Ketan Parekh may have been nabbed in connection with the games being played in the Medical Council, but this is not going to put the brakes on the behind the scenes action. Do you know who had introduced Parekh to Minister Ghulam Nabi? It is one Mr. Rao who used to be earlier the PS to Ghulam Nabi when he was Urban Development Minister. In the NDA rule this gentleman was Director, Health Education in Medical Sciences. When Ghulam Nabi got the Health Ministry in UPA-II, then he again joined Ghulam Nabi. Everyone knows how Ketan Parekh enjoyed the support of a leader very close to 10 Janpath and the Congress had with the help of this regional satrap used Parekh against its erstwhile Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. And it was this political satrap who had first introduced Ghulam Nabi through this senior bureaucrat to Ketan Parekh. So the game is still on, albeit in a slightly changed form.

When Pranab Mukherjee went to meet the Prime Minister, Dr. Singh told him to prevail upon Chidambaram that the problems only aggravate or become complicated by speaking to the media. At this Pranab told Dr. Singh in no unclear terms that it would be better if he would himself issue this `advisory’: after all he was the Prime Minister.

The Opposition parties are levelling the same allegation that there is some tie-up between the Congress and Naxals or else what could be the reason that Naxalism is primarily affecting the non-Congress ruled States – be it Chhattisgarh, Bihar or Jharkhand. Till the time there was Naidu Government in Andhra Pradesh, the Naxalites proved to be a thorn in the flesh to all, but as soon as the Congress came to power in the State and formed the Government, the approach of the Naxals softened somewhat.

The round of questions-answers is on between BCCI and suspended IPL
Commissioner Lalit Modi. Modi is slowly replying to the charges being
levelled against him, sometimes he sends one paper and sometimes the
other. The issue is only getting stretched, not resolved. Actually, an
astrologer who is very close to Modi has advised him that his stars
and planets are not in the right position till July, and after that
his good times would start. So Modi just wants to while away the time
till July.

Gadkari is worried, very worried these days. He wants to increase his political weight and reduce his physical one. So now in his own style he has started dieting. With great difficulty he has managed to reduce his weight by four kg. Now he weighs a slender 123 kg! But if you still find this weight too much, then so be it.

Tulsi Prajapati, the lone witness to the encounter of Gujarat’s notorious criminal Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausarbi, was lodged in a Rajasthan Jail. The Rajkot police took him on remand and one day suddenly his encounter took place. The Rajkot police claimed that Prajapati was trying to escape from custody and therefore it had to shoot him. Whatever be the truth, but both the IPS officers of Rajkot police, Chudasama and Vipul Agarwal, were arrested in connection with the gunning down of Prajapati. Sources say the central intelligence agencies have concrete proof that on the night of that incident both these IPS officers were in constant touch with their Home Minister from 11 in the night to 5 in the morning. On this basis the needle of suspicion points at Shah and his arrest is also likely in this connection.

So what is Amar Singh doing these days? He attends the House very rarely but his signatures are always there in the attendance register of the Upper House. Should it be understood that he merely marks his presence and leaves. But why?

Since Independence, there is a tradition that our security agencies, on the basis of a countrywide survey, prepare a list of notorious persons and this list is then circulated among the various Government departments, offices and officers with the instruction that they stay away from these people and not transact any business with them. Earlier in this list, the number of notorious persons used to be about 18, but this time the list released by CBI has about 100 names and the
names too are such that you would not be able to believe it.

Nandini Satpathy’s son and Biju Janta Dal MP Tathagat Satpathy recently hosted a dinner at his Government residence in Delhi. In this dinner of his, the entire Rahul brigade of the Congress was present – from Jitin Prasada to Sachin Pilot. Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule was also present in it. But it is understood that Congress strategists are silently engaged in writing a new chapter of friendship with BJD. Surprised at the changed behaviour of several of its alliance partners over the Women’s Reservation Bill, the Congress
has now started searching for new alliance partners. In such a time if Congress is seeing BJD as an alternative to Trinamool Congress then this political manoeuvring has its own meaning.

A smart Union Minister whose wife spends most of her time abroad usually remains in the news because of his new women friends. These days the political circles are abuzz with stories of his dancer
friend. This attractive danseuse, who was born in Andhra Pradesh and brought up in Tamil Nadu, has often been seen in public places holding hands with the Minister. But this makes no difference to the
Minister’s health and those who are unable to bear this sight can only shut their own eyes.