It is ‘appraisal time’ in the country, not just for professionals but also for parliamentarians. The Parliamentary Affairs Cell, reportedly, has submitted a report to the PM, evaluating the performance of some of his cabinet ministers. Manmohan Singh would be happy with those in Grade A — Pranab Mukherjee, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and 11 others — for their ‘quick reflexes’ to defend the government against the many charges levelled at it. Next in rank were those with lung power, Lalu Prasad and a few others, who raised a din with their shouting and sloganeering while answering queries. But the basket had its share of rotten apples too — five ministers with C grades, including Murli Deora and Saifuddin Soz. All eyes are now on the ‘teacher’, Manmohan Singh, who would now have to decide on what to do with poor pupils during the next cabinet reshuffle. Is Deora and Co. now worried about not paying attention in class?
India lost to Australia. Harbhajan & Co. fell to Australian cunning. BCCI lost face by soft-pedalling the issue. So who won? Jagmohan Dalmiya, without doubt. Jaggu dada could easily claim credit for the board turning the racism slur on Harbhajan into a matter of “national honour and pride”. Soon after the controversy broke and the BCCI hesitated to react, SMS-es went flying about, saying more or less this: TV rights money is more important to the BCCI than the country’s pride. Only a fighter like Jagmohan Dalmiya can restore the said wounded pride now. The BCCI bosses sensed the threat, and pronto, the issue became one of national honour and pride. Hopefully, Bhajji fans will know where to send their ‘thank you’ notes now. Dalmiya’s only competition could come from the BJP — Maharashtra’s Prakash Javdekar to Gujarat’s Narendra Modi — which also wasted no time to target fireworks at Congressman Sharad Pawar’s fiefdom. Till, of course, Arun Jaitley asked his partymen to kindly keep politics away from the 22 yards. So, we guess, Jagmohan Dalmiya wins this round.
The spirits are high in India’s chambers of commerce. Apparently, the Assocham is delighted with the way India’s villages have taken to the drink of the gods. Village folk, it has been revealed, have drunk 35 per cent of the total wine consumed in the current financial year. They are, it seems, rather taken with wine as health food. Little wonder then that rural India is contributing no less than Rs 500 crore to the kitty of wine sales every year. The change in consumption pattern in villages, from liquor to wine, is, Assocham feels, a sign of their progress and prosperity. Heady days, it seems, are round the corner, at least in our gaons.
Congressmen seldom cross swords with Veerappa Moily. Even senior leaders in the party are wary of the man. The other day, Priyada was briefing the media on an ordinance concerning the delimitation exercise when a scribe asked him the Centre’s views on the second reorganization of states’ commission. Das Munshi answered that the proposal was in the pipeline, but another journalist pointed out that Moily was on record saying that the matter was already under active consideration. A hapless Das Munshi surrendered, saying Moily knew best. On another occasion, Chavan too ‘gave up’ on another matter, the moment someone mentioned Moily’s name. So what is the secret of Moily’s power? AICC office-bearers, one hears, consider him to be the eyes and ears of the PM, while Union ministers look at him as a 10 Janpath man. No one knows for sure which description fits Moily the best, but, amidst all the confusion, the man continues to strut with his head held high.
Q: How many kinds of Patels are there in Gujarat? A: Four. And they are: the Leuva Patels, the Kadva Patels, the Anjana Patels, and, Ahmad Patel.
Note: The last named is a group of one, close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the party’s campaign-in-charge for the recently-concluded Gujarat assembly polls. The Congress lost.
Footnote
Why do international air passengers hate heading for Delhi in the winters? Because fog and congestion send flights here and there around Delhi. And most often, the revised destination turns out to be Ahmedabad. For the die-hard tourist wanting to explore as many square inches of India as he can, this might be a delightful surprise, but for most of the other mortals aboard, it spells nothing but irritation and trouble. And that is not merely because plans and appointments need to be rescheduled, but rather, because there is no way the resentment at all this can be drowned in a peg or two. Gujarat is a dry state, after all. Some passengers have been heard saying that they did not land in Ahmedabad by choice. Word has apparently reached Union aviation minister Praful Patel’s ears too. But his hands are tied. The only one who can uncork the bubbly is, of course, Narendra Modi. But dare one suggest?
