Disenchanted with the BJP central leadership, the RSS has adopted a new strategy in dealing with the party. Its focus in future will be on the BJP in the states rather than at the Centre. The plan is to support strong chief ministers who push the development agenda but who belong to the Sangh Parivar and are genuine adherents of Hindutva. The role model is Narendra Modi. During the Karnataka poll, Y S Yeddyurappa, who is also from the Sangh Parivar, talked of replicating the Gujarat model in his state. Modi was a popular speaker on the campaign trail in Karnataka. It was thanks to RSS intervention that in Karnataka the challenge to Yeddyurappa’s leadership from Ananth Kumar was squashed and attempts to sabotage his campaign were firmly put down.In this context, some wonder whether BJP president Rajnath Singh had the RSS blessing when he spoke out of turn at the recent BJP national executive and raked up old demands such as abolition of Article 370 and the need for a common civil code, even as L K Advani stressed the need for inclusive growth and appealed to the minorities. Actually Singh was acting entirely on his own bat and trying to flex his muscles.Graceful easing out?Charan Das Mahant, president of the Chhatisgarh PCC, was recently demoted and made “working president”. Dhanendra Sahu, Ajit Jogi’s favourite, was appointed PCC president in his place. Along with Mahant, Satyanarayan Sharma has also been bestowed the title of working president.“Working president” is a designation peculiar to the Congress party. Contrary to what the name suggests, the working president has no work. He is given the title so that his supporters should not feel that he is sidelined, when it is pretty obvious that he is. The designation of “working president” was first given to the late Kamalapati Tripathi. The then octogenarian, Tripathi, had to be gracefully eased out as party president to make way for Rajiv Gandhi, who was then prime minister. Isn’t it time the party high command thought of a more fitting nomenclature for former pradesh chiefs being put out to pasture.Disproportionate assetsOf all the ministers in Manmohan Singh’s government Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, has one of the fanciest offices. The four-room suite is paneled in the best quality wood. There are leather upholstered sofas and chairs, elegant mirrors, granite flooring, marble tables, gilt lamps, fancy chandeliers. The luxurious look is not of Ravi’s own making. The office was once the most sought after suite at the Akbar Hotel, which Ravi’s predecessor Jagdish Tytler commandeered and did up in style. Ravi jokes that though he may have the fanciest office, he also has the smallest ministerial budget. His ministry has a mere Rs 50 crore at its disposal.Defensive actionDefence Minister A K Antony was summoned last week to meet President Pratibha Patil. Antony rushed to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, assuming that Patil wanted to discuss important defence issues. Actually, the President had simply called him to demand that her deputy military secretary should be replaced immediately. But this may be easier said than done. The Air Force Chief is reluctant to shift out the secretary since his tenure is for five years and there is nothing in his confidential records to merit his removal. Even the minister is not sure why the aide has incurred the President’s ire.Into wrong pocketsAn officer from the Rural Development Ministry in Delhi visited the office of a relative working as a development officer in UP. To his horror, he found that the room was filed with panchayat officials and local representatives and the development officer was busy handing them funds for the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and putting his own thumb impression as a receipt. After witnessing first hand the money from Sonia Gandhi’s pet scheme going into the wrong hands, the officer went back to the Capital and warned colleagues that far more stringent checks needed to be put in place to make the Rs 16,000 crore scheme truly beneficial.
