Id arrived early in the human resources development ministry this time. Excitement ran high in the ministry after the acerbic Smriti Irani was moved to the textiles ministry as officials, visitors and journalists strolled leisurely through the corridors. They greeted each other cheerily and dropped in to meet each other without any fear of being pulled up or shouted at. As somebody commented: It was like the end of Taliban rule. Ms Irani’s successor, the ever-smiling and affable Prakash Javadekar, is a complete contrast as he has imposed no rules on visitors and deals politely with the officers. The new minister also got down to business immediately. Ironically, one of the early decisions he took was to give clearance to the opening of a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Rae Bareli, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency.
Mr Javadekar also moved quickly to appoint a new chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education after the Prime Minister’s Office rejected the names suggested by his predecessor. Ms Irani’s list was apparently dictated by Krishna Gopal, pointsperson for coordination between the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Ms Irani had cozied up to Mr Gopal to establish a direct link with the RSS, but this was frowned upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. According to the party grapevine, a move is now on to clip Mr Gopal’s wings for openly favouring Ms Irani.
The law ministry is normally headed by a Cabinet minister as there is not enough work for a junior minister. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an exception this time and appointed P.P. Chaudhary as minister of state in the law ministry. Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was moved from the telecom ministry, is the new Cabinet minister. Even before there could be any tension about the division of work, there are reports that a far more pressing matter is exercising the two ministers. Mr Prasad and his junior minister are locked in a battle to claim ownership of the single bathroom located next to their rooms. As a senior minister, Mr Prasad believes he has first claim over it, but Mr Chaudhary is not giving in easily. Naturally, this has created problems for the staff which is caught in the crossfire. Last heard, plans were being worked out to construct another bathroom which is not an easy task since space is a big constraint in the ministry.
A troupe of entertainers and singers always accompanies the unpredictable West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on her travels. It was no different when she went to Darjeeling on July 11, where she shared the stage with President Pranab Mukherjee at a special function to mark the birth anniversary of Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya. While addressing the gathering, Ms Banerjee suddenly announced that the audience would be treated to a song from Indranil Ghosh, one of the artistes accompanying her. But matters did not rest there. Later, while she was moving around Darjeeling, Ms Banerjee suddenly stopped midway and insisted that she was in a mood for some music and wanted Ghosh to sing for her. Her officers went into a tizzy as they made frantic attempts to contact the artiste, but with no success. Not the one to give in easily, the chief minister made sure that her wish was fulfilled: She insisted that one of the journalists in the media team sing for her. The journalist had no choice but to comply. On being told about this incident, a relieved Sharmishta Mukherjee, the President’s daughter, remarked, “Thank God, I am a dancer and not a singer.” For the record, Ms Mukherjee is an accomplished Kathak dancer.
Now that poll strategist Prashant Kishor has succeeded in persuading the Congress leadership to project former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit as the party’s chief ministerial candidate in next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, there is speculation whether he will meet with the same success in convincing party vice-president Rahul Gandhi that former party MPs and ministers from Uttar Pradesh be fielded in the coming election. Mr Kishor believes their entry will lift the profile of the Congress in a state where it has no base and no credible faces. However, this suggestion has met with strong resistance from the leaders concerned who maintain that contesting an Assembly election is a demotion. While the party is yet to take a view on this, Mr Kishor has called up several former leaders and placed this proposal before them.
One angry Congress leader asked whether the poll strategist had become a member of the party’s central election committee which is mandated to select candidates. Another former minister rejected the proposal, stating emphatically that he will not contest the Assembly polls even if Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked him to do so. It will be known in the coming days if Mr Kishor’s plans will eventually fructify.
