Two Winners And A Photo Finish
According to the INDIA TODAY-ORG-MARG opinion poll, there will be clear winners in two states, but a tight finish in a third.

The Last Rampage
To offset
J. Jayalalitha's slight edge, a pugnacious M. Karunanidhi gives it his all in what is his final electoral campaign.

The Sixth Sense
A mercurial Mamata Banerjee vs a dependable Buddhadev Bhattacharya. The mismatch leaves the Left Front with a premonition of victory.

Secular Stake
Even as the Church makes a blatant move to play a more political role in the state, the CPI(M) nominates a priest to woo minorities.

One Man Barmy
India's apex social sciences facilitating body is rocked by civil war: the chairman says he is being opposed by both RSS ideologues and leftist academics.

Changing Order
An ageing profile and a frustrated officer corps leads the force to consider VRS and restructuring.

Liquid Asset
The Rs 700-crore industry has attracted many players. Now, purity will decide who stays in business.

Board Of No Control
Tax authorities say the BCCI spends more money on meetings than on matches.

THE NATION: ICSSR

Bhaskar Chatterjee's Appointment Aggravates The Situation

Matters came to a head, Sondhi rues, when Bhaskar Chatterjee, former joint secretary, HRD Ministry, was selected for a three-year term as member-secretary, ICSSR. The Sangh "wanted its own man". Sondhi has suggested this was either Bajaj or Devendra Swarup, a retired history professor and, to Sondhi's mind, the "extra-constitutional authority" masterminding the "assault" on ICSSR.

Swarup only points to the fact that at 76 he is 21 years older than the maximum age for an applicant. He also accuses Sondhi of gross improprieties. While not a member of ICSSR, Swarup says he was consulted by Joshi before Sondhi's appointment and now laments the "error of judgement". From what his "friends on the council have told" him, the chairman is not "a team player and is adopting a dictatorial attitude". As a former ifs officer, he is also "focusing excessively on foreign affairs". As for the Saksena controversy, one council member retorts, "Her proposal said she was going to Stanford University to collect material on the Babri demolition. We only raised the valid question as to what gainful work could be done in America."

In its criticism of Sondhi's "procedural irregularities", the Sangh wing finds support from ICSSR folks usually opposed to it. As per the rules, the chairman has discretionary powers to spend "no more than Rs 1 lakh on a particular project". Bigger expenses have to be cleared by the council. In October 2000, Sondhi hosted a seminar on Asia Pacific at a five-star hotel in Delhi which cost "Rs 60-70 lakh". As Partha Ghosh, a director at ICSSR, says, "To put things in perspective, the total allocation for research projects and fellowships during 2000-01 was just Rs 40 lakh." Sondhi's fondness for seminars has led to an expense in the past year of "over Rs 2 crore".

Ghosh, who was also an applicant for the member-secretary's job, was instrumental in mobilising ICSSR's academic and clerical staff a month ago into collectively writing an anguished letter to the chairman. The act had Sondhi labelling him "a trade unionist". The ICSSR staff, on its part, has misgivings about Chatterjee-an IAS officer whose family is known to Sondhi-"and not somebody from the academic community" becoming member-secretary.

A more serious challenge to Sondhi came on January 9 this year when 12 members of the council wrote to the acting member-secretary, requesting a "special meeting of the council to discuss various irregularities" under "rule 16(C)" of the ICSSR memorandum of association. The meeting was scheduled for January 24 and then deferred due to Sondhi's "ill-health". Finally, a regular meeting of the council was called on February 13, where the letter was simply not discussed. Instead, Sondhi spoke non-stop for three hours forestalling any other comment and refusing to allow Kaw even a word. When an impromptu no-confidence motion was handed to him, he "tore it up".

At this "bakwas" (rubbish), to quote a participant, 13 members walked out. By this time an exasperated Kaw too had left. Sondhi continued the meeting with a rump of three members including himself.

Just why has a BJP lamb become a raging bull? Sondhi has always been a maverick whether at JNU, where he taught, or in politics. As the Jan Sangh candidate who defeated the formidable Meher Chand Khanna from the New Delhi constituency in 1967, he was a hero. Five years later, he had fought Vajpayee and company and joined Charan Singh's Bharatiya Lok Dal. Two decades on "the prodigal son" came back to the BJP and got himself a job. Joshi was an early patron but Sondhi now guesses the HRD minister is envious of the ICSSR chief's proximity to Vajpayee. The "proximity", others argue, is exaggerated.

Independent observers smirk that Sondhi has always been a bit of a politician among academics and an academic among politicians. "He says the Marxists sidelined him in JNU," says Swarup, "but did they also prevent him from writing a memorable book?" The most wicked story of all is the one about the condolence meeting for M.N. Srinivas, the sociologist who died in 2000. "Sondhi," recalls an ICSSR insider, "had to be briefed on who Srinivas was and even pronounced his name as Srinivasan."

India's social science czar may just be elevating solecism to a science.

MetroScape

Bond Free
The Savoy in Mussoorie must be the only hotel, apart from the Raffles in Singapore, to have a thing about writers. So, it was quite kismet when publisher Pramod Kapoor of Roli Books and author Namita Gokhale, who has an imprint with him, hosted the Ruskin Bond Festschrift—a Writers' Retreat in honour of that gentle Indian Roald Dahl, Ruskin Bond.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Cinema:
Canadian film festival

Delhi Art Fest:
Documenta

Bangalore Play:
Little Theatre