Scrap Book

Chameleon who?

Chanakya feels this may be first time in India, that a Chief Minister has set a unique example of good governance within few days in office. Before even completion of his hundred days, Shri Gaur got a good chance to publish his ten photos in a forty-page advertisement feature in The Indian Express. Gaur did not mind not publishing any image of the senior party leaders like Atal Behari Vajapayee, L.K. Advani or even Sushree Uma Bharti. Only a stamp-size photo of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya is there in the last page of the special supplement. The Express group, which always opposes the ideology of the BJP, has managed the supplement thanks to the new CM´s generosity.

A self-farewell

Recently the Law Ministry tried its best to remove the Deputy Chairman of Law Commission, N.M. Ghatate. First the ministry suggested to him to submit his resignation on health grounds. When Ghatate denied doing so, the Chairman was once again forced to find a way for Ghatate'sremoval. But thank God, the gentleman that Ghatate is, he gave in his resignation to the Chairman. Again the Chairman did not like to see the resignation letter and directly forwarded it to the ministry. This is the first time that a member has been changed after a change of government. The Chairman was so much pressurised that he did not arrange a farewell party for Shri Ghatate. Finally Ghatate himself arranged a farewell party for himself and all the members including the Chairman attended it.

So said Paki, thus POTA repealed

When a Pakistani delegation of MPs recently visited India, they suggested to the UPA government that POTA should be repealed. No doubt Pakistan is our neighboring country and we should make Indo-Pak relations closer. But how can Pakistan give suggestions whether we should repeal POTA or not, because Prevention Of Terrorist Act is related to the internal security matter of India. And the Congress did not react to it and finally decided to repeal POTA. When TADA was about to end, the Congress had also taken the same stand just to appease the minorities.

Lokpal come, government gone

Lokpal Bill has been introduced at least eight times in three decades. It may be Indira Gandhi or V.P. Singh, whoever introduced the Bill then, the government immediately vanished. When Dr Kalam pronounced that the President should also be within the purview of the Lokpal, then Dr Manmohan Singh also said that Prime Minister should be under the purview of Lokpal and he would push the Bill. It is a fact that when the NDA government was of the opinion to keep the Prime Minister under the purview of the Lokpal, the Congress had opposed it. A well-known astrologer has predicted that the fate of the UPA government may be over in December 2004.

Don´t mind Najma, you know Congress better

The ICCR Chairman, Najma Heptullah was recently invited by USA for speaking on Mahtma Gandhi on the occasion of the Gandhi Jayanti. But as she has joined the BJP, the UPA government grounded her plan on the plea that the Indian Embassy can manage it. Being associated with the Congress for a long time, Najma knows the party better than anyone else. Now Karan Singh is ready for a foreign trip by putting on Najma´s shoes. He only needs an appointment letter from the government.

Prime Minister, not star campaigner

As elections to the Maharashtra Assembly draw close, the senior Congress leaders´ programmes including Sonia Gandhi´s has been chalked out. But Chanakya was astonished to know that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh´s election tour for Maharashtra is yet to be finalised. Congress wants Dr Singh to play the role of a puppet Prime Minister of the party chief, instead of doing anything else.