Freaky Fridays

Bad news again?

Which is the favourite day of the week for UPA leaders? The obvious guess would be Friday, for it brings with it the whiff of a weekend break after yet another hectic week. But not any longer. Come Friday, the faces grow longer among Congressmen and their allies who run the government. Each Friday brings with it the news of some fresh disaster, be it in the form of a floundering economy or threats from the Reds of pulling the rug from under the government’s feet. Even the PM and the Congress president, one hears, have come to dread Friday afternoons, because the weekly inflation rates are announced at this time every week. So much so that the Congress president reportedly summoned a top UPA functionary the other day to find out how long Fridays would continue to bring bad news. His answer? The spell could last well past 2008. Now did we hear someone from the Opposition say “Thank God for Fridays”?

No second chance

There is seldom a second innings in politics, unlike in cricket. Ask Madanlal Khurana. Khurana, who held a cabinet post in the Vajpayee government and also served as the Rajasthan governor later, had left the party in a huff after he was denied a ticket to the Upper House. He was brought back into the fold however, after he promised not to seek an office or a ticket in future. Now, with elections around the corner again, Khurana seems to be itching to wade in political waters. He has reportedly been sending feelers to party leaders demanding work and greater responsibility. He even petitioned LK Advani for the same. While the others have been non-committal, the wily Advani merely reminded Khurana of his earlier pledge. And we thought that in politics, promises are meant to be broken.

Height of intrigue

Guess who went up the mountains riding a pony to the Vaishno Devi shrine? None other than Rajnath Singh, the BJP president. On closer scrutiny, it was found that there were three ponies in the group. Singh rode one, while his aide, KP Singh, was being ferried on another. The third person, also a member of the parivar, is supposedly close to a BJP national secretary who is Rajnath’s chief rival. Surely he had not taken the difficult journey to pray to the goddess for Rajnath’s success?

Courage under fire

This column reported sometime back about AK Antony’s new responsibility to prepare a report on the ways of revitalizing the Congress. One of the cures Antony is known to have suggested is to strip a few ministers of their additional posts in the AICC. Understandably, those who may have to give up their organizational posts have now trained their guns on Antony. It did not help the defence minister that he is now part of the team trying to negotiate with the Left on the nuke deal. His induction (read elevation) came from the PMO itself, and that too on the belief that his presence ensures trust between the allies. Whatever his state of health may be, Antony is not known to be terribly exercised over the feathers ruffled.

Text trouble

The Congress is on a hunt. The proverbial mouse, in this case, happens to be the mysterious “SMS man”. The government may be hanging on by a thread, but some of its managers appear unfazed. A senior functionary has been sending regular SMS bulletins to scribes on the health of the government and its leaders. Some partymen, fearing that this flow of information may cost the Congress very dear politically, have ordered a probe at 24 Akbar Road to identify the SMS man so that steps could be taken to curtail the flow. One only hopes that this probe, unlike the one to stem inflation, meets with some success.

Change in travel plans

Whoever the SMS man is, he could, if he wishes, take a lesson or two from Rahul Gandhi on how to lie low in a moment of crisis. The Congress crown prince who doesn’t like being treated like royalty or being referred to as one, has cancelled the plans for his Bharat Yatra. Now that’s called a sacrifice, if you have read our earlier entries about the elaborate affair that he had in mind. But his inner voice (which he has surely inherited from his mother) must have told him that this isn’t the best time to go on a camping trip around the country. And so, for the time being, he has decided to serve his party in New Delhi — hoping to make the UPA a “nuclear” family again. Isn’t it a pity that only a few of his party colleagues think along the same lines?

Footnote
Safety last

At a time when politicians clamour for Z-plus security cover, it is surprising to find one having to be chased in order to be protected. And it is all the more alarming when the protectors haven’t lately been seeing eye-to-eye with the one being protected. So what if the Left and the Congress have fallen out, the Congress-led UPA government has been on CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury’s tail, relentlessly urging him to avail himself of a personal security officer, following attacks on his car and on the CPI(M) office a couple of months ago. But Yechury is playing it safe (or isn’t he?) and choosing not to antagonize his comrades by enjoying privileges offered by the Centre. Now that the government has failed to convince Yechury despite repeated appeals, it is demanding that he put in writing his refusal of upgraded security. The UPA should have been familiar with the unshakeable resolve of our Left leaders by now.