Dial A for 'Amma' Delhi: When
"amma" comes calling -- armed with a long list of demands -- Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee is a harassed man. As for the AIADMK ministers, they live in constant
dread of a call from Chennai. On party president Jayalalitha's instruction, they have
acquired a new set of mobile phones. Minister of State for Finance R.K. Kumar, who now has
two cell phones, keeps one on his table all the time, meant only for incoming calls.
Often, it's "amma" on the line and Kumar jumps up with an "Yes,
ma'am". The other AIADMK minister, Thambi Durai, who is in charge of the sensitive
law portfolio, is also armed with two mobile phones. For, one never knows when
"amma" may call.
Via Media
Delhi: Though
he meets some journalists informally, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is yet to offer an
on-the-record interview to the media. A close aide hints at the US example, where the
president gives a couple of selected interviews in a year. The White House, however, has
polished spokespersons to give the president's views. This can hardly be said of Race
Course Road. Apart from the Press Information Bureau, it's Vajpayee's personal secretary,
the taciturn Shakti Sinha, who handles the press. Yet, it is Pramod Mahajan, the
media-savvy political adviser to Vajpayee, who is sought after by journalists. So, while
Vajpayee keeps mum, Mahajan does all the talking, including the intriguing stories on
transfers and postings.
Promising Duo
Lucknow: The
rivalry between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and Samajwadi Party chief
Mulayam Singh Yadav was on display recently during their "coronation" by two
caste groups. While Kalyan was presented a gold crown and a silver sword by the Prantiya
Kshatriya Pratinidhi Mahasabha, Mulayam was crowned by the UP Sahu-Rathore Chetna Samiti
for supporting the backward classes. A Lodh-Rajput himself, Kalyan promised the Kshatriyas
a memorial for Maharana Pratap, a hospital and even representation in the Union Cabinet.
Mulayam, on the other hand, was pledged the support of the 80-lakh-strong community if he
ensured their representation in the legislature and Parliament. Kalyan and Mulayam were
blatantly exploiting the sentiments of the two caste groups -- in the knowledge that
promises cost nothing.
Pilgrim's Progress
Bangalore: After
whining over the good things in life, a sober Chief Minister J.H. Patel has now embarked
on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala and Guruvayoor temples in Kerala. Actually it's the threat
to his ministry, following the Janata Dal's rout in the elections, that seems to have
rattled Patel into seeking divine intervention. Patel, who still enjoys his sun-downers
(with ministerial colleagues like Anant Nag and M.C. Nanaiah for company), feels a little
religion is good in imbibing the spirit of temperance. With sandalwood smuggler Veerappan
still on the run, the Cauvery issue in troubled waters, crops in several parts of the
state devastated and the might of the BJP ever on the rise in Karnataka, Patel has
realised there is nothing like a pilgrimage in times of trouble.
Language of the Mass
Bangalore: For
millions of Christians across the world April 10 -- Good Friday -- was a day to solemnly
commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But for about 50 Christians in this southern
city, it was also a day to express resentment against those who preach the Lord's words.
In the guise of worshippers, they entered Christ the King Church and demanded that Kannada
replace Tamil as the church's "official language".
Since most Catholic churches in Karnataka have a sizeable
non-Kannada speaking congregation (non-Kannadigas constitute more than 60 per cent of
Bangalore's population), parish priests have always adopted the majority language to
conduct worship. However, the Karnataka Catholic Christian Kannada Sangha, supported by
several political and secular activist groups like the Kannada Shakti Kendra and Dr
Rajkumar Fans' Association, is pressing Kannada's case.
On Good Friday, priests at Christ the King Church conducted
mass in Tamil with the help of the police. But it may not be long before they capitulate,
particularly with fringe Kannada groups entering the fray.
On a Slow Track
Patna: When
some papers were thrust into his hand after a Samata Party rally in Patna recently, Union
Railway Minister Nitish Kumar thought they were requests for employment -- given his
predecessor Ram Vilas Paswan's reputation for doling out jobs. But the new minister was
surprised to find that the requests were for train reservations for the rallyists to
return home. While he learns on the job, amused that he had "to do all this" as
railway minister, journalists and politicians still find it easy to approach Paswan, whose
army of officials stationed in Hajipur, Patna and Delhi ensure last-minute reservations.
Nitish, it appears, has an uphill task not only in keeping up with his predecessor's
furious pace of railway work in Bihar, but also in matching Paswan's pr skills.
Blast from the Past
Chandigarh: Akali
leaders have often raked up the past to score political points. It seems Congressmen too
have joined the bandwagon. Last week, Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh tried to
embarrass the Akalis by charging that SGPC chief G.S. Tohra had sought the support of the
Nirankaris during the recent Lok Sabha polls in defiance of the Akal Takht's ban on social
contact with that sect.
