PAWAR GAINS A TACTICAL END
Delhiites welcomed Sharad Pawar when he went to see the Prime Minister to relieve him of his burden. In fact, it came as a relief for the High Command who was fed up with the UPA minister's tactical retreat for not doing justice to his portfolios. In fact, Sharad had called on a senior Congress leader during the IPL controversy between Lalit Modi, Praful Patel and Shashi Tharoor. During this meeting, Pawar told the leader that if he and his colleagues were going to be harassed by different agencies, it was better the NCP supported the government from outside. It was then decided that once Pawar took over as the International Cricket president, he himself would give up one of his portfolios.
It is also said that the Maratha wants to concentrate on Maharashtra while the Shiv Sena is losing grip there and Raj Thackeray is anyway his man.
The other ministers who may find a change in their portfolios in this reshuffle are Jairam Ramesh who has rubbed many ministers the wrong way. Mamata may ask one of her partymen to be accommodated.
Ajit Singh will have to be adjusted after he supported Satish Sharma to come to the Rajya Sabha.
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MANY MPs EYEING MEA POST
Many MPs in Delhi are eyeing the MEA slot after Shashi Tharoor left. And to top the list is the Arabic-speaking Keralite E. Ahamed who was Tharoor's predecessor. He has a keen interest in Arab countries. Also, doing some rounds in Delhi are three Nair MPs from Kerala who belong to Tharoor's caste.
In this ministry, there are divisions like the Gulf and the Haj, Africa, Latin America passport and policy planning. So, unlike most other ministers of state, this minister has his hands full.
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BJP AND IT's 'SUCESS"
The BJP did what it is best in. Delhi came to a standstill on July 5 due to the Bandh. The BJP called it a success not realizing that it was more of a scare for Delhiites than their call that did it. The protestors, including women, were on Delhi roads vandalizing vehicles and burning effigies. The new Metro was stopped and buses were burnt, schools and markets remained shut. The BJP leaders courted arrest as a part of their drama. Some unlucky ones like Arun Jaitely in Lucknow got no VIP treatment in the lock-up; after all it is Mayawati's territory. He was made to sit on a cemented platform without any cold refreshments!
Rajnath Singh claimed that the price of petrol in Bangladesh is 22 rupees per litre, in Pakistan it is 23 rupees per litre, but in India it is 51 rupees per litre.
Nitin Gadkari in true Bollywood-style claimed that this was only a trailer and the full picture is yet to follow. The price rise, of course, has hit the poor but their main question was: why purchase petrol to burn it; will there be a rollback in the hike now? In plain words, life came to a standstill in Delhi with 95% shops not opening or forced to be shut down and RSS workers threatening to burn offices in Lajpat Nagar which were open.
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CAN OMAR CUT THE KASHMIR KNOT?
The turbulence in Kashmir has the Congress High Command wondering if Omar can handle Kashmir. Despite his friendship with Rahul Gandhi, Congressmen both in Delhi and Srinagar have started criticizing Omar's lack of political and administrative inexperience to relate to the man on the street. Delhi was also appalled that the stalwarts of Kashmir were truant. When the valley began to erupt, Omar was on a personal visit to Rohtang Pass, the State's traditional leaders like Farooq Abdullah and state Congress stalwarts were conveniently abroad. They left the already-overloaded Chidambaram and newbie Omar Abdullah to manage matters.
The High Command here is wondering how long the Army can be deployed there for peace.
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