The IB and the CBI may well have locked horns over Ishrat Jahan case, but the truth is that the IB is pretty hurt with the Central government’s current take. The Special Director at the IB Rajendra Kumar, on whom the CBI is going to file a chargesheet on July 4 and about whom there is talk that he may be arrested in the near future, is considered to be one of the most hardworking officers at the IB. Rajendra Kumar’s record is that he has identified the 300 Pakistani spies working in India and has had them arrested. The IB is upset with the way the CBI has interrogated their able officer like a police would, and the effects of this can be seen. The prime minister is now facing a paucity of investigative information.

Even those from the Opposition parties are becoming fans of CBI Direction Ranjit Sinha. That is because it is the first time that the CBI is working like an autonomous body, and is also obeying orders that have been passed by the court. It is believed that the cola heat is ready to scorch the PMO, too. CBI was trying to get permission to question Kuttynair, an officer who is liked by Manmohan Singh, but the PMO was not ready to give time to the CBI. So to add pressure on the PMO, CBI has tightened its grip around Congress leaders such as Navin Jindal and former minister Dasari Narayan Rao. Which means, God willing, the next in line could just be the PMO.

The politics of cricket is hot in India at present. After Srinivasan trouble, Pawar opposers raised their voices about bringing Dalmia back to power. The BCCI president is to be chosen in an election that is due to be held in September and it is the south zone’s term. So it is possible that the current president himself may get an extension for a year. The east zone term is due in September 2014. Arun Jaitley is from the north zone but according to the BCCI guidelines, the east zone can put forward a name for the president from the north zone as well. The president of Jharkhand Cricket Association and former IPS officer Amitabh Choudhury is close to BJP leader Arun Jaitley and he is already forwarding Jaitley’s name for the president. Amitabh Choudhury also wants to contest the elections from the Ranchi constituency and for this he will need Jaitley’s help. That means it is a case of a mutual symbiosis.

UP’s prominent Congress leader Pramod Tiwari’s closeness with the SP has increased. Sources from the SP reveal that Tiwari has been offered an attractive package from the SP, under which he was promised a Rajya Sabha seat, an assurance was given that his wife Ratna will be made to contest the Lok Sabha elections on an SP ticket, and that his daughter will be made a minister under the Akhilesh Yadav government. The Congress high command found out about this in the nick of time and investigative agencies started to probe Tiwari’s wheeling-dealing. A reliable source with the Congress has revealed that Tiwari ji has recently bought a house worth Rs 18 crore at a posh area in New Delhi and the agencies are looking into the finances of the deal. Obviously, the investigations will continue until Tiwari ji doesn’t change his mind.

The NIA is investigating the matter of Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh. Reliable sources reveal that a few days ago, daughter of Vidya Charan Shukla, who was admitted to the hospital in a serious condition, registered a complaint with the NIA. The complaint pointed a finger at the role of Ajit Jogi and Lakhma, the local Assembly leader of Konta. The NIA is trying to investigate how, after such a big incident in Sukma, no harm came to the local Congress leader, who is also said to have changed the course of the entourage. Instead, the attacking Naxalites helped the local Assembly leader get out of the area on a motorcycle. Where Ajit Jogi is concerned, his helicopter landed in Jagdalpur where the meeting was supposed to be held. It is said that at that time, Jogi didn’t even care of find out or ask where the other members of his party were. And Jogi then returned, too. In a changed scenario, Ajit Jogi is ahead in the race for the head of Congress Party in the state.

Representatives of Advani camp may well be anointing the saffron party’s veteran leader as a potential candidate for becoming the prime minister, but the Sangh has other ideas about him. Sources reveal that the Sangh has clear intentions regarding Advani. One, they feel that Advani is so spent that placing a bet on him will be dangerous. Two, putting his face forward for the 2014 elections may not be the right thing for floating and young voters. So a new thinking has come into being in the Sangh that if the BJP performs well in the 2014elections and gets some good seats, BJP may launch him as NDA’s candidate for President. Because not only is the Congress a little lenient on Advani, even SP supremo Mulayam Singh also praises him openly.

This meeting of position holders of the party lasted about one-and-a-half hours and S S Ahluwalia refused to say anything during the entire duration. When the party President Rajnath Singh couldn’t take it any longer, he addressed Ahluwalia in his signature style and said, “You didn’t utter a single word this whole time. You might just be christened Mauni baba alias Dr Manmohan Singh.” At this, Ahluwalia wore an innocent face and said, “Sir, why do all sardars look the same to you?”

The fact that the China-India situation arose and has more or less dissolved is because the communist country is totally involved with what is happening on its domestic front. In the past decade when the country has consciously moved towards somewhat capitalism from communism, the country’s economy improved several times. The world was surprised to see the growth rate of China being pegged at 9-10 per cent. But with 2012, things changed and the growth rate slumped to 7.6 per cent – the lowest in three years. There was also been a record slowdown with the country’s industrial productivity. The steel and realty sector, which were the mainstay of China’s economy, are victims of the slow growth and a slump in the industry. The demand and price for steel have gone down in international markets. Nearly 3,800 banks of the country have bad debts and can even sink. Thus, this is the real time to now be scared of China but fight against it. For starters, we can refuse to buy Chinese products….

The Sharda episode may be grabbing headlines in the media at present, and the news of how Sharda Group and TMC top brass were close to each other, but Mamta seems to be not bothered about it at all. In any case, after the names of Nalini Chidambaram, Assam’s minister, several members of Parliament and a few journalists have been there in the matter, Congress’ attack has backfired somewhat. Where media is concerned, it is anyways upset with Mamta since she does not give them state advertisements.

The Congress is not taking seriously the claim by several parties that are harping on about the case of mid-term polls. The top leadership of the Congress is united on the view that the general elections should be held in the country at their correct time. The Congress is neither in hurry, nor does it want to repeat the mistakes that its predecessor the BJP made. The surveys that have been conducted by Mamta Banerjee and Mulayam Singh in their respective states and realised that they aren’t doing too well at all. In West Bengal, Mamta’s Trinamool Congress in unable to even touch the 10 per cent mark. On the other hand in UP, where SP’s Mulayam had dreamt of getting 70 Parliamentary seats, might just be unable to retain the present ones. Thus, both political leaders at this point in time want to get back to work with their parties and bring them to health. Maybe that is the reason that whenever there is talk about making the UPA government fall, or about a show of strength in the Parliament, Mamta and Mulayam both say no in the same breath. Their no has given the Congress a hope to revive itself.