Tohra justified his overture as a political necessity, but
the Congress leader wanted to know whether the SGPC chief could end the long bitterness
between the Sikhs and Nirankaris. With radical outfits too demanding Tohra's resignation,
that possibility is remote. A pity for peace in Punjab.
Same Old Game
Chandigarh: Coalition
politics has its pitfalls. Nothing illustrates this better than the secret conclave the
Haryana bjp had in Himachal Pradesh on April 8. Party leaders termed it a "routine
appraisal exercise". But the "hidden agenda" was not to let Chief Minister
Bansi Lal run roughshod over the administration. "Playing second fiddle to Bansi Lal
is something the party loathes now," says a state BJP leader.
Relations between the BJP and Bansi Lal's Haryana Vikas Party
hit a rough patch recently when two BJP MLAs from Faridabad objected to the chief
minister's "abrasive" behaviour and submitted their resignation. With partymen
getting restive, BJP National Secretary Narendra Modi organised the meeting in Himachal
Pradesh to let them express their anger. Knowing that Bansi Lal has become politically
weak after his party's setback in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is not averse to
applying pressure on him to make him see reason. On top of its agenda is the abolition of
octroi -- which the BJP had promised during the assembly election campaign.
With his arch-rival Om Prakash Chautala extending support to
the BJP-led Government at the Centre, the chief minister can no more afford to ride
roughshod Otherwise, he is likely to become prey to the game of defections that Haryana is
so well known for.
Quick on the Draw
Alwar: Encounter
deaths are common in India. But this one gives a horrifying definition of that term. Last
fortnight, throwing aside all restraint, a Rajasthan Police team pumped 18 bullets into a
Maruti in Alwar killing two kidnappers and their six-year-old hostage Gaurav. The boy had
been kidnapped on March 30 from his father's house in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
The police maintain it was an "encounter", but
eyewitnesses say they acted recklessly. Apparently, the police party, led by Additional
Superintendent of Police Yashpal Sharma, waylaid the car at a railway crossing and fired
indiscriminately into it, killing Gaurav in the process. The men in khaki first claimed
that the kidnappers used the child as a shield, then said that the fatal shot could have
been fired by one of the kidnappers from a rifle found in the car. "The case is far
more heinous than the Connaught Place (Delhi) killings," says Congress MLA Jagdeep
Dhankhar. "The police knew that the kidnappers were not trained to shoot."
Gaurav's father Jitender Singh claims that the police are
proffering false evidence. "Only a CBI inquiry can reveal the truth," he
insists. For its part, the state Government has so far not initiated an inquiry, which
raises the question whether people will hereafter prefer to pay ransom instead of
informing the police.
Foreign Trips, Pay-off Time
Thiruvananthapuram: Overseas
jaunts, ostensibly to attract foreign investment to the industrially backward state, are
not new to Kerala's politicians. That nothing concrete has come out of these trips is
again nothing new. Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar himself has, so far, made two such tours.
Now, Susheela Gopalan, the industry minister, has gone to Cairo to attend the four-day
Made in India exhibition with a 12-member delegation to tap the international market for
the state's pharmaceutical and soap products.
"We are sure to get a market in the Middle East and
African countries," says a government official. The Government is optimistic about
selling coir products to other countries. "Every year we get orders for coir mats
worth Rs 3 crore at the trade fair in Germany," says Industries Secretary Kuruvilla
John. But the pertinent question is whether these products are of international quality.
The Government hopes that the low-priced products manufactured by the Kerala State Drugs
and Pharmaceuticals and the recently revived Kerala Soaps and Oils would prove a hit
abroad. The fact, however, is that they can't even match their multinational rivals in the
state.
Quota Raj
Patna: If
there's one leader who is unabashed about promoting his own family's interests, it's
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Laloo Yadav. Not satisfied with making his wife Rabri Devi
the chief minister, brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav an MLC and eldest daughter Misa Bharati a
"doctor", he has now secured an mbbs admission for his second daughter Rohini
Acharya, 18, through the backdoor.
Helping Rohini vault over the merit criterion was Tata Iron
and Steel Company which got her admission to the medical college in Jamshedpur through a
seat reserved for the children of Tata employees. The move has raised protests from the
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) which has accused Laloo of promoting his seven
daughters and two sons while the Charwaha Vidyalaya (schools for shepherd boys) started by
him were in a miserable state. "If Laloo stays in power for a few more years, his
house will be full of doctors regardless of their merit," says the abvp's Shiv
Narayan.
Five years ago, student organisations and opposition parties
had protested when Misa got admission to the medical course along with Asma, the daughter
of Road Construction Minister Ilyas Hussain. This year, among the four to get admission
under the "Tata quota" is the daughter of Laloo's man Friday Anwar Ahmed. Now
that Rohini has gained admission, there's a move to shift her to the Patna Medical College
for "security reasons", as it was done with Misa. |
