Running on two tracks

The finance minister in his last Budget had promised to restructure the National Highways Authority of India to make it a more efficient body. It’s been more than a year but a policy decision is still awaited. This despite Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi sorting out all inter-ministerial “differences” more than once. However, it appears that Road Transport Minister TR Baalu has his own ideas: he has reassigned responsibilities of all chief general managers. The CGMs now have state-specific duties and are no longer responsible for a single national highway programmes (like the Golden Quadrilateral, North-South and East-West Corridors, NHDP III and so on) that run through many states. Does this make sense, Minister?

Building bridges

And talking of TR Baalu, this was a project that he—for some reason—wanted to honour at all costs. When External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked him for help in building a Bailey bridge in Malda, Baalu took a personal interest in it, asking the NHAI to move heaven and hell to make it. It was not a bridge that fell on a NHAI-controlled route, but officials were inundated by reminders—some not so polite—that forced the NHAI to roll out the machines. Finally, the project is on its way, but the question in everyone’s mind remains, “What made Baalu go out of his way on this?”

Yes Ma’am Sir

Now, Haryana may have a dismal record in female infanticide but it was a PR coup for the state when the Samjhauta blast investigators met the media. One face that flashed across television screens worldwide was that of Bharati Arora, SP, Railways, Ambala. She was part of the briefing by Haryana IGP Sharad Kumar at Panipat, and she performed admirably as the team held up evidence and released sketches of the two suspects. Arora answered questions, while displaying bottles of lethal fuel and twisted remains of suitcases in which the explosives were packed, even discussing the finer points of a clock as a timer. One wonders if it had the desired impact both in her neighbourhood and across the border.

Secretary-level talk

Defence Minister AK Antony is looking for a trusted defence secretary and rumours suggest he has offered the post to Commerce Secretary G K Pillai. The bureaucrat served Antony when he was Kerala CM—but Pillai is also a contender for the home secretary’s job. Now guess who is eyeing the commerce secretary’s job? It’s HRD Secretary R P Agarwal, who is deputy chief of mission (EU) in Brussels and is nursing a dream to get the commerce posting. Agarwal, who has dealt with trade negotiations at EU, is well-versed with the twists and turns of the WTO talks and is said to be instrumental in swinging the Foreign Universities Bill, which is finally listed for Cabinet approval, after months of a turf war between HRD’s Sudeep Banerjee and Commerce’s Pillai.

Royal punches

The unseemly war for supremacy between the rajas of Madhya Pradesh is spiralling out of control. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijay Singh may not be in the same league (the Gwalior scion is a young MP, the Raghogarh royal has been chief minister twice) but it continues unabated. If Singh addresses rallies in the state, Scindia accuses him of not working within the limits of organisational discipline. Finally, an exasperated Sonia Gandhi issued a directive to both to back off. But it is not to be. Singh’s statement that the Congress is not a party for feudals—a not-so-veiled attack on Scindia—has again aggravated the situation. Singh defends himself saying, “The Congress is a party for the poor and downtrodden.” But then this is hardly an olive branch.

Words worth

Finance Minister P Chidambaram wanted the President’s address to the joint session of Parliament to have sufficient references to “inclusive growth,” a politically correct justification for the party’s growing worries over rising prices, amidst high growth rate. So, President APJ Abdul Kalam’s speech made seven references to inclusive growth. By the way, the PMO had drafted a speech of 40 minutes, comprising 6,000 words, for the President. But the President added another five minutes of his own, which also included a Tamil couplet translated into Hindi.

Tiff in Parivar

The RSS has finally flung aside the cloak of culturalism and has declared its political agenda. At the recently concluded celebrations marking Guru Golwalkar’s birth centenary, it promised to campaign against the UPA’s so-called soft approach to terrorism and minority appeasement. A top RSS national executive member was also convinced the Golwalkar celebrations would pay rich political dividends for its political wing, the BJP. But such open claims are a touchy issue with the BJP, with its top leaders insisting the RSS restrict itself to providing ideological leadership. Some hold party president Rajnath Singh responsible for a pro-active RSS, but unfortunately for Singh, he is not a hit with the Sangh either and his attempts to “seek certificates” from the RSS for his controversial actions have been rebuffed.

Readying for change

Exit polls in Punjab give no clear verdict with both the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine and the Congress on an equal footing. However, there is evidence of an awaited vote for change at the residences of both Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the Badals. After polling, the CM has spent most of his time with friends from across the border at his Dochi Palace in Patiala. As for the Badal home, it resembles a household waiting for the bridegroom, decked in marigold and meals being served round the clock. Expectedly, besides party workers, visitors include bureaucrats and ministerial aspirants eager to meet Sukhbir Badal, the heir apparent.

Cause before self

Ever since he was stripped off his post as chief national spokesperson, the BJP’s Arun Jaitley has not visited the party office even though his official residence is right next to it. Therefore, it was surprising the party nominated him to speak on the Quattrocchi arrest last Saturday, his name a late addition alongside that of the original speaker, M Venkaiah Naidu. But party office-bearers accept Jaitley is the best qualified person to speak on Bofors, after his interventions all these years. So, it was a sniffy Jaitley who quipped at his nomination, “The ego can’t be bigger than the cause.”

Tailpiece

CPI(M) MPs are squirming in private about the heavy party levy on their salaries. The poor comrades have to shell out as much as Rs 35,000 of their Rs 42,000 monthly salary, leaving some to lament that they have to take bank loans to run their vehicles. They also point out that even MLAs are left with more money in hand than the MPs. For instance in Kerala, the state legislator pays only Rs 2,000 out of the Rs 16,000 salary. But maybe this will goad them to push through the pension bill soon.