Pranab da has a short fuse nowadays. Headed by Meira Kumar, when an all-party meeting was on at the Parliament’s library, Communist Party’s Vasudeb Acharya asked some questions about the pension regulation, Pranab da got upset and said, “If you have some questions about the merit of the bill, do it in the Parliament – this is a meeting.” When Lalu spoke about making the names of those having accounts in Swiss banks public, Pranab da curtly replied, “The arrangement we have with the Swiss government is that we can pressurise the account holders to pay taxes on the money, but we can’t register a case against them in the court.” When Lalu was not satisfied with the answer, Pranab da got irritated and replied, “What have the past governments done about the black money?”

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 profile of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla includes assisting and ensuring the Rajya Sabha runs smoothly. But he is also one of those with good public relations. So the Congress has asked him to also lobby with Opposition leaders from the Lok Sabha as well. So this Diwali, he bought gifts by the dozen and arrived at homes of Opposition leaders. Not just the BSP, SP and the BJP, he even went to the homes of Lalu Prasad and Sharad Yadav. BJP’s Arun Jaitley and CPM’s Sitaram Yechury are some of his good friends and because they keep meeting Shukla ji, and because Jaitley likes to follow and play games other than politics just like Shukla ji, they both have a great tuning. But Shukla ji couldn’t meet Opposition leader in the house Sushma Swaraj, although he asked her office twice for an appointment, but Sushma’s office told him in plain words, “Madam is not celebrating Diwali this time, because her brother died only a few months ago. “

The Congress is planning its strategy in Andhra Pradesh about Chiranjeevi. That’s because the Kapu caste the superstar belongs to has quite an influence on 12 Lok Sabha seats from the coastal part of the state. And here other seats have at least 25 per cent Kapu votes that will decide a seat’s win or loss. The Congress is hoping that it will sweep through the in the coastal parts if it manages to get a right balance with Dalit, Muslim, schedule castes and Kapu. Where Rayalseema is concerned, it is Jagan’s stronghold, where the Congress will not be able to do will even if it wants to. That’s because Jagan is hell bent on causing injury to the Congress at the cost of the party and even himself. Clearly, Chandrababu Naidu will gain from the situation.

Is Rahul Gandhi not in agreement with Manmohan Singh’s formula of liberalisation? Otherwise what was the reason for Rahul Gandhi to invite Yale University’s well-known professor Thomas Pogge – one of the biggest critics of liberalisation — for a lecture in New Delhi? Rahul is a trustee of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies, which had extended an invitation to Pogge for a lecture. This German professor will speak about liberalisation and social law and empowerment on Wednesday. Is the entire episode to tell Pranab and Manmohan his take on things; both these men are staunch supporters of liberalisation.

Advani’s rath has been made in Pune and Prakash Javdekar has played a crucial role in the same. The rath has two generators, a great sound system and a lift as well. The doors are hydraulic and close automatically the minute the rath starts to move. Things went bad in the beginning when the exhaust fans in the rath broke. The minute the fans broke, the fumes from the generator started to go into the air-conditioner duct. The fumes then started to fill the cabin. The fumes rose to such alarming levels that the carbon monoxide in the fumes started to choke the people. Jaitley, who was sleeping there, lost consciousness. C P Thakur took ill and started throwing up. And the doors in the rath just wouldn’t open because they would open only when it stopped and Advani didn’t want the rath to stop and his yatra disturbed. But when things became too much, the rath was made to stop. The doors opened and people managed to come outside. Some people were moving forward making way for the rath but had come some distance far. They were called back since no other vehicle was traveling with the rath. A team of doctors was summoned and a cardiologist advised Jaitley not to travel at night. Sushma’s BP (135/80) and oxygen level (97) was normal. C P Thakur was given first aid and other leaders were taken away in other cars. When the rath traveled some more, it had a bumpy ride in Ara, and when it couldn’t maneuver the slope, its tyres were deflated, punctures treated and put back on. But Advani’s excitement level was still going strong.

Mamta didi just won’t stop being upset with the Congress, especially with Pranab da, with whom she once had a good relationship, but it seems to have gone sour now. Mamta is angry with the Central government about why her party has been handed the income tax notice. Why is the ED asking for information relating to the party’s income? Mamta had already clarified to Pranab that this time her party had won the elections in West Bengal on the basis of ma, mati and manush. In such a scenario, is the Central government trying to mar Trinamul Congress’ image with an income tax baton? Mamta is especially miffed with Pranab that she has got an income tax notice when Pranab is the finance minister. That is “Lut ta raha chaman bag baan, kaise maan loon tera ishara na tha.” Maybe that is the reason why nowadays, the Central government is getting all of Mamta’s messages through Jairam Ramesh.

When Pranab Mukherjee suddenly reached New York on being summoned by the prime minister, it was midnight when he reached the city. The prime minister was staying at New York’s Palace Hotel with his entire entourage. The entire two floors of the hotel were booked for the PM and his team. Because Pranab needed a suite to stay, no arrangements at the Palace Hotel could be made for the same. So Pranab’s car moved to Park Central Hotel where the press team accompanying the PM was staying. But when no suite could be arranged for dada even there, Foreign Ministry’s Joint Secretary Vishnu Prakash vacated his own suite for dada, who finally got a place to spend the night. Because Vishnu Prakash’s work was to take care of the press people accompanying the PM, he shifted to an ordinary room in the hotel.

Rajiv Shukla is IPL’s new chairman and he intends to clean the tarnished image the brand has. For starters, he is busy making a directions and orders list for the IPL and the franchisees. First, only nine teams will take part in IPL. Shukla himself may be fond of Page 3 parties, but is against the necessity of having late night parties thrown by franchisees which also invited the players. He is of the opinion that such late night parties affect the performance of the players. So they can’t force the players to be a part of such dos. He is also busy making the commencing ceremony colourful and a gala one. It will be held in Chennai and Shukla wants that the ceremony should be of the same scale as the Commonwealth or Olympics. He is busy invited tenders and applications from Indian and foreign event management companies for the same. He is all out to prove that he is a master of all trades.

Till Amar was in Tihar, he was in a bad state. Not that it stopped him from being a loudmouth. But his health really deteriorated and the infection in his body spread. So that is why he couldn’t control his emotions at times and would scream, “I’ll either die or open my mouth before dying and that will be the undoing of several big names.” Clearly, he carries several secrets in his heart, which are connected to the “Cash for vote” and the nuclear deal. The most surprising is America’s interest in Amar Singh. The India-based American embassy is always anxious to know how Amar Singh is doing. America’s interest in Amar in such a way is clearly a matter of deep speculation.