Antony on Left flank

Paper luck

Sheer providence helped a BJP parliamentarian escape from being ‘‘exposed’’ in the Cash-for-Question sting operation. The MP was all for it. Not for money, but because the journalist had promised “more”. After being ‘‘touched’’ by a woman visitor’s plea, the MP looked around for the question pad but alas, his office had run out of it. The woman, posing as an official from an industry association, offered to come the next day to pursue her organisation’s cause. As luck would have it, the MP’s family turned up the following morning and he couldn’t muster enough courage to meet her again. His lament: Damned if I did, damned I didn’t.

Oil’s not well

The impending Cabinet reshuffle is making some people very nervous. A jumpy Mani Shankar Aiyar is telling reporters for the umpteenth time that he will be petroleum minister only for a few days more. He has also been explaining how he was never keen on the ministry in the first place. He recounts how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted to give him an economic ministry, but Madam Sonia Gandhi was keen that he handle welfare issues: Panchayati Raj, Tribal Welfare and Culture. So when television channels flashed the news that he was the new petroleum minister, Aiyar says he wasn’t happy. He breathed a sigh of relief only when Ahmed Patel told him that his main portfolio was Panchayati Raj. The reshuffle may end Aiyar’s woes.

Mutual fund

After Panjab University, it’s the turn of Delhi School of Economics to get the prime minister’s attention. The Montek Singh Ahluwalia-Manmohan duo got together to release Rs 35 crore for a School of Design under DSE, where Manmohan once taught. While apportioning the funds, Manmohan and Montek sidestepped HRD Minister Arjun Singh. For once, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission earmarked funds even before it was solicited either by the UGC or the HRD Ministry—the bodies authorised to disburse the monies. But when the Plan panel directed the ministry to include the request in its proposal, a peeved Arjun Singh wrote to the Commission, asking it not to entertain direct requests from institutions any further as that could lead to marginalising the UGC and the HRD Ministry.

Party pooper

ICCR Chairperson and Rajya Sabha member Karan Singh hosted a tea party for a delegation from Jammu which was in the Capital to plead with Congress President Sonia Gandhi to appoint erstwhile National Conference leader and Rajya Sabha member Saif-ud-Din Soz as the new PCC president. They wanted Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed to be replaced as he has come under a cloud for alleged involvement in a rural electrification scheme scam. Karan Singh’s interest in Soz getting kicked up lies in the fact that this would get rid of a potential competitor for a berth in the Union Cabinet. Soz, who lobbied hard for PCC presidency during Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s chief ministership, is having a tough time trying to convince people that he is no longer the best person to head the PCC and his services can be utilised better as a Central minister. He is also busy trying to find out who his new fans are—the ones who attended Karan’s tea party.

No to saffron ink

Taking the cue from the airlines, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation decided to launch a glossy magazine for distribution in premier trains. More than a dozen contenders, including a national newsmagazine, submitted a tender for content and printing. After scrutiny, the qualifier turned out to be CMYK—a company owned by BJP MP Chandan Mitra. Mitra, incidentally, has the requisite experience as he also publishes Darpan for Alliance Air, an Indian Airlines subsidiary. However, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav hit the roof when he got to know of the winner. He ordered the contract cancelled on some ground or the other as it could not be given to what he called a khaki chaddi.

High and low

Travelling with the prime minister can be a great high for a journalist. But about time the Ministry of External Affairs started screening the media that gets to fly with the PM. Not because of security reasons, but to avoid embarrassing situations. Last week, the MEA hosted a party for the media accompanying the PM to Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN and East Asia summits. After consuming more than their usual tots of scotch, a few journalists tried to get friendly with the waitresses and proceeded to get physical. Junior MEA officials had to step in to stop the revelry as it was hardly the right advertisement for India’s Look-East policy.

Bengali flavour

Bengalis grieving over the exclusion of Sourav Ganguly from the Indian cricket team need not lose heart. What they have lost on the playing fields of Eden has been more than made up by their overwhelming gains in the more hallowed Lok Sabha. Never before have so many sons of Kolkata held such powerful positions in a Parliament full of non-Bengalis. Thanks to the powerful trio of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the corridors and canteens of Parliament now sport a distinctive ‘‘Bangali’’ flavour. The Central Hall menu has gone beyond the usual rosogolla to include delicacies such as kachagolla, raj bhog, kamala bhog and chamcham. North Indian barfis have made way for Bengali sweets even at the numerous press conferences inside Parliament House. And the fish curry in the canteen now comes in a mustard gravy. When Rabrindranath Tagore’s statue was unveiled in the Parliament Library recently, a special ensemble from Santi Niketan came down to provide some sonorous Rabindra Sangeet. In Dasmunshi’s office, a huge portrait of Tagore finds pride of place. And inside the Lok Sabha, the strong accents of the trio—with a bit of help from the vocal CPI(M) contingent—make both English and Hindi sound like a dialect of Bengali.