Congress’s political air is rife with the cold war between 10, Janpath and 7, Racecourse. Allegedly, such a strong demeanor has never been seen from a weak prime minister. The almighty Sonia of Congress has never looked so helpless. Is it merely a coincidence that this column for the first time reported a rift between the PM and Sonia Gandhi and there have been problems between the party and the government. In a hurry, the PM’s advisors call a meeting of electronic media’s editors for a press conference, without consulting 10, Janpath. And what is it that the PM clarifies about, everything that was reported in this column: for instance, “There are no problems between the party and the government,” “I never threatened to quit” and so on. All pointing to the fact that there is something wrong somewhere.

There might be an unannounced war between 10, Janpath and 7, Racecourse, and new political maps may be drawn in the corridors, but Sonia still can’t muster the moral courage to ask for the resignation of the man she appointed as the prime minister. Sonia and her confidantes feel that if they ask for his resignation, he might get the martyr’s sympathy and Sonia may be blamed for being amoral. But who after Manmohan? This is a question that Sonia’s team is still not equivocal about. The only option is that of Pranab Mukherjee. But what is the guarantee he doesn’t start doing things in only his way once he gets the post? Since the question remains, Manmohan rules.

The Congress is waiting for December 6. If the Opposition keeps this on, how will parties such as the Communist party, Samajwadi party and other so-called secular parties stand with the BJP against the 2G scam on the eve of the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition? And this is exactly what the Congress wants to prove – see how the Opposition itself is not unified. As it is December 9 is Congress President’s birthday and most party workers will be in the capital on that day so that they can wish her. No wonder they don’t want the Parliament to be postponed indefinitely.

In the 2G spectrum distribution, all those companies have gained that, until now, had no experience of telecom industry. A popular construction company didn’t even have the word telecom in its memorandum. Only when it was given the spectrum was its Article of Association amended. Soon after, this company sold the spectrum at a good profit to Italisat. Not just this company, several others sold their licenses to other companies for hefty profits. The financial transactions were also rife with inconsistencies. Foreign bank accounts were transferred money, there were cash deals. All in all, a long list of scams.

The BJP high command is doing all it can to save the Yedurappa government in Karnataka, which seems to be breathing its last in the state. In a lat ditch effort, party President Nitin Gadkari has given the responsibility of saving the government to mining moguls Reddy brothers. This is akin to using a thorn to pull out another. Gadkari also gave a piece of his mind to Yedurappa for having made changes in the ministry. It is worth mentioning that the problems took a turn for the worse only after that. The egg was now on Yedurappa’s face, who had done all he could to pull down the Reddy brothers. And now to save the government, Yedurappa had to eat his words. To oversee the government’s problems, Gadkari is constantly on hotline with Janardan Reddy, who in turn is constantly in touch with those who are dissatisfied, and is shuttling between Goa and Chennai. Yedurappa, on the other hand, is visiting all shrines to appease the gods.

The lobbying at the centre has quickened for the new CBI chief. Those contending and vying for the position are presenting their cases more aggressively. The most prominent contender is Jharkhand cadre’s A P Singh. He is considered an able officer and is presently a special director with the CBI. Ranjit Singh, DG, RPF is also trying his best, too. Sinha is also considered to be extremely close to Lalu. The DG of Madhya Pradesh A S Raut is also in the race. He is said to be close to centre minister Kamal Nath. Several other Congress leaders are also suggesting his name. And why should women stay behind? Thus, an entire lobby from down south is trying to have a women elected as the next CBI chief. Several parties in south India have kept their mutual differences on the side and lobbying for Chennai’s police commissioner Latika Sharan.

Central Chemicals Minister M K Azhagiri may not be liking the portfolio he has, and is mostly absent from the Cabinet meetings, but he is traveling a lot overseas at the cost of the ministry on the pretext of foreign delegations. He was recently in China as part of a representative team of the food production industrialists. Before this he was away in Australia. He has visited six countries in the past eight months – on government expense. Now even the DMK leaders are complaining that Azhaigiri seems to have forgotten the Madurai constituency and is more of a foreign minister than a chemical minister. It will be interesting to see if the man donning the dark glasses takes notice of this.

Hardeep Puri’s name was almost surely chosen as the new foreign secretary. Now only was he the oldest and the most capable person for the post, but his pro-American stance made the package all the more attractive since the American lobby also seemed to be supporting him. But what became his undoing was Puri’s closeness to BJP’s L K Advani. The UPA government is now giving him oblique looks. In fact, since the Congress found out that not only is Puri close to Advani, but is also keen to content elections from Delhi with a BJP ticket, the UPA government is trying to supersede him with a junior Rajan Mathai. Kirshna has been notified about the same by 10 Janpath.

The site of Union Carbide factory in Bhopal still has a massive dump of hazardous waste. The groundwater has become poisonous. The judiciary has directed the company to cough up Rs 100 crore to remove the hazardous waste from the area. Since the Union Carbide company was later bought over by Dr Chemical for $11.6 billion, it became a subsidiary of Dr Chemical. And now that Congressman and lawyer Abhishel Manu Singhvi has come forward to defend the case on behalf of Dr Chemical, taking a middle-path looks like a more plausible way.

There are loopholes even where compensation to the aggrieved is concerned. A five-judge bench of Supreme Court had reached at a compensation amount of $490 billion, which the Union Carbide Company was to give to the Indian government. This dates back to 1989, when Justice R S Pathak (now Late) was the chief justice in the Apex Court. Surprisingly, the same Justice Pathak became a judge at the International Court of Justice, thanks to a warmed up America. Today, the law firm Anand Pathak and Company, run by Justice R S Pathak’s son is among the top law firms of the country. If CRPC’s Section 357 (3) decided that the compensation package is inadequate, it can be looked at once again. However, it doesn’t really seem like the Manmohan Singh government is too keen to follow this, since it is too busy trying to pass the American Nuclear Liability Bill in India.