Mulayam is being forced to match Mayavati’s moves. Mayavati is learning the minute intricacies of politics nowadays. In the past few days, her closeness with the great Congress strategist Ahmed Patel has increased, thanks to Satish Mishra and Rajiv Shukla. So, now Mulayam is in a fix since he can’t withdraw his support from the UPA government unless Mayavati is getting the government’s support. And if Behenji withdraws her support from the government, Mulayam may be forced to follow suit. It is only because of the growing closeness between Mayavati and Congress that Mulayam turned down the offer to be a part of the UPA government.

A prominent industrialist, who is also dear to 10, Janpath, also goes a long back a long way with L K Advani. He visited Advani at his residence a few days ago and confessed his worried to him saying, “The way Narendra Modi’s name is being forwarded by the Sangh is a matter of grave worry – my only relation with the BJP is because of my relations with you.” Advani replied, “You don’t have to worry at all. Whenever NDA comes to power, the country will get a secular prime minister. And at such a time, my name will be leading the fray.” Only after did this the popular comment by NDA’s Sharad Yadav regarding Advani came in the open.

Mamata’s didigiri may not have managed to uproot the UPA government at the Centre, but she has definitely blown the trumpet of war against it. Thank god two caste-based parties started to compete aggressively to save the government. Both parties are falling over each other to save the government. The reasons are different, though. Mayavati doesn’t want mid-term polls at present. She wants another six months for Akhilesh’s name to become a bad one in the UPA government. On the other hand, Mulayam is working on a three-point agenda here. One, he is eyeing the prime minister’s post and for this he is exploring the formation of the third or fourth front. Also, his short-term goal is to get his family and his name out of the CBI wrangles. He is thus forced to have good relations with the government at the Centre. Apart from this, Mulayam is also hoping for some hefty relief packages from the Centre for his home state Uttar Pradesh.

Prominent leader and party secretary of the NCP Tariq Anwar feels that he may have to content himself with a mere state post in the next reshuffle. Although Pawar was aggressively campaigning that Tariq should get at least an independent state minister’s post. But the Congress has made it clear to Pawar that his quota only deems a state post, and that too because of a position vacated by Agatha Sangma. Just two days ago, Pawar met the prime minister and found a way out of this. Now it has been decided that Tariq will work under Pawar’s agriculture ministry at the state minister’s post, so that Pawar can hand him several responsibilities of the ministry independently.

Prana da may well have bid adieu to active politics and climbed up Raisina Hill, but the addiction to politics is such that it isn’t easy to let go. He wants his Assembly member son Abhijeet to contest the election from the Jangipur seat in West Bengal, which has become vacant after his resignation. And because Abhijit is from the West Bengal Assembly, the seat left vacant by him for the Jangipur seat will be claimed by his sister. Under Dada’s able advice, Abhijit hosted a dinner for TMC and Congress Parliamentarians at his Greater Kailash bungalow in New Delhi. Pranab da had also spoken to Mamata before the dinner diplomacy so that Trinamool Parliamentarians can attend the dinner without any problems. TMC may be all right but one can’t really see unity among the Congressmen themselves. Of the six Congress Parliamentarians from West Bengal, only four attended the dinner. Which means Dada still has to win the fight against Congress.

Amidst all the shouting and noise by Opposition parties on Coalgate scam, CAG’s second report about the present government’s functioning and working will be out soon. The BJP is already excited about the report. CAG Vinod Rai has another two years of his tenure left. Sources reveal that the BJO leaders have assured him that after his retirement, the party will soon get him a Rajya Sabha seat. It has happened in the past, too. The then CAG T N Chaturvedi, who brought out the report about the Bofors scam, was given a Rajya Sabha seat by the BJP, and later on, made a governor. Is Vinod Rai next?

Priyanka Gandhi is ready to make her political debut. The most important thing is that mother Sonia herself is paying her more attention. The general view about Rahul within the Congress is that he doesn’t listen to anyone. The joke doing the rounds within Congress – albeit in whispers – is that he has been caught saying, “I know everything. I can set things right in a minute.” The general opinion people from Congress have about Priyanka is that at least she listens to the people. At present, Priyanka is not only looking at the entire work for Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, but has also started to pay attention to work that has to be done in the constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi. In such a scenario, her comment a few days back that she will bring all ten seats from Rae Bareilly and Amethi to Congress, should not be taken lightly.

All’s not well for industrialists in UP during Akhilesh’s rule. Most factory owners complain that for no reason, they are being troubled by the pollution department officials who say, “Your factory will be closed. We have orders from above.” According to sources, the “above” means Akhilesh’s dear friend Abhishek Mishra. The factory owners make a beeline to Lucknow and try to appease Abhishek Mishra, and they are then advised to meet Sanjay Dalmia in Delhi. Only after adequate offerings are these people returning back to their factories in Noida and other manufacturing areas.

A new philosophy is taking form in the BJP that party’s prominent leaders should contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Delhi. The party is mulling over making Sushma Swaraj contest the New Delhi electoral seat, while Arun Jaitley may pose a challenge to Kapil Sibal. Navjot Singh Sidhu may be launched opposite Mahabal Mishra and keeping the Purabia voters in mind, Kirti Azad may be pitted against Sandeep Dixit in east Delhi.

After dada Pranab Mukheree shifted to Raisina Hills, the Congress has found a dadi (granny) in the form of Sonia. There was a time when Sonia would talk to Congress Parliamentarians in a silent way – by gestures or body language. But the current Coalgate scam has brought out the speaker in her. Now not only does she speak in the Parliament, she also weighs her opponents in the Opposition party and is taking part in all the activities that are needed in the management of smooth functioning of the House. So much so that the Congress dadi can be seen sitting in the Central Hall.