On Friday evening, Pavan Bansal organized a dinner for journalists. During the dinner, only Pranab Mukherjee and Rajiv Shukla were present apart from Bansal. Dadaji was surrounded by journalists about the 2G spectrum but he remained quiet, refusing to say anything. And in any case, journalists are scared of his anger. If he gets upset with a journalist, he has no qualms about telling the person to shut up. But the way Bansal invited Shukla, it seems that he may be the next Parliamentary Affairs minister.

When Azharuddin got a house C-1/14, Lodhi Road, allotted under the Parliamentarian quota, he spent a good deal of money renovating it – painting, new tiles, new furniture…. At such a time, an astrologer in Hyderabad told him that the house was inauspicious for him. It was the same time the grapevine was on overdrive about the alleged Jwala Gatta affair and a much-miffed Sangeeta Bijlani had moved to Mumbai. Azharuddin found some truth in what the astrologer said and gave away the flat. So now this lovely house is with Parliamentarian Bhanvar Jitendra Singh who is also close to Rahul Gandhi. All is well with Singh so far.

Nowadays it seems that a fanatic Left party like the Marxist Communist Party is going the BJP way. There was a time when BJP was being Congress-ised. Looks like it is the Communist party’s turn. CPM has got a jolt by the Congress’ victory in Kerala. The state’s chief minister is blaming the party’s state secretary Vijayan for the same. The biggest problem is for the CPM Secretary Prakash Karat because Kerala is his home state; who will be blame for the grim situation of the party there? Initially he would blame West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb bhattacharjee for a weakening CPM. But Buddhadeb has his own explanation. He believes that the party hit rock bottom since it supported the Congress on the nuclear deal; he is also blaming Karat directly. The West Bengal comrades are now smug in their seats, wondering who Karat will blame for a growing Congress and a faltering CPM in his own home state.

Sudhanshu Mittal has been active in politics since his academic days. There was a time when he was one of the most important people in the BJP. He was considered to be extremely close to late Pramod Mahajan. He is also a friend’s friend. Thus he has a long list of friends who were active in several different political parties. But since his name appeared in the CWG scandals and his construction company was raided, his close friends and aides are singing a different tune altogether. “Who Sudhanshu?”, “What Sudhanshu?” they ask. Their tune has changed even more since the scam interrogation has been passed on to the CBI. Chandrababu and Jayalalitha may have called him over the phone and asked him how he was, every big and small BJP leader seems to be avoiding him. Everyone knows Mittal’s proximity to Rajnath Singh and when he met Singh in these troubled times, Rajnath Singh advised him, “I am ill since I returned from New York and can’t come to meet you. You too must not come to see me since there is a danger of infection.” Sudhanshu also called Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj twice and asked her for help saying that the matter should be raised in the Lok Sabha because these raids were politically motivated. But Sushma didn’t give him a promise for the same. The matters have become such that party members such as Kirti Azad and Nishikant Dubey, who would always be seen around him, are not even taking his calls. What else remains to be seen….

Gujarat’s former home minister’s troubles just don’t seem to end. For now he is locked up in the state’s Sabarmati Prison. And since the state government is BJP ruled, there is no dearth of making him as comfortable as it can possibly get. Although Shah doesn’t have a mobile phone, he can talk to who ever he wants – family, political associates and even Narendra Modi himself. He managed to speak from the phones of his visitors — if they are VIPs – or often from the phones of police officials. He would speak at length with his lawyer. The CBI was very concerned because of this and found a way out. Indian intelligence agencies have recently ordered a special phone tapping instrument from Israel that is the same shape as a briefcase and can be connected to any car battery and can tap at least a dozen phones –mobile as well as landline – for a considerable distance. The CNI has allegedly taped several of Shah’s conversations this way and if he forwards a bail plea to the court, the CBI can put forward the phone conversations as another proof. Shah could face more difficulties trying to get bail now.

Last week, this column reported how a BJP parliamentarian from north Bihar was a victim of a sting operation about the NREGA scheme. The operation has been carried out by a Nagpur-based construction company, whose owner is said to be close to party president Nitin Gadkari. According to new findings, he isn’t the lone member under the sting operation – as many as 11 other Parliamentarians are under the sting operation scanner, seen settling their commission under the NREGA scheme. Of these five are from BJP, five from JD (U) and one from the Congress party. The CD will soon be shown on any of the news channels soon.

After getting rid of the Commonwealth Games mess, Pranab Mukherjee caught the first flight out to Korea. He has also taken some important journalists with him to Seoul. The most significant thing, however, is that Pranab da is in Korea and is metamorphosing into a foreign minister (This may trouble S M Krishna a little). As it is G-20 is much politicized. These days, there is an unspoken currency war going on between China and the US. At a time like this, the wise Pranab chose to take a middle path. No wonder both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are happy with his style.

There is a tussle for UP’s new president of the Congress Committee. Rahul Gandhi wants the president to either be a dalit of a Brahmin. The Lucknow convention brought out in the open differences between Pramod Tiwari and Rita Bahuguna Joshi. It looks like Rahul is still now sure of where Tiwari’s loyalties lie. A few days ago, when a delegation of PCC members supporting Tiwari came to meet Rahul in Delhi, he refused to give them a hearing. Rahul is, for the time being, toying with three names – Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Jitin Prasad and P L Punia. Rita may be loud, but Rahul feels she is aggressive and a fighter. Everyone knows how Mayavati can’t stand dalit leader Punia, who is also financially sound. Now that Tiwari knows he might not get the seat, he is trying to lobby for Lalit Khatri, a supporter of his from Faizabad. But what’s the use. Man proposes, Rahul disposes.

Among the campaigners for Bihar elections, Advani’s name is on the top, followed by Gadkari’s. But no BJP member is ready to get the crowds chanting for a rally in their names. The reason – they are not crowd pullers. Rajnath Singh, who is not keeping well after being down with dengue after his return from the US, is not in demand either. Reading the pulse of the times, Advani has now announced that he may not be able to go to Bihar a lot of the first phase of campaigning. Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi were the two most in demand but realizing Nitish’s displeasure with these names, the BJP scrapped their names. From those among the list who are most in demand is Sushma Swaraj, what with her oratory skills and moderate views.

Known for his political bankruptcy, BJP’s “poorest” party member was the victim of a sting operation recently. He has reached the Parliament by winning the elections from a backward area in northern Bihar. In the CD, he is seen collection his share of the moolah after giving work to a Nagpur-based construction company under the NREGA scheme. The best part is that the owners of the construction company are said to be extremely close to the BJP President Nitin Gadkari. When he was in Nagpur recently, the people from the company gave this CD to him themselves. It has the entire scandal on the CD. But the real test of politics will be to see what the president does with this CD.