An influential Congress minister, who regularly boasts of his closeness with the Gandhi family is presently spending a lot of his time at a splendid suite in a luxury hotel in New Delhi. All of his desires and needs are being met with there, he is openly threatening corporate houses and he has the backing of an IAS officer of 1979 batch. This officer makes a note one day, for instance, that such and such commodity should not be imported or a particular fruit’s export policy be changed. But when an influential corporate meets with the minister at his suite, the IAS officer’s export policy or the import policy changes in a week or two. This open game has been going on for the past several months. But our honest PM just can’t seem to see this.

The IPL plot may be revealed anytime. If sources are to be believed, India’s investigative agency has submitted a report about the IPL to the government. The report includes the names of some IAS, IPS and IRS officers who were said to be close to Lalit Modi. Details of their conversations are also a part of the report. The report also has the entire details of the conversation with an official of the rank of a director at the Indian Revenue Services. It is worth mentioning that it is the same official who looks after all the matters of the International Treaty Transaction. The report has, for now, been handed over to the finance ministry for further action.

In the coming Parliament session, the Antrix deal, the Italian murderer marine, the Indian NRI couple in Norway, the Maldives episode and General V K Singh’s episode is going to be discussed.

For March 6, all big news channels have booked time with leaders from all parties, as well as that of the BJP. March 6 is the date when the results of the Assemble elections of five Indian states will be out. From 8 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon, news channels will get to talk to BJP leaders, but all are unanimously busy after that. That’s because by the time it is one in the afternoon, it will be clear where the election results are heading. And BJP leaders clearly know that this time the party does not stand a chance in Goa or Manipur, it can see power go out of its hands in Uttarakhand and Manipur. In Uttar Pradesh, too, it will gain merely 10-15 seats more than the last elections. In such a scenario, why will any leaders from the saffron party come on a news channels to face a barrage of embarrassing questions?

The Mossad has prepared a list of eight possible suspects and given it to India. All of them are said to be Iranian residents, and Israel is putting pressure on India to take swift action against them or the suspects will flee India. India is giving a routine answer to Israel about this and saying, “We have our eyes on it.” India is actually unsure about the whole thing – Assembly elections are on in UP, in the fourth phase of elections, a large number of voters will be Muslims and if the Congress-ruled Central government takes action on the list and tracks and catches hold of the Iranians, it may have an adverse effect on the Muslim voters. And this time’s elections are a matter of honour for the Congress prince Rahul Gandhi and so the party does not want to take any more risks. India’s second biggest worry about Iran is the crude oil supply it gets from the country. If India rubs Iran the wrong way and the oil-rich country stops supplying crude to India, it will have to buy the same at a much higher price from the international markets because among the oil-reach countries, Iran is closest to India.

Combatting terrorism comes under the ambit of the Central government as well as making new laws to deal with it. The NCTC, that is, National Counter Terrorism Centre, has been designed along the lines of the NIA. It will work under the IB it has all the powers that come under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. After the passing of this law, it becomes binding on the state governments to supply any information asked for by the NCTC. Any police officer of the state, be it the DIG or the IG, will have to work under the NCTC. The organisation will not need to seek permission from the state government to tap a phone or arrest anyone. In current law, even the CBI has to seek the state government’s permission for an investigation, which leads to news leaking at times. The formation of NCTC and the powers it will enjoy sit uneasy with non-Congress parties, especially the BJP, which has raised a hue and cry about it. These state governments say that the Centre did not even deem it fit to consult with them before making such a law and simply released a notification about it. Most state government actually suspect the intentions of the Central government.

Why did the CBI choose this opportune time for a raid on Ponty Chaddha, when his daughter is set to get married on February 9? The wedding cards have been printed and distributed. Those who have been invited for the wedding are eagerly waiting for the same. That’s because people feel that Ponty has had the wedding cards done so beautifully and lavishly (three kinds of chocolates are attached with these expensive cards), the events and ceremonies at the wedding will be even better. But the CBI raids have left a bitter taste in the mouth for the Ponty family.

It may be seen on the surface that this time during the UP elections, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, Congress will emerge in the “kingmaker’s” role. The Congress believes that Rahul has put so much into these elections that the Congress can touch up to 60 seats in the UP elections. But a veteran leader from the Rahul coterie has to say that they will not let the Mulayam government form so easy. The Congress leader says that considering the President elections, if the Congress wants to bring its own president, it will have to gain support from both the BSP and the SP. So, if a condition of a hung Assembly arises in the state, the Congress wants the President’s rule for a while, because a new President will be elected. Then the party can decide who it wants to support in forming the government – the SP or the BSP.

The budget session of the Parliament is set to start from March 16. It may be remembered that the budget will be presented after that.

West Bengal’s finance minister Amit Mitra doesn’t seem to too comfortable with his responsibilities, and sources say that he met Mamata Banerjee and clearly told her that she should look for his replacement. Actually, Mitra, who was once the apple of Mamata’s eyes, has had enough of Mamata’s populist policies, especially the no tax policy. Mitra, who is primarily an economist, can’t digest this strange marriage of economics and politics. Sources close to didi have revealed that she is set to give a major shock to Dinesh Trivedi before the forthcoming Railway Budget.