Bric-a-brac | luxury & skulduggery

Bric-a-brac

luxury & skulduggery

Mulayam ka ghosla

gilt for leader of masses

THE Lutyens’ Delhi address of 16, Ashok Road, is a palatial house that has been generally allotted to senior Ministers, former Chief Ministers or senior MPs. Former Home Minister Buta Singh lived in this house for years. Sajjan Kumar and his MP brother, Ramesh Kumar, also enjoyed living in it. Now this house has been allotted to Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Chief Minister of UP. It is a well-appointed house but Mulayam did not like the décor. So, for the past two months, interior decorators of repute have been working on it.

It is not uncommon to see top politicians getting their bungalows done up by fancy interior decorators. One can only marvel at how these leaders call themselves the servants of the masses.

Of more interest is that the cost is being borne by a liquor baron from UP who is also the main supporter of Mayawati. The benefactor professedly wants the house to be so luxurious that it will draw not only admiration but also envy. It is but a small gesture for the UP leader, and money is no matter. One can only guess how many crores are being spent….

Drama aboard Air India One

tv journos create ruckus

AS is the convention, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently went to Southeast Asia, a group of mediapersons was taken along to present an accurate perspective to the nation. This time, there were more TV journalists and also more women in the group. The routine press conference on the flight out was skipped. On the way back, it was announced that the customary press briefing would be held. Immediately, the TV journalists started talking about the issues they would raise – Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi, Maoism, Advani’s rath yatra, and so on.

The officials got wind of this and informed the PM. The press briefing was then called off. This led to a fresh clamour. Finally, after a lot of persuasion, Shiv Shanker Menon, Security Adviser to the PM, briefed the press. The print journalists were aghast over the behaviour of those from the electronic media, for an interaction with the PM, even off the record, gives them an insight into current developments.

Deora’s bucket-list

wishes to be congress treasurer

FORMER Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is keen to become treasurer of the Congress. Managing the funds of the ruling party requires discretion because nobody knows how much is in the kitty except for Sonia Gandhi. The post gives direct and any-time access to the party president. Deora’s problem is that Motilal Vora, a Brahmin leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, is in the post and known to be honest, low-profile and hardworking. Vora’s biggest asset is that he is not a pawn of any international lobby.

Deora has the support of the anti-Brahmin lobby, a top industrial house, and the US. He also has the capacity to collect funds. The only problem is that he does not enjoy Sonia’s complete trust because his performance as Petroleum Minister was not up to expectations. He erred in pursuing the agenda of his masters in Mumbai. But this is an insurmountable problem as the Congress treasurer is not supposed to have two bosses.

Power of Pawar

Maratha strongman gets his way

THE petrol price episode, when prices were hiked and then rolled back, caused some jitters for the Manmohan Singh government, especially with Mamata Banerjee threatening to withdraw support. Sharad Pawar was the only Cabinet Minister in the coalition government who openly supported the Prime Minister, stating that, as an economist, he knew more about the pricing of petrol. Pawar’s colleagues were surprised while Manmohan was appreciative. But Pawar’s moves, such as supporting Manmohan’s economic liberalization steps, are calculated.

Earlier, former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh smelt a rat in Pawar’s schemes and objected to clearance of the Lavasa township project of the Hindustan Construction Company. He was ousted from the Environment Ministry but the clearance had been blocked. Pawar was also upset with the PM over Vinod Goenka’s arrest in the 2G scam. Pawar and Goenka’s proximity is well known in Maharashtra.

Then, in one fell swoop, Pawar solved both problems. The Lavasa project got its clearance and Goenka is out of jail. So much can be achieved with just nine Lok Sabha members in a coalition government…. g