By Nora Chopra
Manmohan Singh continues to be sidelined. Despite the official clarification issued by the Congress saying there was no rift between the party president Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the fact is that the PM has of late been sidelined. He was opposed to the sacking of both Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Bansal and was not even party to the Congress decision to give additional charge to Kapil Sibal and CP Joshi. PM was not even present at the meeting held in Jawahar Bhawan the night when the Congress president took the decision in consultation with Rahul Gandhi and a few of her other lieutenants. After taking the decision, Manmohan Singh was just informed.
HUNTING FOR A POST-RESHUFFLE LAW MINISTER
There is some good news for the Rahul Gandhi loyalist, CP Joshi. Joshi will continue to be railway minister even after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reshuffles his cabinet any time after May 22nd, when UPA-II celebrates its fourth anniversary. But the same cannot be said about Kapil Sibal, who himself is said to be not very keen to hold on to the law ministry. Search has already started for a full time law minister. Though P Chidambaram is said to be keen to take over the law ministry’s additional charge, the party high command does not seem to be in the mood to hand it over to him. The Congress is actually missing the former law minister and the current Karnataka Governor HR Bhardwaj. There is feeling in the party that Bhardwaj, who led the crucial law ministry in UPA-I without any controversy including in the Quattrocchi case, which was closed down without a whimper. The Karnataka victory has only added another feather in his cap of laurels. The thinking in the party is that if Bhardwaj would have been the minister, things in UPA-II would have run as smoothly as in UPA-I without any controversy, as he is said to have commanded hold both over the judiciary and the opposition. But the problem is that Rahul Gandhi is said to be still reluctant to call him back. Secondly, Bhardawaj himself is not keen on coming back at a time when the government and the ministry are in such a mess. Besides, he is even miffed over the fact that he was shunted out in 2009, despite delivering so well till 2008. Another factor is he will not agree at coming back unless Sonia Gandhi herself makes the respectful gesture, which is unlikely. Meanwhile, Bhardwaj is also in great demand in Andhra Pradesh. The AP leadership of the Congress, which has lost all hopes from the chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, now thinks that if they get a governor like Bhardwaj, they may regain some hope of coming back to power in the next election in 2014.The names of Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Manish Tiwari are also in the reckoning.
RAILGATE GETS MURKIER
Various questions are making rounds in the railway board. Mahesh Kumar was not the only one for whom the post of member staff was kept vacant for two months. Mr AP Mishra retired from the post of member engineering on 31st January 2013. Mr Subodh Jain joined on April 12, 2013. Why was the post kept vacant for two months? How many times Vijay Singhla went to the Rail Bhawan in these two months? What was the conversation that took place between Singhla and Subodh Jain needs to be probed, claim Rail Bhawan sources on condition of anonymity. If the wags in the political circuit and the railway ministry are to be believed, then Mamata Banerjee and her man Friday Mukul Roy can be the next on the CBI director’s hit list. Acting on vendetta against Mahesh Kumar, he accidentally came across Pawan Bansal and his nephew. The whistle blower is said to be a top official in the railway board. Mahesh Kumar had conspired to get him out of the RPF. But it was Mamata Banerjee who ensured his exit and put him on compulsory waiting for two months before he took over as chief of ITBP. The possibility of West Bengal handing over the Saradha chit fund case to the CBI can fulfil Ranjit Sinha’s revenge. The appointments made by Mukul Roy are already under scrutiny.
INFIGHTING MIGHT BREACH CONG’S DELHI BASTION
The Congress is likely to lose power in Delhi. This is said to be the assessment within the party. The AICC general secretary in charge of Delhi was overheard telling his supporters that the impasse between the Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and PCC chief JP Agarwal continues unabated, the fallout of which can be disastrous and can lead to the party’s defeat in Delhi. Despite Rahul Gandhi’s warnings to both, they have failed to resolve their difference and have refused to work together at the cost of the party. The thinking in the party is that the infighting between Dikshit and Agarwal is taking a heavy toll on the prospects of the party. The BJP, if it wins will be by default, thanks to the two top leaders of the congress. Choudhury has threatened to lodge a complaint against both of them and is likely to demand a change of leadership.
SONIA TO REVAMP PARTY
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is all set to revamp her party to battle it out in 2014. The first indication has come with the reconstitution of the panel of spokespersons. Poor Rashid Alvi was the only one to be dropped from the old panel. Alvi was reportedly not getting along with the media chairperson Janardhan Dwivedi. His anti-Modi utterances, calling him Yamraj, too, contributed to his sacking. And more than that: it was also his candidness before Rahul Gandhi at the time of UP elections when he told him that the minorities would not vote for Congress that did not go down well with the party high command who was waiting for the right time. Besides there are also rumours that he is in touch with Mayawati. Among the new faces Shakeel Ahmad despite the fact that he was doing a good job in the states he was in charge the party wanted a replacement of Alvi, a Muslim face, in the mouthpiece panel. Besides his tweet blaming the BJP-RSS behind the bomb blast in Karnataka also went against him. Despite complaints against him, Mohan Prakash too has been included in the panel as Rahul Gandhi is said to be very impressed by him. But with the party set to implement one man one post. Both Prakash and Shakeel are likely to be divested of their state responsibilities. [IPA]