This time on Dusshera, a group of VIPs – seldom seen together – was seen at Subhash Park in New Delhi. The President, Vice President, prime minister and UPA Chairman Sonia Gandhi were present at the scene of the victory of good over evil in the form of Ravan Dahan. That the real Ravan is still to be identified is another matter altogether. When the am Lila Committee was setting the programme, sources reveal that the Vice President was requested to do the aarti for Ram and Lakshman and put the tika on the forehead and Harland them. But Hamid Ansari had problems with this. He somewhere inside him knew that the action would have reverberations in his own Muslim community. When the shocked-worried organisers asked him what he will do, Ansari sahib came up with the solution that he will light a lamp on the occasion – may be that will dispel the darkness of thinking .

Is the US portraying Finance Minister P Chidambaram as an alternative to Manmohan Singh? One of the biggest reasons for this is said to be Chidambaram’s closeness to Obama and the American administration. Chidambaram is a Harvard product, from where Obama passed out too, and he thus has an old acquaintance with Obama. In any case, US promotes and encourages those who have studied from institutions such as Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford. In the past few days, Chidambaram has also become close to SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav. Sources close to the Congress give the credit to Chidambaram for the recent hard economic decisions that were taken in the past few days. The hurry to introduce FDI in retail, insurance and pension, to do away with subsidies, to ascertain a quote for cooking gas and so on being some of them. So much so that even Manmohan Singh is said to be of the view that such hard decisions should be introduced only after the elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. But Chidambaram is a man in a hurry – after all he wants to get to 7, Race Course as soon as he can.

Mamata Banerjee is leading the fray when it comes to new traditions being introduced in politics. Now these new traditions are seen to have an impact on her party, too. To resettle her seven ministers who left the Central government, Didi has formed a CM Advisory Council. Yes, one has heard of a similar council for the prime minister but this is the first time one is hearing it for a chief minister. Mamata fondness for Dinesh Trivedi took a new turn when he recently organised a debate in Town Hall on whether the Trinamool should continue to be a part of the UPA. In Mamata’s presence, he gave a lot of flak to the UPA government. Of the seven politicians, Dinesh Trivedi is made the advisor for tourism, Mukul Roy transport, Sougat Ray industry, Sudip Bandyopadhyay urban development, Shishir Adhikari rural development, Sultan Ahmad minority development and Choudhury Mohan Jatua will advise on Sundarbans development.

“Ek mutthi khaaq they, ek mutthi khaaq hain,
Unki marzi hai, hamein sehra karein, dariya karein.”
This couplet probably sums up the clout and power of Congress’ shining star Ahmed Patel. But there are reports that he has been hurt by the way an English magazine has used his name in the Coalgate scam. He is also said to be ready to retaliate. Everyone knows about how Patel doesn’t get along with the prime minister’s advisor TKA Nair, who has been with the PMO for a long time. So now the Patel camp believes that it was Nair who, through a Malayali journalist close to him, used Patel’s name in the Coalgate connection. Which means Nair may have to bear the heat of the retaliatory action from Patel in the days to come.

Finance minister P Chidambaram seems to be a changed man. The same arrogant expression isn’t seen on his face anymore and he seems to be making an attempt to look humble. To take care of his formal duties, he is also making time to meet Opposition leaders. Recently, he met two top BJP leaders, Advani and Jaitley. For sure, a changed PC tells a tale of a change in his agenda.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s post is in danger. Complains against him from all quarters are reaching the Congress high command. It will not be a surprise if P C Joshi is made Rajasthan’s next chief minister in his place. The stage is also set to change Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. The prime minister himself is said to be keen to have him in the Cabinet, and the Congress high command also knows that the next elections can’t be contested under Chavan’s leadership because he doesn’t have mass appeal. The names of Narayan Rane, Radhakant Vikhhe Patil, Manik Rao Thackeray, Harshvardhan Patil and others are being considered. Narayan Rane stands the most chance. The Congress is also looking for such a leader who can catapult them into the ruler’s seat again. The sword also hands over Haryana’s Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. But because his Parliamentarian son is friends with Rahul Gandhi, Hooda senior may be spared for now.

After retirement when the former President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil reached her new official residence at Tughlaq Crescent, she was shocked to see that a mobile tower was present on the roof of the building. It is no longer under wraps how dangerous mobile radiations can be. The former President lost her cool when she saw the tower and asked her helpers to remove it immediately. When the tower was brought down, it was found that it was an MTNL tower and the services of the company were stalled in the entire area. Most Parliamentarians still carry an MTNL mobile. So, the communication of Parliamentarians was stalled for quite some time until the company found a new place for its tower.

This is the true colour of politics. A few days ago when TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee came to Delhi to take part in the meeting of the newly-formed coordination committee of the UPA, the President let all the bitterness about Presidential elections be bygones and invited younger sister Mamata to visit the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The message was straight from the heart and Mamata too decided to bury the past and went to meet her elder brother at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sources reveal that Pranab da’s resignation has left his seat at the Jangipur constituency in West Bengal vacant and he wants his son Abhijit to occupy the same. And this victory for his son will not be possible without the help of didi. That is the reason dada has chosen to give a fresh start to his friendship with didi.

The Congress-led government has finalised its strategy against Baba Ramdev. So, after Balakrishna got a bail, plans are afoot to have a face-off with the baba too. Drug specialists have collected several samples of baba’s medicines and a report about the same may be given to the government. Baba may be framed on the same and the case may be weaved in exactly the same way it was done with Balakrishna. Issues such as what does a passport have to do with a fake degree? In the same way, baba’s medicines may show traces of bones.

It is becoming almost impossible for regular Congress Parliamentarians to meet crown prince Rahul Gandhi. Wherever Rahul is– in the Parliament or outside – he is surrounded by politician leaders’ politician sons. In the Lok Sabha, the seat next to Raul Gandhi is allotted to Sandeep Dixit but he seldom gets to sit there. Before he comes into the Parliament, his seat is occupied by either Jitin Prasad, or Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora or the Jammu-Kashmir Parliamentarian Lal Singh. Jyotiraje Scindia can be seen in the seat right in front of Rahul. Poor Sandeep; even though he is supposed to be Rahul’s seating partner, he never even gets to exchange a word with him.