ISRAEL is perhaps the lone country with a knack for getting a whiff in advance of which direction the polity of India will turn. BJP president Nitin Gadkari and 10 other top party leaders were invited to see firsthand the management and modernization of agriculture in Israel. Gadkari accepted and went to Tel Aviv along with his top leadership to see the impressive Israeli agriculture mechanization.
Before departure, Gadkari did his homework and was armed with substantial information about Indian agriculture. Israel accorded a lavish reception to the Indian delegation. The group met Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor and were welcomed in the Parliament of Israel with applause. Gadkari and his whole team are so impressed with the Israeli model of agriculture management that the BJP is now toying with the idea of sending the Agriculture Ministers of states ruled by the party on similar trips to Israel.
AICC’s brain wave
charges for plenary session passes
THE Congress party held its 83rd plenary session in New Delhi with much fanfare. There is a tradition in the party that the leaders who are not MPs or MLAs or do not hold any post within the party are given passes to attend the session as Special Invitees. AICC Members, Distinguished Guests, Special Invitees, Visitors are the categories in which the respective leaders are divided.
This time, the party bosses came up with an innovative idea. Special Invitees had to pay Rs 325 each for a pass. The loyal party workers were surprised at such a move which was unthinkable for many of them. No receipts were issued; the Congressman had to sign on a plain sheet of paper kept for the purpose and get the pass.
One party worker, while signing, quipped, “Good this has started, now one feels one is going to attend a corporate conclave by a big corporate house rather than a party session.”
Jinxed house raja bungalow has
dubious record
A Raja, the controversial former telecommunications Minister, lives at 2A, Moti Lal Nehru Marg. The house, located opposite Udyog Bhawan, is the type of bungalow usual in Lutyens’ Delhi but it has seen a string of VVIPs and some people think it’s jinxed.
In the early 1980s, the bungalow was allotted to Rajiv Gandhi. He never actually lived there but used it to meet people. After Mrs Gandhi’s death in 1984, Rajiv became Prime Minister and shifted to 7, Race Course Road. When Amitabh Bachchan was looking for a house as an MP, he liked the bungalow’s location and moved in.
After Bachchan’s unceremonious exit, former Minister for External Affairs Madhav Singh Solanki became the next occupant. Solanki was a sincere and suave man but he also became entangled in a controversy and Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao had to remove him. The house then remained deserted for long. Raja occupied it, became Minister, got involved in scan dals and lost his post. Is the jinx responsible?
Congress’ mixed bag
bad food, savvy media
handling
