The Bofors case may have been closed, but Indian army continues to use them and the Quattrocchi family continues to visit India. His son is often seen in India and since his work is in Bangalore that is the city he visits most. The friendship with Gandhi family continues and just like his father, he keeps visiting the family. And dare anyone from harming him.

Non-resident Indians are having a great time in the Congress portico. This time, the entire Congress reshuffle is by Ahmed, which means 80 per cent are from Ahmed Patel’s quota. He had also settled scores with two of his longtime foes Oscar Fernandes and Digvijay Singh. But the cleverest was Janardan Dwivedi, who came into the Ahmed camp at the last moment and so his people were also included in the list. Otherwise who had heard of Madhusudan Mistri before this? He used to be in Shankar Singh Vagehla’s party before this. Patel not only brought him into the CWC, but also had him made the party’s general secretary. But the wipe out of Salman Khurshid, Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Rajiv Shukla was also surprising. Pravenan Rashtrapal is also from the Ahmed quota. Satyavrat was dumped from the camp because Janardan has been included in the same. Apart from him, Mohan Rakesh, Gurchain Singh Charak (from Jammu), Shakeel Ahmed, Jagdish Tytler, Choudhury Virendra Singh, Dhani Ram Shandliya, Anees Ahmed, Mirza Beig, Manish Chakrath, Sagar Raika, Deepak Babriya, Pankaj Sharma, Parvez Hashmi have come through Ahmed Patel. Sanjay Nirupam has been pushed by Janardan Dwivedi. Pankaj Sharma used to be with Janardan Dwivedi, but came into Ahmed camp after being ousted from there. So, all in all, it’s Ahmed all the way

CBI’s Joint Director Y.P Singh, who was also heading the 2G scam investigation, has resigned in a hurry. Now he will head the anti-corruption branch of the ICC (which is headed by Sharad Pawar), which was initially headed by Ravi Samani. The new job has its perks – go anywhere in the world at the expense of the ICC, go right into the cricketers’ dressing rooms if that’s what you fancy, a fat salary in dollars, perks and the works. Live in Dubai, work in Dubai. What an award. And it’s not necessary that you seek a connection everywhere and when an IO can get a posting of an SP in Thane district, Mr Singh, too, deserves something, doesn’t he?

Rahul is fanatic about fitness like his brother-in-law. There was a time when both would bet who would lose weight faster. Since Rahul was busy with political tours and Rahul was in Delhi and regular with his fitness regime, he won. But Rahul hasn’t given up. He was seen jogging near Hardoi’s police line at 8.45 in the evening. When he gets free from his party work in his constituency Amethi, he goes for a quick jog at even midnight in Munshiganj. The same happened in Kerala, but it was dark at night and the road was slightly bad. His right foot hit a hole and twisted. Then Rahul thought it was nothing major and even attended the Rail Budget in the Parliament. But when the swelling in the foot refused to subside and he got an X-ray done on the insistence of the doctor, they found it was a hairline fracture. Now he’s at home, resting.

There is a possibility of relationships between the Gandhi family getting better. Forgetting the past bitterness, the new generation of Nehru-Gandhi family is all set to find new ties with their kith and kin. The initiative was taken by Varun Gandhi, when he went to Sonia Gandhi to invite her for his wedding. Once the ice was broken, both of them talked for hours. Pine nuts, his favorite coffee, Sonia pampered him every way she could. She then invited Varun for dinner along with his wife. Then when Varun’s nani died before the wedding, Rahul called to offer condolences and once they got talking there was no stopping them. It reminded them of their days in London when they were studying together. Rahul has sustained a hairline fracture while jogging in Kerala and couldn’t attend the wedding even when he wanted to. Priyanka was also keen to attend the wedding with her family but came down with viral at the last moment. But she is organizing a dinner for the newlyweds at her farm house. The wedding reception was supposed to be held at the Ashok on March 8, but has been cancelled due to Varun’s nani’s demise, or it was speculated that Sonia will attend the event. Looks like it is about both families bonding yet again but will two streams with opposite political philosophy see eye to eye?

New Delhi, March 5, 2011

For the first time, Varun Gandhi spoke about his wedding, love and family to a media person in a candid and long conversation

It’s half past six at 14, Ashok Road. Come Saturday, three small chartered plane will fly special guest from the family to Varanasi. We go into Varun’s room, which is unusually quiet. Fresh out of a shower, but he doesn’t seem to be his happy self. The groom-to-be looks like his mind is troubled. He’s missing not having his maternal grandmother around. His dinner arrives – moong dal, boiled broccoli-babycorn vegetables. He insists I share as he digs into his early dinner. And we talk:

When I first met Yamini
When I first met Yamini through a common friend, she was studying at St Stephens College. She’s a simple, honest and sweet girl who doesn’t believe in showing off. She’s not materialistic and is a vegetarian, like me.

,,,,, And I fell in love
Way back in 2004, I would keep meeting Yamini now and then, would talk on the phone and felt there was something special here. One day I realized I am in love. I told everything to my nani and she told me such things are best shared with the person in question.

Confession of love
I prepared myself for the occasion and went to meet Yamini with a bouquet of roses. She took the flowers but said, “There’s no life in flowers plucked from the branches. So why start a relationship with something dead?” I realized there was she was special. The next day I landed at her place with a potted plant and we planted it in the garden. That little sapling is a tree today and is loaded with flowers. Just like our relationship.

