chidambaram means business
North Block is awash with the buzz that Home Minister P Chidambaram’s no-nonsense attitude cannot be countered. This was learnt the hard way by a high-ranking IPS officer from the Kerala cadre, who recently became Special Secretary (Internal Security). The poor man simply went to pay a courtesy call on Chidambaram, and was given 36 hours to read files and catch up on the internal security scenario before coming again to brief the Minister.
No sooner had the 36 hours lapsed, the Special Secretary got a telephone call from Chidambaram himself, asking him to come over for a briefing. Needless to say, the officer had to burn the midnight oil before the appointment with the Minister.
In another instance, Chidambaram flew to Raipur on January 19 for a review meeting of the unified command as Chhattisgarh is one of the states worst affected by Naxal violence. While there, he minced no words in delivering his message to the Maoist cadre – nobody in a democratic set-up can aspire to power by the gun.
Birthday gaffe
Birthday gaffe
When Mayawati shrugged off accusations that her partymen had forcefully collected money from bureaucrats and businessmen for her birthday – simply saying that party workers had doubled their financial contribution this year – it provided a cue to her seniormost Minister, Nasimuddin Siddiqui, to repeat her statement during a speech to party workers on the birthday.
However, in a bad slip of the tongue, Siddiqui said, “Iss baar Behenji ke janam din par party karyakartaon ne doguna chanda vasool kar diya hai (this time party workers raised double collection by extortion).” Realizing his mistake immediately, he hastened to clarify, “Vasoolne se mera matlab hai ki aapsi sahyog se ikattha kiya hai (by that I mean they have mutually contributed).” He went on to explain that protests by other political parties had motivated the BSP workers to contribute more.
For the babus, though, this year’s birthday celebration was an utter disappointment. Since simplicity was the order of the day, there was no way they could display their proximity to her. Last year, the Director General of Police, in full official regalia, had fed a piece of cake to Mayawati while others, including the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Secretary, sang “Happy Birthday”. This time, both cake and singing were missing at 5 Kalidas Marg. Dressed in their best suits and holding bouquets, UP’s bureaucrats stood waiting for her at the appointed hour. When she arrived, the officer were seen vying with one another to be the first to wish her. And guess what most of the bouquets were composed of? Blue orchids! Long live sycophancy!
Tiwari ire on show
jibe at patil
The octogenarian Governor of Andhra Pradesh, ND Tiwari, made a shocking display of frustration while speaking at a function marking the golden jubilee of the National Institute of Rural Development at Hyderabad on December 30. He vented his feelings against none other than President Pratibha Patil, who was present, to the undying embarrassment of other dignitaries – including Chief Minister Rajshekhar Reddy and Union Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.
Tiwari had hoped to get the Presidentship of India and, when Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for political reasons, chose Patil, he has since harboured a grudge against her. At the function, he praised – or ridiculed – Patil as a good cook and said that Rashtrapati Bhavan was now becoming famous for its hospitality. He added that her husband is a farmer (which he is not).
Patil maintained her composure and humility, but the audience was left wondering why the state has been saddled with Tiwari, whose health does not permit him to stand on his own and who trembles while speaking, sometimes incoherently.
‘Mad Mulayam’
Moves anger muslims
Is Mulayam Singh Yadav bent on committing political hara-kiri in UP on the eve of the general election. He’s up against Mayawati who is mega-planning a first time entry into Delhi. But the Yadav chieftain, whose deft combining of the state’s Muslim-Yadav vote bank has produced stunning electoral victories in the past, has made a series of weird decisions.
First, he alienated his new Congress friends – without whom fighting Mayawati will be difficult – by unilaterally declaring Samajwadi Party tickets despite his seat adjustments commitment. Then he welcomed BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh into his fold, to the horror of Muslim supporters who remember Kalyan as the hardline Hindutva CM during whose regime the Babri Masjid was demolished.
One fallout of that 1992 demolition was that Congress MP Salim Sherwani, a Rajiv Gandhi associate, switched side to the SP. Sherwani, an industrialist and a modernist with a clean image, has since been SP’s winning candidate from Badaun. As a sitting MP, he was expecting his ticket again – to face the notorious D.P. Yadav, being backed by Mayawati. Mulayam asked Sherwani to start preparing for the election but finally gave the ticket to his own nephew.
Mulayam told Sherwani, “Can’t you make a sacrifice for my family?” to which Sherwani replied: “I thought I was part of your family.”
Mulayam offered him Etah and Allahabad but Sherwani has decided to go it alone despite a Congress feeler. Muslims in Badaun and the Rohilkhand division have taken out massive processions in a show of solidarity for Sherwani. One Muslim leader remarked: ” Vinash Kaale, Vipreet Buddhi (Those whom the gods destroy, they first make mad.)”
Rahul’s the man
Ticket-seekers’ rush
Rahul Gandhi apparently does not enjoy extraconstitutional authority in the Congress’ organizational matters – especially when it comes to distribution of Assembly or Lok Sabha tickets to party workers. Seemingly on the verge of stepping into South Block, he is at present considered out-of-bounds for the political lobbyists.
However, insiders say the soft-spoken, low-profile scion of the Gandhi family does have crucial clout. With the next Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the personal friends of the Gandhi family (Governors, veteran journalists, members of think tanks, and the like) have started approaching Sonia Gandhi with their lists of candidates. Go and consult the right person, Rahul, is the reply. So the flock then makes a beeline for Rahul.
