of no use to party
As expected by political watchers, Congress General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai has been denied a berth in the Union Cabinet by the party high command. She was apparently not in demand by the party in her home state, UP, during the elections. However, she did make a few private visits to her home town of Barabanki as well as to Lucknow where the Congress had fielded former state Chief Secretary PL Punia and the state unit president, Reeta Bahuguna Joshi, respectively. Punia won while Joshi was defeated by the BJP candidate.
Sources say Mohsina did not want either to win; Punia got the ticket on the intervention of 10, Janpath with whom she has fallen out of favour while Joshi is supposedly her rival in the internal politics of UP.
A Rajya Sabha member from Chhattisgarh, Mohsina would either tour the state accompanied by one of her controversial staff members or would prefer to entertain her relatives, visiting from Pakistan. Meanwhile, Congress workers would be neglected. Angry, they kept a tab on her activities and tattled to the high command. With Chhattisgarh having slipped out of Congress hands, her utility in Congress politics has come under question.
Khanduri’s murky midnight
wiliness saves chair
A bit of dark diplomacy – a most apt phrase, under the circumstances – was what saved the chair of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Maj Gen BC Khanduri after the general election. The BJP debacle in his state had paved the way for his ouster.
Two central observers of the party, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Khevar Chand Gehlot, visited the state and met all the 34 party MLAs and sought their individual opinion. Apparently, 24 held Khanduri responsible for the debacle and wanted his immediate removal. When Naqvi was on his way back to Delhi at midnight, he got a call from the residence of the Chief Minister and turned back. After an hour-long meeting with Khanduri, Naqvi called party president Rajnath Singh, who told him to submit a report to him the next day in Delhi.
The report said that Khanduri enjoyed the confidence of 24 MLAs with only 10 opposed to him. Showing commitment to democracy within the party, the president asked Khanduri to continue.
Priyanka, model VVIP
bitiya rani is a darling
But for her full-time involvement in electioneering and the interface with the public during the Lok Sabha election in Amethi, and an occasional Page 3 appearance, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remains a pleasing enigma for the ordinary citizen.
Lucky Dilliwallahs get glimpses of her whizzing past in a car under heavy security. Unlike the majority of VVIPs, she prefers to remain low-profile – causing a minimum of inconvenience to traffic on account of her security. It is also said that she dislikes honking and has been observed keenly reading hoardings and posters while riding in her car, perhaps to remain updated on day-to-day political events. At other times, she keeps text messaging or talking on her phone.
Her security personnel are well aware of her likes and dislikes – that the siren is not to be used and every traffic signal is to be honoured. Best of all, if someone waves to her and she notices it, she is bound to wave back with a smile.
Ambani operation
war room hospitality
With the Lok Sabha election over, the hoi polloi forgotten and the same old breed of businessmen, political lobbyists and vested interests running the show, everything is back to normal in the life of the government, industry and nation. The usual machinations and manipulations are in motion again.
When news of Mukesh Ambani making major gains reached Anil Ambani, the younger brother turned a suite in Claridges, a Delhi five-star hotel owned by an arms dealer, into his war room. The time left for action was only a day as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had almost finished giving final touches to the shape of the Union Cabinet.
The message from the war room was flashed to the control tower of the Congress and Anil Ambani loyalists started entering Claridges after twilight. Among them, unnoticed, came Congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, accompanied by Ambani himself. They joined the waiting lot in the suite and the get-together with dinner and other hospitalities lasted until daybreak. At the end, a visibly relaxed Ambani came out with a smile on his face.
