| Published on 29-08-2008 In General |
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Written by
Insider |
Rahul Mantra—No PAN, No office
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Have you got PAN card? The Congress under Rahul Gandhi is constantly experimenting. After board like interviews for office bearers and creation of 'aam admi ka sipahi' force, the AICC general secretary has launched a campaign that is bound to please the income tax department. Each person aspiring to head national or state bodies of the Youth Congress or the National Student Union of India (NSUI), will have to produce his/her PAN card. Ostensibly, it is aimed at bringing in "clean" persons in the party. But old timers feel the conditionality may prove to be a tad stiff on Congress-wallahs who are not in a habit of filing yearly returns. Moreover, a bulk of them project themselves as too 'aam admi' to possess PAN cards though their lifestyles and list of monthly expenses speak otherwise.
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Cash for votes—what next?
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The cash-for-votes controversy is refusing to die down. The Kishore Chandra Deo committee has completed its report but the NDA is finding it unacceptable. Their view is that the committee has tried to improve the 'white-wash' standards set by Ram Niwas Mirdha panel (which had probed bank securities scam) and B. Shankaranand committee (that had gone into Bofors' scam). Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has his own take on the issue and plans to hold a round-table conference of political parties on September 4,but the expelled CPM member's proposal has few takers. The news from the BJP is that Deo committee findings will be challenged both inside and outside parliament and probably, the NDA would quit Lok Sabha en masse if the government remains unfazed. The only catch in the strategy is that there is no unanimity over mass resignations in the NDA.
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Mani's Kashmir conundrum
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The sudden burst of emotions in Kashmir has rattled many in the UPA. A surprised man is Union Panchayti Raj and North-east minister Mani Shankar Aiyar. Aiyar has his own reasons to disbelieve what is happening in Srinagar and elsewhere in the valley. The minister was at Dal lake in June when a Sufi concert was held at the lake. 'Junoon', the music group had managed to get over 10,000 music lovers on a working day afternoon, which was extraordinary. The minister had spent over three hours inside a 'shikara' and written a speech that was later delivered at Stanford University. Aiyar was so moved by serene lake that he almost forgot that man plying shikara had got too tired by the time he punched the final word on his lap-top. Along with apologies, Aiyar had given him Rs.1500 in cash. The career diplomat-turned politician is unable to fathom how with within three months, things could change so drastically in Kashmir where everyone is shouting Azadi and Pakistan zindabad these days.
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Kamdev to Ramdev!
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Mumbai's Deepa Bar is set for a change. For years, Deepa was famous for it's bar dancers, their jhatkas and the great atmosphere that came with it. Scamsters, cricketers, gamblers, men with loads of slush money came running each evening to shower currency at Tarannum and other curvaceous beauties. Abdul Karim Telgi is said to have given her a "note bath" where the currency collected was said to be over a million. A Sri Lankan cricketer in company of a failed actor was so charmed by her that he refused to leave the Bar well past mid-night. The spinner was spell-bound and kept asking for more.
The temple for fun and frolic will now be known as "Swami Baba Ramdevji Yog Chiktsa Kendra." Yes, where Tarannum flaunted her assets, yoga Guru will give his discourses at the property spread over 8500 square feet and teach finer points of kapilabharti, Patanjali and other yoga technique. In its new avatar, the premises promises will offer free medical services to the needy and infirm. But not everyone is happy over the change. While Sanjay Dutt and Mumbai political folks were heard complimenting Deepa Bar owner Sudhakar Shetty for his change of heart, a cynic was heard commenting, "alas now Ramdev has replaced Kamdev!"
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Diggy Raja's gambits
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Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh is a busy man.
As AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Diggy raja spends hours in company of Rahul Gandhi trying to stitch up an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in the larger national interest of the party. But in the home state, he acts like a local politician. The other day he was in Chhindwara to attend a party meet to present a united face of Madhya Pradesh Congress in a state where assembly polls are due in November. Everything was going smoothly till Digvijay got a chance to speak. Looking at Chhindwara MP Kamal Nath, Digvijay wondered aloud how he wishes Union Commerce and Industry minister becomes the next chief minister of the state. Many heads turned and in a flash of seconds, faces of Jyotiradtiya Scindia and MPCC chief Suresh Pachauri fell. As if enjoying discomfort of chief ministerial aspirants, Digvijay went on declaring that he would not be contesting assembly polls.
Digvijay's words assume importance as it was spoken within minutes of AICC general secretary in charge of the state V. Narayan Swamy announcing that there will be no projection of a chief ministerial nominee as the Congress had no traditions. Perhaps Swamy should elaborate more to say if there are traditions of observing party
discipline for seniors like Digvijay?
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Pranab not for internal affairs!
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Kashmir crisis has not seen UPA's key troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee in front line. Apparently his designation is coming in way. The political leadership is bit reluctant to engage the External Affairs minister in an issue that it perceives as completely domestic. It is not that Pranab has not been used to defuse domestic political crisis but the very nature of Kashmir crisis, its historical background and political implications is forcing Dr. Manmohan Singh to avoid using "Mr. Dependable" in full international glare.
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No roof for Jayanti
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Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan has made it to Rajya Sabha and given her seniority, she is entitled to move into one of the palatial bungalows in Lutyen's Delhi. But so far, she has not been very successful and now veering round the view to settle for a flat. Jayanti had zeroed in on a bungalow that was occupied by Suresh Pachauri. Before she could act, minister of state for parliamentary affairs V. Narayanswamy grabbed it. Next, she eyed houses belonging to Janardhan Poojari and Akhilesh Das at Pandara Road and Lodhi Estate respectively but both veterans seem to stay on and are prepared to pay penal rent.
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Congress games
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With "guruji" Shibu Soren getting his "due," in home state Jharkhand, Samajwadi Party wallahs are wondering aloud when their turn would come. But a senior Congress functionary asserts that inclusion of Samajwadi Party in the union council of ministers was never on Congress-SP agenda. According to him, this was done to keep the SP workers morale high till seat-sharing formula was worked out. Additionally, it was used to keep the pressure on junior ministers in Manmohan cabinet and secure exit of the likes of Ashwani Kumar.
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To campaign or not to campaign
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Can National Commission for Women (NCW) chief campaign for a political party in an assembly polls. Yes, feels NCW chairperson Girja Vyas. No, says the former NCW chairperson Purnima Advani.
Girja, a Congress leader from Rajasthan justifies her inclusion in the party's campaign committee for November assembly polls. She claims that being a political appointee, she was entitled to maintain her political identity. After all, the chairperson of Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan too campaigned for the Congress in recent Karnataka assembly polls. Interestingly, the NCW act framed in 1990 is silent on this crucial aspect.
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