By Nora Chopra
SHARAD PAWAR DESPERATE TO BECOME NEXT PRESIDENT OF INDIA
After Pranab Mukherjee, who will be the next President of India? Although there are still eight months to go, speculation has already begun on who would be the next Rashtrapati after Pranab Mukherjee. Mukherjee is unlikely to get another term. According to claims made by the government sources, no other Rashtrapati has got a second term except Dr Rajendra Prasad, so why should Mukherjee get this privilege. a senior minister was heard saying. Hectic lobbying has already begun. Amongst the BJP contenders are LK Advani, Najma Heptullah and of course the chief of the Akali Dal, Prakash Singh Badal. Then there is Sharad Pawar who has friends cutting across party lines. And finally the vice president Hamid Ansari who is trying his best to keep the BJP and his government bosses in good humour. But the BJP leaders do not forget that he was the choice of the communists initially. Sources within the BJP ruled out that the Vice President will be picked up. Sharad Pawar is a serious candidate who has been also in the race for Prime Minister earlier, but with political clout going southwards, the Maratha strongman has no choice but to fall back on BJP if he wants to come anywhere closer in the race to Rashtrapati Bhawan. Early this month when he invited both Sonia Gandhi and Narendra Modi and the opposition leaders on the occasion of his birthday, it was a precursor to his ambition as he wanted to prove a point to both Congress and BJP and to stake his claim for the highest post of the country. Pawar is desperate to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan.
JAYALALITHAA COOL TOWARDS BJP LEADERS
Now it is clear that the BJP alliance with Jayalalithaa in Tamil Naidu is ruled out. Despite several moves to woo Amma, she has rebuffed Narendra Modi. Several senior ministers have visited Chennai to meet Jayalalithaa but all of them returned empty handed. First Arun Jaitley went to convince her on GST but she just refused to fall in line, Then Ananth Kumar visited her but she did not budge. Last visit was made by Sadanand Gowda but again there was not a word of reconciliation. The Congress and the AIADMK are the only two parties that are opposing the GST. On the other hand , Thumbidurai ,her man in Delhi was present at the funeral of the CPI Leader AB Bardhan and he was the only opposition leader besides the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who sat through at the memorial meeting of AB Bardhan held at Mavlankar Hall at VP House on Tuesday. His presence has made it very clear that Amma will have nothing to do with the BJP in the course of assembly elections But the absence of any DMK leader and the tainted Maran brothers who are facing corruption charges, has indicated that they are keen to go with the BJP and it suits the Govt also. BJP needs an ally in Tamil Naidu and so do the Marans and the DMK leadership who are in trouble both politically as well as legally and this is one reason that the Modi government is trying to save the Maran brothers.
RACE HOTTING UP FOR SEBI CHIEF’S POST
The race for the next Chairman of the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) seems to have got momentum. At least three top candidates are seen in the race. Secretary to the President Thomas Mathew is believed to be lobbying hard while State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya is seen as a preferred choice of finance ministry. Ramesh Abhishek, the former chairman of the Forward Markets Commission is also seen as a serious candidate. The present chairman, UK Sinha’s term ends on March 16 this year.
JAITLEY AGREES TO ALLOW FOREIGN LAWYERS TO PRACTICE IN INDIA
India may soon remove the embargo on foreign lawyers to practice law in the country. Finance minister Arun Jaitley signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK authorities promising that foreign lawyers would be allowed to practice in India on non-Indian laws. This may find opposition from certain Indian law firms. How the Modi Government manages the opposition will be interesting to watch.
SALIM KHAN MAY BE NOMNATED TO RAJYA SABHA
Father of Salman Khan, writer Salim Khan of Salim-Javed team, is set to replace his writing counterpart of Deewar fame Javed Akhtar in April this year in Rajya Sabha. Salim Khan, an accomplished writer and an admirer of Narendra Modi is a novice in politics. He is a man of few words and always politically stands on the right side of power as it was proved recently when his son Salman Khan courted a controversy by questioning hanging of Yakub Memon in a series of tweets. It was then his father Salim Khan who came to his rescue and forced Salman not only to delete the tweets but also made him tender public apology.
FINANCE SECRETARY RATAN WATAL’S IMPORTANCE GROWS
Is Ratan Watal more important than a finance secretary normally is? There is no two opinion on this. But what could be the reason for his importance? Watal was private secretary to former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He understands political equations well. Reportedly Late Mufti Mohammed Syed wanted Watal as J&K chief secretary. It could be that Prime Minister Modi has sensed the important role Watal can play, hence the extra proximity of the officer to the Prime Minister’s office?
CONGRESS HIGH COMMAND TO TAKE DECISION ON ALLIANCE IN WEST BENGAL
TMC in West Bengal is in a spot. If Congress and the Left parties tie up there for the forthcoming assembly election, the anti-Mamata votes will go to the coalition. Desperate Mamata is caught in the communal card since she wants to retain the support of Muslims who are in the majority in many constituencies.. But a Left-Congress tie up is certain to win over Muslims who would probably opt for national mainstream political parties. Mamata is desperately trying to woo Congress leader Manas Bhuiyan, a former minister in TMC-Congress coalition who is against a tie up with Left and suggests that he prefers to join hands with TMC. The final decision rests with the Congress High Command. (IPA)