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 Royal Bow
Delhi: Believe it: royals can be humble.
Back with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from Mauritius, Minister of
State for Small-Scale Industries Vasundhara Raje showed it. As ministers
and senior officials lined up to greet Air-India Flight 001, she followed
Vajpayee down the steps. The first two ministers in the queue were BJP top
brass: Home Minister L.K. Advani and External Affairs Minister Jaswant
Singh. As Vajpayee moved on, "Vasu", as she is called in these
circles, bent to touch the feet first of Advani and then of Singh before
veering away. Respect over royalty.
Welcome Change
Bhubaneswar: With the Orissa Assembly
scheduled to meet soon, there is an air of expectancy among the newly
elected MLAs. And some speculation too -- over how House proceedings will
be conducted. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik does not speak Oriya. In
contrast, Leader of the Opposition Ramakanta Mishra speaks nothing but
Oriya. So how will the two communicate? Obviously, no words will be
exchanged and it should be a quieter session.
In the Wrong
Direction
Delhi: Believers in Vastu in the BJP may
well be having a rethink. On the eve of assembly elections, the party
headquarters on Delhi's Ashok Road was given a facelift. The pillars
holding the main iron gates were demolished to make way for black granite
slabs. Over in Patna, again on the advice of experts, the main gate at the
state headquarters facing south-west was closed and a new one facing
north- west erected. The results show they needn't have bothered.
Between Pegs
Bangalore: What do out-of-work former chief
ministers aspire to be? Karnataka's J.H. Patel did nothing more memorable
than stocking up the bar in the chief minister's house in Bangalore, but
now he is keen on a governor's job. His friends -- and he has many in the
right places -- are pushing his case for a possible stint at the Panaji
Raj Bhavan. That should suit Patel who looks at work as something you do
in between two pegs.
CONFESSIONAL
The Congress got wiped out in Orissa but state
party chief J.B. Patnaik attributes the BJD-BJP's landslide victory not to
the Biju legacy, but to the Vajpayee factor.
As PCC chief, do you accept responsibility for the Congress'
defeat?
A. I took over as PCC chief just 12 days before elections. Yet we won
26 seats. Our vote share was 34 per cent, more than that of any other
party.
But you yourself lost by over 40,000 votes?
A. I made a mistake by changing my constituency. Also, as the only
campaigner besides Soniaji, I could spend just three days in Athagarh.
Was the vote for Naveen Patnaik or against you?
A. The BJD's victory had nothing to do with Biju Patnaik's legacy.
There is nothing called a Biju legacy. If there was anything, it was the
Vajpayee factor.
Did frequent change of chief ministers affect the Congress' chances?
A. Yes, it did no good to the party. It was a mistake, even the
leadership admits it.
You are 73, going on 74. Any plans to retire?
A. What is retirement? Life is work. Life is not about retirement. You
can take a break once in a while and do something else, but you can't
retire.
-Ruben Banerjee
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