Whatever statements Gadkari gives have deep sources. Otherwise what is the reason for the Sangh to quietly tell Advani that he should now bid adieu to electoral politics and only guide the party. So there are clear instructions to Advani from the Sangh that he should not consider contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. A few days later, there is a statement from the party president that only those people who win in the Lok Sabha elections will be eligible for the prime minister’s post. And with that there comes Gadkari’s desire to contest the elections himself, takes a big entourage of media people to Nagpur on the party’s expenses and displays his political ambitions to the people there. Are the Sangh and Gadkari aiming at the two prominent party people who don’t contest Lok Sabha elections – Arun Jaitley and Narenda Modi? But winning Lok Sabha elections is no big deal for these two leaders – in electoral politics, these people complement each other.

Sports Minister Ajay Maken continues his tirade against the BCCI and he really never got along with IPL chief and his own colleague in the government Rajiv Shukla. So when he states that the IPL should be investigated, he forgets that the investigation is already on for the past year. Some highly placed sources in the BCCI claim that the Sports Bill proposed by Maken is being encouraged by a retired Justice from Punjab-Haryana who is extremely interested in sports and sports associations. He may have retired but not from his over-reaching ambitions. Now he is looking for a new job and when the Sports Bill was sent back for a redraft, changes were made and a Tribunal was included in the same.

Since Sonia could not go for the rally in Uttarakhand, her speech was read out in the state by Congress leader Vijay Bahuguna. This speech was an attack on Team Anna and Anna himself had been addressed in stern terms. Someone should ask that if a reader had to be chosen for the aggressive speech against corruption, why Bahuguna and no one else? Because people have still not forgotten that Bahuguna was a judge in the Bombay High Court and the reasons because of which he had to resign.

Several big telecom companies are feeling the strain of the 2G scam. If you look at Videocon alone, the company is in a debt of Rs 700 crore because of that. The company also doesn’t know what will happen to the license it has got. Will it stay or be taken away. The towers are in place and the rent is to be paid, but their operations are still not sure.

The Congress is tightening the noose around those close to Sharad Pawar and it is happening through a well thought-out strategy. In the first phase, the man owning Lavasa’s infrastructure company (close to Pawar) may have got the go ahead by the environment ministry, but as many as 500 rules have been piled on the company. Lalit Modi who was close to Pawar is already mired in troubles and has left India and is living in London. Shahid Balwa is in jail in the 2G scam. But the biggest jolt Pawar may get is in association with the airbus purchase where his favourite Prafful Patel may bear the consequences. The investigation is on and agencies say that for every airbus, there may have been a kickback of nearly $5-6 million (Rs 25 crore). As many as 110 airbus were purchased so what the money put in Lavasa or DB Realty? The government is investigating.

The government is still keeping a keen eye on Team Anna. The group of Congressmen who Team Anna has attacked is doing everything in its capacity to bring out skeletons from its closet. The Congress ministers have unleashed all its investigative agencies on Team Anna. The newest casualty Kiran Bedi was the result of an attack from a Congress leader. The new issue deals with Kiran Bedi’s NGO. At a gathering, this leader told a news channel that Kiran Bedi and her family draws fat salaries from the NGO, and that includes her daughter. The minister told the journalist that Kiran Bedi alone draws a salary of Rs 1,70,000 a month. He also said that Bedi’s NGO was not transparent about its sources of income and so the investigative agencies may look into that, too. Which means the tirade on Team Anna continues.

Shriramlu, close to the Reddy brothers of Bellary has changed tact. His supporters have started to clear BJP banners and posters in the Bellary area, which means the BJP camp from the area may be uprooted. Yeddyurappa is also back from jail and claims that he still has the support of 70 Assembly members and that he can make the state’s BJP eat dirt anytime he wants to. But before this, Shriramlu is in talks with Devegowda about the formation of a new party in the state. It is believed that the idea is agreeable to Yeddyurappa, too. Understanding what the clouds of worries predicted, Gadkari spoke to Shriramlu who replied asking which party doesn’t have people who deal with mining? Doesn’t the Congress have such people? But parties such as the Congress always try to protect their people, whereas BJP disrobes its own. Seeing Shriramlu’s aggressive stance, Gadkari decided to shut up.

It is believed that during investigation by the income tax department, as many as 17 people have confessed that they have accounts in Swiss banks. An alleged list of the names of these people is with the Central government and contains the names of 690 Indians. The young BJP leader Varun Gandhi has already filed an RTI about this. It is believed that among the people who has confessed of having these accounts, most are people who are close to the Congress. So it is possible that the government and the finance minister give them another chance to file a revised return so that they can come clean. In the revised returns procedure, the person has to pay the tax on the sum in the bank to India, after which they can have the safe passage way out.

The tiff between Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram may well have been stopped by the high command’s intervention, but the cold war between the two leaders continues. And speculation is rife that during the Parliament’s winter session, this cold war may heat up anytime and lead to a lot of chaos. This is happening for the first time that the most powerful trio in the central government – the prime minister, home minister and the finance minister are at loggerheads with each other. So much so that all these three Constitutional heads are spying on each other, not knowing that if the curtain ever drops on this, the UPA government may come undone.

The list of people meeting Sonia after she came from the United States has reduced considerably. Since her return, when she started to give time to meet people, the list would not have more than three or four people. And they too don’t get more than two-three minutes which is hardly sufficient. Sonia has passed an unwritten rule that those wanting to meet her can first meet Rahul and place their issues with him. But for any Congressman, the ultimate Mecca of solutions is Sonia herself and maybe that is the reason why there is so much unrest in the party, several big and significant issues are on the back burner and no big decision is being taken.