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| Safe bet? |
Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Is that why LK Advani may be considering contesting elections from Bhopal? If he does so, that would mean Advaniji is shifting out of his Lok Sabha constituency of Gandhinagar, which obviously falls within the territory of his bête noire, Narendra Modi, who is the chief minister of Gujarat. Given that the proposition of Bhopal is supposed to have been put forward by the Madhya Pradesh CM, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the chance of a heart burn seems to be stronger than the possibility of it softening. Even if Chauhan manages to convince Advani to take the plunge and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s parliamentary board approves it, there may be two hiccoughs for the party. One, the sitting member of parliament in Bhopal is a party veteran and former CM of the state. The octogenarian leader is said to be reluctant to vacate the seat, even if it is for Advani. Two, Sushma Swaraj is already a Lok Sabha MP from Vidisha, which is not very far away. Can the BJP afford to have two heavyweights in the same state, both being ‘outsiders’?
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The closer he gets to the end of his term, the more anxious he becomes. The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, is almost at the end of his tether over the tiff between the Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation. In fact, he seems to be worrying over it more than the price rise and rupee-dollar fluctuation. The PM had apparently even asked the national security advisor to step in, but the diplomat’s efforts have not borne fruit. Apparently, Singh is fretting that if the tussle continues a little longer, there could be the real possibility of some sensitive State secrets leaking out.
The meddling of a leading functionary of the All India Congress Committee in the running of the Union home ministry also seems to have irked the PM. But as usual, there is no trace of this inner turmoil on the placid surface.
There are many theories about why the United Progressive Alliance government’s media campaign on ‘Bharat Nirman’ suddenly vanished from the small screen. Given that the government had spent millions of rupees on showcasing its achievements over the past nine years, the sudden withdrawal of the advertisement is curious.
The Narendra Modi camp has an explanation. It says that the ad stopped after Modi pointed out that instead of “Bharat nirman, haq hai mera”, the campaign should have read, “Bharat nirman, shaq hai mera”. Really?
The controversial stint of the Delhi police commissioner, Neeraj Kumar, is about to end. But the choice of a replacement could turn out to be no less controversial. Among the frontrunners for the job are Vimla Mehra, director general (prisons) of Tihar, Bhimsen Bassi, a top officer in the Delhi police and Kanwaljeet Deol, DG with the National Human Rights Commission. Of the three, Mehra is said to have an edge, thanks to the Union home minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde. The minister believes that the force should have someone from the Dalit community at the helm for it to be sensitive to Dalit and women’s issues as these go largely unnoticed. A woman at the top post could also help reduce crime against women in the capital. One hopes that this time his theories work.
The popularity graph of the BJP national secretary and spokesperson, Vani Tripathi, is showing a steep rise. The former actor is not just an ace politician; she operates smoothly on the social circuit as well. In the capital, her social dos are much sought after. So when Tripathi had her birthday party recently, her residence showed a curious mix of politicians cutting across party lines, film-makers, artists, writers, journalists and socialites. The Union minister for information and broadcasting, Manish Tiwari, was there, as was Sunanda Pushkar, but without her husband, Shashi Tharoor. Vani, who uses her lung power against the high and mighty of the Congress on television news channels, was seen playing the perfect host to her on-screen rivals.
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Footnote
Lead again
The appointment of new lieutenant-governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, has caused a lot of heartburn in the Congress. Jung, a bureaucrat-turned academician, is not a traditional Congressman. Besides, there were several aspirants waiting to fill the shoes of Tejendra Khanna. Of all of them, the one most upset with the appointment is apparently Anil Shastri — the son of Lal Bahadur Shastri — apart from a clutch of retired armymen. Given the thick web of politics in the capital, Jung will have to make his way with care. Perhaps his experience on the stage will be of some help. Jung, who is currently doing his PhD on energy economics, had started taking an active interest in Delhi’s Sufi circuit when he was the vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University. As the VC, Jung played the role of Akbar in the play, Anarkali-Akbar-Salim. It is time to play king again!
