By S. Sethuraman
Rahul Gandhi to start his Bharat yatra from Sarnath
Rahul Gandhi who is a practising Buddhist and does Vipasana as per his own admission is likely to start his Bharat Yatra from Sarnath where Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon to his disciples after he got his enlightenment. Taking clue from his father Rajiv Gandhi who too went on a Bharat Yatra to know his people and much before anyone it was Mahatma Gandhi who took to Yatras to know the people of his countries. Rahul is a firm believer of Buddha and his teachings and a follower of Gandhi. He has decided to start his Yatra from Sarnath which is situated on the footholds of Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Narendra Modi. Rahul’s advisers have given him the suggestion of taking the battle to the lion’s den. But questions are being asked will Rahul succeed? A senior Congress leader remarked – maybe he too gets some enlightenment in Sarnath and starts working on the right path. Bhagwan Rahul ko sadh budhi de. Maybe Sarnath does that to him and thus save the Congress party which till is lacking direction
Anand sharma facing flak for mess in nehru birthday celebrations
Anand Sharma who has set his eyes and heart on the post of the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha in case Ghulam Nabi Azad fails to return back to the house, is likely to face stiff opposition from within the Congress. Sharma has come under a scathing attack from within his party colleagues for his role in the Nehru 125th anniversary celebrations of which he was the convenor. The show which could have been the turning point for the dejected Congress leadership has only become a subject of ridicule. Many senior Congress leaders like P Chidambaram Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari, Kamalnath, Salman Khurshid were all conspicuous by their absence. They said they were not invited.. But Sharma and his supporters have denied the allegation and said that everyone had been invited. But his detractors allege that he played politics and everyone did not get the invite. Sharma’s men are now holding the AICC administration responsible for the faux pass. Sharma is supposed to have sent some about 200 plus cards to the AICC media and administration to dispatch them but they did not bother to do that. The cards are said to be lying in AICC. Even the foreign dignitaries who were invited were only the second rung leaders of their country and government. No head of the state came except the mother queen of Bhutan. Only representatives of political parties of China, Afghanistan and African countries came to participate.
Shakeel Ahmad divested of Delhi Congress elections charge
Shakeel Ahmad, the AICC general secretary in charge of Delhi, has been given an honourable exit. Ahmad has gone on leave for three months to Canada and will only return after the elections in Delhi are over. Even when the Haryana elections were on, he had gone on leave and had returned only after the candidates had been selected. Eyebrows have raised when PC Chacko replaced Ahmad. Chacko believed to be a novice, will be in charge of Delhi in Shakeel Ahmad’s absence. The inclusion of Janardhan Diwedi and the return of Sheila Dikshit in the Delhi power circuit as members of the Delhi Pradesh Election Committee is being seen a shot in their arm . They together are likely to decide the candidates. Karan Singh ‘s inclusion too has not gone down well in the rank and file as he was believed to be in touch with the BJP leadership
Govinda Acharya a non-entity in Sangh Parivar now
Govindacharya, the once most sought after charismatic RSS ideologue has now been pushed to the sidelines. Govindacharya whose words carried so much weight during the late eighties to nineties makes no impact on the present leadership of the saffron party. This former pracharak recently made news when on a TV news channel he hit out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that Modi should avoid being seen socializing or patronizing corporates. On being asked about the Congress accusation that the Modi government is favouring certain individuals, Govindji instead of giving a befitting reply to the Congress said Ceasor’s wife should be above suspicion. But these words which would have been a bomb shell in the eighties or nineties just went over the deaf ears of Amit Shah and his mentor Narendra Modi.
BJD Lok Sabha member Baijayant Panda wooing BJP leaders
Biju Janata Dal Lok Sabha member from Kendrapara in Orissa Baijayant Panda has met the Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar twice in the last one month, the last being on November 12. Panda is said to be in a hurry about the completion of the Paradip Haridaspur railway track project of which 30% work has been completed in the last five years. Paradip the port city is close to his parliamentary constituency Kendrapara. and some areas of Kendrapra and Jaipur that come under the project await environment clearance from the MoEF but the question being asked is why is Jay so eager to complete this project when several other projects in the state are languishing for more than 30 years. Sources close to the chief minister Naveen Patnaik with whom Jay no more enjoys a cosy relationship, claim that Jay’s interests lie in safeguarding and enhancing the interests of his family business. . The industrialist turned politician Jay Panda’s family owns the Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys (IMFA) group. IMFA has been supplying ferro alloys a basic raw material for preparation of steel to the Korean steel giant POSCO which is supposed to set up its steel plant. But unfortunately for Jay, POSCO’s proposed sea based port at Jatadhari near Paradip has run into trouble as locals of that area are opposing .it tooth and nail POSCO’s decision to set up its steel plant in Orissa means financial windfall for Panda’s family business. It was Jay who had played a crucial role in bringing POSCO to Orissa, soon after the state government signed the MoU with POSCO Panda’s lawyer brother in law Rajen Mohapatra’s law firm GOAL was roped in as the legal consultant of POSCO. But the firm ran into trouble right from the beginning and it has failed to acquire the land till date because of the opposition from the local people and several panchayats but now ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown interest in the project, Panda has some hope. Of late, Panda has been cosying with some BJP leaders to the consternation of Naveen Patnaik. (IPA)