When I proposed to her
We had been seeing each other for seven years. She would often come to my house and my nani, mother and aunt grew very fond of her. The best thing about her is she’s not demanding and always makes me feel stronger when she’s around. I asked me mother how she liked Yamini and she said she found her very cultured. Then I asked if she wanted Yamini as her daughter-in-law. I saw tears of joy in her eyes. I decided to propose to Yamini then itself. I am overjoyed that I am marrying my best friend.

She’s a great cook
She loves to be in the kitchen. I had gained so much weight eating what she made. It’s only for the wedding that I have managed to lose some weight. I love the arhar dal, baigan bharta, sweet-sour potatoes and baigan raita she makes. Although she’s not too fond of going out, but we both like the food at Taj Palace Hotel’s “Worth”, Imperial’s “Spice route”, and Ashok’s “Mashrabia”.

Rahul and Priyanka are not going to Varanasi
It would have been nice if Rahul and Priyanka attended the wedding. Rahul and I spoke on the phone and he told me he had a hairline fracture on his right foot. Priyanka is down with viral. She will host a dinner for the newly-weds at a farmhouse once she’s better. I personally invited my aunt Sonia for the wedding. We had to cancel the reception on March 8, otherwise she was sure to attend it.

No flute recital by Hari Prasad ji
Famous artiste Hari Prasad Chaurasia was to play the flue for my wedding but we had to cancel it because of my nani’s death. We were also supposed to attend the evening aarti, but aren’t anymore. We will come back to Delhi after the wedding ceremony in the morning. But we will surely go to Ma Anandmayi’s ashram there – it was she who had made my dadi agree to my mother and father’s wedding.

The wedding will be at Shankracharya ashram
The muhurat is at 7.12 am on March 6 and Shankracharya will preside over the ritual. Yamini will wear the same sari my mother wore for her wedding. The sari was then bought by my nani for Rs 1 lakh. I will wear a cream-coloured Rohit Bal ensemble.

People attending the wedding
Only 15 people from Delhi are attending the wedding – Yamini and her mother, aunt and her child, my mother and aunt with her two kids, two of my childhood friends. Pandit Nehru’s cousin Ashok and Malti Nehru. People from Varanasi include several people from royal families.

About his nani
She was everything to me, more than a mother. I am happy I spent a lot of time during the last years of her life and took her to Florence, Italy – a place she always wanted to visit. When she breathed her last in AIIMS on February 28, her head was in my lap and I was holding her hand. I didn’t want her to go but that’s what God wanted. I hope she knows how much I love her.
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A lot has been said about the relations between 10, Racecourse, and 7, Janpath, becoming strained. But one could see the ice thawing a little bit at Sonia-confidante Suman Dubey’s son’s wedding reception. Dubey’s son works at a good post in a multi-national bank and fell in love with a Malyali journalist. The girl’s father Gopal Surbamaniam has been an additional secretary in the PMO and is favoured by the PM too. The wedding was held in Kerala but the wedding reception was held at the Air Force ground in Dhaula Kuan. The best part was that at the event, Sonia was present with her entire cavalcade from the groom’s side and Manmohan Singh was there with the PMO on the daughter’s behalf. They got talking and better conversation at the event and surely followed.

How didi is all mush for Bengal can be clearly seen. But next is dada’s turn. You can even call him a tad superstitious when it comes to presenting the Union Budget. Unlike his former counterparts, he doesn’t wear new clothes on the day, and nor does he use a new briefcase for the Budget papers. During the Indira Gandhi rule, he had a favourite bag which would hold all his important Budget papers. Then he fell out with Rajiv Gandhi and had to leave the Congress, and his bag got lost somewhere. After becoming the finance minister of UPA 2, Dada bought a new bag, which has been used for the past two Union Budgets. Now it is the turn for the next one. Dada doesn’t even choose his own clothes and lets his son decide the same, who is currently looking for a suitable seat for himself in West Bengal.

When Mamta didi got up to present the Rail Budget this Friday, whether on TV or in the Parliament, everyone was surprised to see her practically glowing. Where had that face full of melasma gone? The entire credit for Didi’s makeover goes to a local doctor in Kolkata, whose suggestions and treatment she has been following for the past few months. Didi doesn’t believe in beauty products too much and only uses Oil of Olay on her face. But she is strictly following her lifestyle management course. She takes care of what she eats, has her meals on time, regularly uses the treadmill and skips rope, and drinks coconut water. When she was recently operated on for gall bladder, the report wasn’t too good and her potassium level was down, too. That resulted in bad sleep pattern and she would feel weak. Now she fasts on Fridays, doesn’t eat anything sour, and eats moori and peas at night. When Didi went to the Speaker’s chamber after the budget and was invited to have lunch, she said, “Today I am fasting for Santoshi mata. I won’t eat anything today.” And she is so strict about following her lifestyle management course that when she skipped her treadmill session in the morning because of the budget, she made up for it with skipping in the evening. All in all, she’s ready to take over as the chief minister.

When Manmohan Singh was being crowned the prime minister, there were a couple of things on Sonia Gadhi’s mind that made her feel he was the right choice. For one, Singh is an honest man, and also a well-established economist. But by the second innings of the UPA, Sonia and her team feels that he has failed on both accounts. What can one do of his honest image if his government is replete with scams and scamsters? In the recent few months, scams worth Rs 3 lakh crore have been unearthed. And what kind of an economist is the prime minister that inflation has broken all pervious records.