbatoreans, the roads and colonies got a facelift. The children of the city and, indeed, the State welcomed the conference for it not only helped promote Tamil as a language but all the educational institutions had a five-day holiday.
Inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil, the conference was an apt occasion for Karunanidhi to formally anoint Stalin as his successor ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. Stalin and sister Kanimozhi visited Coimbatore almost daily to oversee the preparations. One person who remained noticeably in the background was their brother and Union Minister, MK Azhagiri.
Mamata diatribe against Patel
urges dharna by air india union
Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee is wont to freely expressing annoyance even if it riles ministerial colleagues or coalition partners. Recently, when Air India employees went on strike and Praful Patel, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, tried to break up their protest, the Air India Aircraft Employees Union approached Mamata for help. She readily met them and then spoke to Patel on their behalf.
But Patel was not ready to budge. Mamata flew into a rage and instructed the trade union leaders to organize a dharna against Patel at Jantar Mantar. “I will join you,” she told them. The union leaders were taken aback and wisely did not adopt her strategy.
Digvijay on Musharraf
leader’s anecdotes about president
Interesting stories abound about Digvijay Singh, the Independent MP from Banka who died recently in London after a heart attack. “Dada”, as he was known to friends, was a follower of Chandrasekhar and rose to national status in a short span. He disagreed with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over dishonouring George Fernandes and proved his unsurpassed popularity in his own constituency.
Digvijay was minister-in-waiting when Pervez Musharraf came to Agra and escorted the Pakistani President in Delhi. As they passed along 30 January Marg, Musharraf remarked, “Your roads are named after dates.” Digvijay replied, “Your Excellency, this road is named after a date because Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on 30 January for agreeing to pay Rs 60 lakh to Pakistan at the time of Partition.”
Musharraf then asked if there was a road named after Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Digvijay counterquestioned, “Your Excellency, do you have a road named after Mahatma Gandhi?”
According to Digvijay, the Agra Summit failed because Musharraf, leaving his hotel suite to sign the agreement, heard Sushma Swaraj say on TV: “We have every right to Kashmir, Pakistan can say whatever they feel like.” The President plonked back on the sofa and said, “What face will I show to my people if I sign?”
The Nitish-Lallan split
cm sees red over friend’s ways
Consider this: two politicians are friends, one is a Chief Minister and the other an MP and both rule the state. Can there be any reason to split? Well, yes. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh were great chums but have fallen apart.
Lallan was in charge of cash collection and distribution on behalf of Nitish and negotiated deals. Complaints about the collection and inaccurate disclosure of sums collected made their way to Nitish but he kept mum.
Then, a road development contract of Rs 1,100 crore was up for award. Lallan Singh promised it to a construction company and reportedly took an advance, out of which he then doled out some amount to one or two JD (U) politicians in Delhi. But a bureaucrat close to Nitish closed the deal with another construction company.
When Lallan sought Nitish’s intervention, the CM refused. Lallan started throwing tantrums in public and Nitish put his foot down. They parted ways.
