out to win friends, influence people
It is said Communications Minister A Raja, belonging to the DMK, is seeking an image makeover. After the controversy in which he was alleged to have tried to influence a judge of the Madras High Court, Raja is peeved with the media in his home state. The media blew up the issue after the AIADMK statement charging him with making the telephone call to the judge.
Seeking to make a mark with the national media, he has given a PR executive the task of endearing him to mediapersons in the national capital. And the brief is not to single out scribes from the South working for various newspapers and TV networks but to be all-inclusive. The PR person has had her share of controversy in the past and many people are wondering aloud if she will be able to deliver.
Raja, who usually steers clear of the Central Hall of Parliament, was recently seen tarrying beneath the high dome in an apparent bid to send signals that senior mediapersons could approach him. However, few scribes ventured to chat with him.
Not Joshi’s cup of tea
delhi not suiting rahul-picked rajasthani
Union Rural Development Minister CP Joshi, a handpicked colleague of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, is reportedly all at sea when it comes to discharging his duties and responsibilities, The Ministry has several flagship programmes of the Congress-led UPA government. Insiders aver that Joshi is feeling like a fish out of water. He has approached the Prime Minister’s Office for changing some of the schemes of the Rural Development Ministry.
It appears that Joshi, who has been a legislator in Rajasthan, is floundering in the new and overwhelming environment of the national capital. Will somebody please help…?
Azhagiri juggling affairs
minister yet to find feet in delhi
On the insistence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, his son MK Azhagiri has been uprooted from his home state and made a Union Minister with Cabinet rank. This was done to avoid a showdown in the family with brother MK Stalin emerging as the heir apparent to CM at Fort St George in Chennai.
Azhagiri has three personal secretaries, including a highly trusted person brought in from Chennai. But he is mostly in Coimbatore as he is worried that, during his absence, somebody might usurp his borough. Overseeing the Chemicals and Fertilizer portfolio, his Minister of State is Shrikant Jena of the Congress. There is hardly any communication between the two as Azhagiri barely speaks English or Hindi. It is unclear if he has ensured proper distribution of work.
When Azhagiri assumed office amid much fanfare, he was quite curious about all the phones on his desk. Unsure of whom to ask, he rang up his uncle, Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran quite a few times for help.
Tharoor’s 5-star jaunt
government guesthouse unsuitable
By now, everyone knows that the new Minster of State in the MEA, Shashi Tharoor, is rather different from our average politician. And we are not referring to his tweeting! He had a distinguished career as a United Nations official and an author and columnist before he decided to take a plunge into politics in the last general election.
He was the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information between June 2002 and February 2007. When the election for the office of Secretary General took place in 2006, he was India’s official candidate but secured second place. Once he won the Lok Sabha election, it was understood that he would be a Minister.
However, after the electoral victory, he was given a 120 sq ft room in the Kerala government guesthouse. Tharoor shifted to the Taj hotel. Considering his background, this was quite in order. But it raised a lot of eyebrows in official circles. In India, MPs, especially Ministers, do not come to the House from 5-star hotels!
