Until when will you prevent the inevitable? The CAG report on the Commonwealth loot has become a thorn in Shila Dixit’s side and this time it doesn’t look like she’ll get away with it. The wait is on only for Sonia Gandhi coming back to India. Her operation in a hospital in the US has been successful and she is recuperating. But the party has given signals to Shila that she should be ready to pack her bags and go. Party whispers also reveal that the moment she will be free from the CM’s post, she will be made to work on the UP elections, where Assembly elections are due next year. After this, she might be given a governor’s post somewhere. Shila’s son Sandeep Sixit may also be made a state minister in the Manmohan government.

The experience was never-wracking for a female journalist of a TV news channel. This most powerful minister from the Manmohan Singh government had given a great interview to a competition channel. So this lady was also under the pressure from her boss to get an interview from the minister. After a week of trying, the minister called the journalist home. A young assistant there led her to the minister’s study. This middle-aged politician instantly commented, “If you were to share a bed with me, then at night I would be grinding my teeth.” The journalist was shocked and ran back and wrote about the entire incident in her blog without naming the minister. What do you call this behaviour from a minister who belongs to a party led by a woman? It is worth mentioning that this wayward minister has earlier too conned several journalists, and sources reveal that he isn’t the only minister in the Cabinet like this and that the casting couch has become prevalent among the politicians. “Shayad tum nahi jantey ki dhakney ki fer mein/ kai kai baar udhadte rahe ho tum/ kai kai baar dikhi hai tumhari maili badbudaar ganji/ jisey jhak jhak saaf kameez se dhaktey firtey ho tum/ gehrati chuppi ke andhere mein sulag rahi hai bheetar jo aakrosh ki aag/ uski roshni mein padh rahi hoon/ Tumhare khilaf akele larne ke khatron ke khel (From a poem by Nirmala Putul).

Just before Chidambaram went to Dhaka, he and Digvijay Singh has a confidential meeting, which went on for a long time. It is believed that Digvijay met him with a special message from Sonia-Rahul that the problems that party members have with each other should not come in the open, because it gives the wrong signals to the public. It is worth mentioning that it was Digvijay himself who has openly criticized the policies by Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The PM is very upset with his party – everyone knows where the party actually functions from. He is miffed about why the party was silent when A Raja mentioned his and Chidambaram’s name in connection with the 2G scam. Why did not one come forward in their support? The PM then spoke to the party head directly, and it was only after that that a statement was released defending him.

This Monday will see the beginning of the monsoon session. But the governing party’s stubbornness is almost anarchy-like. A minister dear to 10, Janpath was seen – for shame! – wiping his shoe with Bapu’s khadi in Rajasthan. Another Congress spokesperson seemed to be glaring at Anna Hazare with a “We’ll see” emotion. Krishna seemed to be besotted with Hina, while the CBI got a dressing down from the court on the Ramdev issue. The main Opposition party, the BJP, is in the know of things with A Raja’s statement in front of Justice Saini about the 2G scam. It knows what 10, Janpath is upto and what its game is. So the BJP’s stance on the prime minister may be a tad soft in the Parliament. But the party will be aggressive on Chidambaram, which means in a hidden way, it will be Sonia, and not the prime minister in the line of fire by the Opposition. And with Sonia, her chosen loyalists.

This time when the American Foreign Minister Hillary Clinton came to India, apart from three UPA ministers and Sonia Gandhi, she also met Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The message is clear – America is considering alternate political possibilities other than the UPA. Hillary gave her speech not in Delhi but in Chennai. She said that this region had two super powers – Russia and China and India is also rising as one. This is the reason the US supports trade relations with India and wants that India should take its trade from the east (Singapore, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh) to central Asia. Hillary called upon the farmers and said that instead of the east, they should now sell their produce to Kazakhstan. Kudos to the American thinking – two birds with one stone.

Sources close to Rahul have revealed that the change of guard at the centre is almost sure. Rahul baba is just waiting for his Mission UP to bear fruit. If the Congress gets anywhere close to a 100 seats during the 2012 UP elections, the nation’s control will be in Rahul’s hands. If the party does not get more than 50 seats, one of Rahul’s loyal aides will be given the top seat, no matter what house he belongs to. Which means bidding adieu to Manmohan Singh in 2012 is almost final.

The “Cash for vote” issue hasn’t suddenly reared its ugly head. Someone has given it a shot in the arm and that is why the prime minister’s pulse is fast. Ever since he has started to find his feet in the UPA-2 regime, the sky has laughed at his desires to use his wings and fly. Everyone knows that the Congress queen is unhappy with her puppet prime minister and all she is waiting for is the UP elections. The Nizam will be replaced and preparations for the coronation ceremony for Rahul baba are on. In the coming days, a lot of allegations may be made on the honest prime minister and for him it could be a case of “Bade beabru ho kar tere kuche se hum nikle”. But he can’t even cry out loud about dishonesty.

With blessing from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh has been sent to the rural development ministry. In the true sense, it is a promotion of sorts for him –he is going to play a crucial role in seeing Rahul as the prime minister. The party is soon going to place the Food Security Bill to the Parliament and Jairam is working out the details. Rahul has also placed significant responsibility to Salman Khurshid’s shoulders and he is already working on the Communal Violence Bill. He is considered fairly honest and has been put in place of Moily and has been given the extra charge of the minority affairs ministry.

The complaint by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan seems to be a valid one that even he got the news of bomb blasts in Mumbai late. That’s because the signal from the affected towers were jammed with immediate effect. It is worth noting that before the mobile revolution, the police officials would get all information through communication and command ISPW, that is, Interstate Police Wireless. The top brass of police and intelligence agencies were connected to the network, too. But with the communication revolution and the usage of mobile phones, the agencies are relying too much on them. This is despite knowing that terrorist outfits that the capacity of hacking and listening to these conversations. It is time that our police and intelligence agencies rely more on their own communication network for information.