minister’s lobbying irks pm
The grapevine has it that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is mighty irritated over a Union minister from the south lobbying to stall an item on the Cabinet’s agenda. The suave and bespectacled Minister unabashedly visited his colleagues to seek their support so that the matter would not be taken up and approved by the Cabinet.
The Minister’s family has interests in the media, especially television, and he told his colleagues that the Cabinet’s approval would ruin the family business. The Prime Minister did not take kindly to the Minister going to such lengths as to lobby personally with his Ministerial colleagues. The matter was duly approved. Now it is the turn of the said Minister to be upset. However, there has been no murmur of dissent from the other members of the Cabinet.
Sharma averts showdown with Pawar
commerce, food secys in war of letters
The Union Commerce and Industry Ministry recently displayed presence of mind and tact in avoiding a showdown with a major ally, the Nationalist Congress Party of Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar. The bone of would-be contention was the PMO’s directive to import foodgrains should the need arise despite comfortable buffer stocks. Had the Commerce Ministry pushed for import of foodgrains, it would have raised Pawar’s hackles. So Commerce Minister Anand Sharma chose to skip the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers to consider the PMO’s request to import foodgrains.
Sharma appeared peeved with Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar writing a strongly worded letter to the Union Food Ministry, which apparently angered Pawar. The exchange of letters between the Secretaries of Commerce and Food are now being sought under the provisions of the Right to Information Act by the political establishment to understand what had transpired which led to the two senior civil servants locking horns.
Praful fiddles while Indian burns…
lifestyle at odds with airline losses
The flamboyant lifestyle of Praful Patel, the former Jet Airways director-turned industrialist-turned politician, is well known. The chum of Sharad Pawar travels with industrialist Vijay Mallya in the latter’s private jet, holds his daughter’s wedding in Udaipur Palace, has a liking for watches and is a health freak. At his Cee Yay mansion in Worli, a line-up of brand new cars hits the eye besides a well-appointed, luxurious gym, a dining hall table that seats 32 guests and a fabulously stocked bar.
Now, all this would be very well and the Civil Aviation Minister’s private business were it not for the loss amounting to Rs 5000 crore suffered by Indian and the prospect of the same amount of losses in the next five years.
Azhagiri weighs anchor in Delhi
babu shifted from ministry
After finding it difficult to get his bearings in the national capital till recently, Union Fertilizers Minister MK Azhagiri of the DMK has, after some delay, moved into his official bungalow in Kamaraj Lane. This provided an opportunity for the family to have a house warming. The occasion also served to send a signal to his detractors that he is now firmly entrenched in Delhi and not breezing off to Chennai at the drop of a hat.
Azhagiri has proved that he has a say in Delhi’s matters. The PMO acceded to his request to shift senior civil servant Atul Chaturvedi from the Fertilizers Ministry. Chaturvedi has been transferred to the Ministry of Steel. But MPs in the rival AIADMK camp are wondering aloud why a Union Minister should be wary of a bureaucrat!
