Follow the tune

Musical trend

From traffic signals in Calcutta, it is over to the Rajya Sabha. The Upper House witnessed a unique tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary recently. Expectedly, there were five speeches — all of them in Bengali — as well as one Rabindrasangeet. The Trinamul Congress leader, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, spoke for 12 minutes, elaborating on Tagore’s influence on the nationalist movement in India. Roy then asked for the House’s permission to sing “Hingshai Unmukto Prithibi”. Though he sang only eight lines, he left a trail of admirers in the wake of his performance. Among them was the leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley, who patted him on the back. After the performance, a jubilant Derek O’Brien tweeted, “Heard many speeches in the Rajya Sabha, first time heard a song.” The Lok Sabha has recently compiled a book of parliamentary humour. It states that Mamata Banerjee had apparently once sung a song in the House. This fact will undoubtedly bring a smile to Roy’s face. He can now gloat that, like a loyal soldier, he was simply following in the footsteps of the ‘general’.

Tickets, please

Mukul Roy’s supporters have now earned their tickets to ride. Ever since Didi got Roy to replace Dinesh Trivedi as the Union railways minister, there has been a mad rush among his supporters to claim ‘confirmed tickets’. This has led to considerable heartburn among other leaders of the party. At least three ministers who wanted to book train tickets for their near and dear ones were informed by the railways that their requests could not be entertained. During Didi’s reign in the ministry, Left leaders would often mutter that their requests for tickets had been turned down. Now, with Roy at the helm, even TMC ministers are finding out what it feels like to be left out.

Open race

If wishes were horses, many Congress ministers in the United Progressive Alliance would love to be jockeys. Whispers of Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for the post of president have brightened the prospects of a vacancy in the Union finance ministry. This has got a number of ministers all excited. P Chidambaram has the experience to be considered a legitimate claimant for the post. But he faces a hitch. None of his colleagues seems to be willing to handle internal security. Poor PC may thus remain rooted to the home ministry. Senior leaders like Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh and Kapil Sibal have thrown their hats in the ring too. Not to be outdone, even a junior minister like Jyotiraditya Scindia has expressed his willingness to serve under the guidance of the prime minister if the latter were to take additional charge of the portfolio. But the competition seems to have miffed the likes of Kamal Nath, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, and Sushil Kumar Shinde. Nath has been elected to the Lok Sabha nine times; Azad and Shinde are former chief ministers while Soni is an old warhorse. The race is set to heat up. What’s worse, in this instance, the party will not be able to turn to Pranabda to douse the flames.

Mixed message

Given Mulayam Singh Yadav’s whims, Congressmen remain perpetually worried as to whether they can count on him. Now, they have been joined by Samajwadi Party supporters who are having trouble decoding Netaji’s edicts. Mulayam failed to turn up at a party meeting held in Ahmedabad to drum up support for the candidate for the upcoming polls. Ramji Lal Suman, a lesser known face, was despatched instead. Mulayam’s priorities had been different after the SP conquered Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam had then told his partymen to prepare for another battle — to keep the communal forces at bay in Gujarat. But the Congress’s decision not to field a candidate against Dimple Yadav, the dinner invitation to UPA II’s third anniversary and Sonia Gandhi’s lavish compliments seem to have put paid to Mulayam’s grand plans for the SP in Gujarat. He has been heard telling the party cadre to let the Congress take on Narendra Modi to prevent the division of the secular vote. SP leaders remain confused as a result, while Congressmen grumble about having to take on Modi alone.

Hot seat

Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s ‘smart toilet’ — which opens and shuts with the help of a swipe card — is being demanded by many leaders who want it to be installed in their ministries. But wily Montek is having none of it. The claimants — some of whom are Aluwalia’s detractors — have been told that they are in the queue.

FOOTNOTE

Strong bond

It isn’t as if Mulayam Singh Yadav is the only one with whims. When it comes to fads, Amma would perhaps beat him hands down. Those who watched J Jayalalithaa during her recent trip to the capital were greeted by a strange sight. Wherever she went, an aide followed her bearing a special chair. The chair was placed before her every time she paused to sit. Expectedly, this spectacle has set tongues wagging. It was later revealed that an astrologer has instructed Jayalalithaa to only sit on a chair made of wood. This, the wise man has told the lady, would help her ward off the evil eye. But Jayalalithaa’s antics have brought a smile on the faces of her detractors. They are eagerly pointing out that the incident only confirms Amma’s love for the kursi.