Rahul Gandhi says that he is not interested in marriage and that he is also not in the race for the prime minister’s post. BJP says Rahul is aware since there’s no scope of him becoming the Prime Minister, he is trying to opt out of the race. As for marriage, the scion of the Gandhi dynasty said he did not wish to tie the knot and start a family as doing so would lead him to develop a vested interest in the status quo at the expense of his mission to democratize the Congress and decentralize its decision-making. Some Congress MP, who were present in this so called “free wheeling discussion” wondered whether the next line of dynasty would be the Vadera line.
Akhilesh in a soup
Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is going through troubled times. There’s nothing much to be happy about its first anniversary on March 15. The triple murders in Pratapgarh, followed by communal violence in Ambedkar Nagar, the incidents of violence involving SP leaders and now the Shahi Imam’s demand that Mulayam should take over the reins from his son, have taken the zing out of the celebrations. With anniversary approaching, the chief minister is off media. A luncheon meet with the media in which the chief minister was scheduled to release the annual diary of the state information department has also been put off. The BSP leader, Mayawati is gunning for him big time. Unable to control the law and order situation, corruption of his ministers, involvement of Raja Bhayia in the DSP’s murder-no one envies Akhilesh at this juncture
Tamil politics over LTTE
With new photographic evidence suggesting that LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son was deliberately executed rather than accidentally killed in crossfire, public opinion seems to have snowballed against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government, as much in Tamil Nadu as in the West. The US has announced it will move a new resolution against Sri Lanka at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council. From Tamil Nadu, both Jayalalithaa (AIADMK) and Karunanidhi (DMK) are pressurising the Centre to vote against Sri Lanka at the UN. Indian government is in a Catch 22 situation. While India does not intend to mar its relations with Sri Lanka , it is also under domestic pressure and one of them is the UPA ally.
Unfazed Congress
The Suryanelli case in Kerala cast its lengthening shadow over the Congress on Thursday, with the rape victim’s mother asking party president Sonia Gandhi to act against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P. J. Kurien, whom she places at the heart of the 40-day-long nightmare her daughter underwent 17 years ago – a crime for which not one of the 42 accused persons has been punished to date. The woman says she is making the appeal to Ms. Gandhi since she is both president of the country’s oldest political party and mother of a daughter. The woman, after giving details of the family’s efforts over the years to pin down Mr Kurien, asks Ms. Gandhi whether it is right that he should chair a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the ordinance which seeks to bring in a tougher law for crimes against women. “Such a situation will tarnish the image of your great party, which has a glorious history in protecting the weaker sex of the country.”
Straight out of a movie!
It's straight from the movie “English Vinglish.” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants all her civil servants to have a strong command over English. She has asked the personnel and administrative reforms (PAR) department to tie up with British Council to work out a training schedule for the civil service (executive) officers. Mamata was upset over a considerable number of officers’ inability to speak English. The Queen of Bengal is now hell bent on making her babus learn the Queen’s language.
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