This is that pure morning of independence. Some 63 years ago, we seized the soul of our bleeding country from the tortuous talons of the British rule. We paid a heavy price for our independence back then. Six decades after that day, we have marred the purity, immensity and lofty purpose of this independence with our nefarious objectives. We have dwarfed it. “There’s blood everywhere/Who holds a stone/ It’s the first day of the rains/ And the water’s in the house.” The water has not only come inside, it is above our heads now. We hear that the rajmata of Congress, Sonia Gandhi, is worried about the affairs in India. Like the common man, she too is peeved with the prime minister. For, with every passing day, the cost of living is increasing, the transparency model of handling national issues is already in shreds. The ambitious politicians are killing the hopes of democracy every day; it is natural to see the entire governing mechanism as obsolete. So, there’s talk about a change of guard in the offing. It is even being said that this is the last time Manmohan Singh furled the tri-colour today; a date to bid him adieu is set and he will be accepting an offer from the IMF in the next three to four months. If Rahul Gandhi refuses to accept the PM’s post, what will happen of the public’s high expectations? Will someone else’s wishes be answered? Will it be Pranab Mukherjee? But what’s the difference between him and Manmohan Singh? The age and the policies are similar. So will Chidambaram step into the shoes of the post? “Someone dies everyday, it’s difficult for me to live/And time will dry this solitary drop of dew on my lips.”

Known among the women in Parliament as Mister Kal, Kalmadi has quite a list of admirers. And why not; there are hush-hush talks that Mister Kal rules several hearts and shops for diamonds for his women friends. He has given the catering contract to a parliamentarian lady believed to be close to him. To hide this secret, Chautala’s party’s sardar and five more politicians are working hard.

We are talking about a minister from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet who is from Karnataka. His obsession for looking good and dressing well goes to the extreme. But his hairline backed out at a crucial time and so he started to wear a ‘wig’. When he was a state’s chief minister and was getting off a helicopter to attend an election rally, his wig flew away due to the wind, got trapped in the helicopter rotor and was reduced to shreds. The security men around him put a towel on his head to keep his dignity intact. (Sadly there were to news channels around at that time or this juicy bit of news would have been all over the air waves). Since then, all helicopters were given an unsaid instruction to close the rotor when the minister was getting on of getting of it. But recently when the minister was in his constituency on a tour and the rotor was accidentally on, he deftly kept his hand on his head while getting off the helicopter and averted an unpleasant scene. As for the pilots, suffice it to say they were pulled up severely.

“Some people in the town are angry with me for no reason it’s the temperament that doesn’t match with everyone’s.
In this very column two months ago on May 30, an article with the headline “Wealth is being plundered at the Commonwealth Games” appeared and talked about how a few in power were making the Commonwealth Games dance to their tune. And how in the name of renting, so much was happening that in the Congress-led government, even a few BJP leaders are getting to make a neat sum. What are printed has proven to be right. Newspapers and channels are rife with incidents of scandalous tales of corruption. But Mister Kalmadi still maintains that he had appointed T S Darbari as joint director of the Organising Committee only after looking at his credentials. And what is Mr Darbari’s track record? “Whenever you talk about scandals, your name appears on the lips.” Look at any scam, whether it is of the Stock Exchange or Security Scam, you will find his name there. It is worth mentioning here that when Satyaprakash Malviya was the petroleum minister, Mr Darbari was his personal secretary. That is when a security scam has come to light. A graduate from St Stephens College in Delhi, Darbari’s father was an IPS officer and his wife is an IAS officer. Allegedly, his name features on a wanted list by the CBI. Despite all this, how he was chosen to head the Commonwealth Organising Committee can best be told by God or Kalmadi himself.

When Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar’s tenure was extended by a year, it came as nothing short of a shock to the Pillai family. By then, due to spoilsport Pakistan, there was a sourness of sorts between Krishna and Pillai. The Home Secretary’s wife Sudha Pillai (Sudha Khanna before marriage) is a daughter of Punjab, an IAS officer and thus has old ties with Sardar Manmohan Singh, our prime minister. The Pillai family approached Singh with their woes. To make their stance more aggressive, this IAS couple told the PM, “Looks like the government doesn’t need us anymore. It will be better for us to retire from the services.” But it is understood that the PM, in his unique style, told them in a intimate way, “No, none of you will do anything of the sort. You have to go a long distance yet. Give us time to consider what other responsibilities can be given to you.” And the issue was solved.

DIG A J Banjara didn’t want to kill Kausar Bi but Inspector S K Amin and the two others inspectors were of the view that if she stays alive, she might spill the beans. Thus, they wanted Kausar Bi be handed over to them. Banjara had said, “If she speaks out, let her. She’s not a wedded wife of Sohrabuddin and her “iddat”’s duration isn’t over yet either. She can very well return to her husband and four kids in Pakistan. Worse come to worse she might ask for some money. If she does, we will see what needs to be done. Let her go.” But when Chaubey and Chauhan wouldn’t listen. Banjara washed his hands off the affair. According to Gita Jauhri’s report, Chaubey and Chauhan first raped Kausar Bi and then and Amin (who is also an MBBS doctor and a surgeon) gave her an overdose of Calmpose injection and she slept forever. The body was then taken to Killol, doused with diesel and set fire to. The ashes were then thrown in the river. The question is: What did Kausar Bi do to deserve a fate like this?

The winds of change are blowing in West Bengal. Under the Community Party rule, the benches for the opposition parties had not been painted for several years. The task is on in full force in the Vidhan Sabha nowadays. The Opposition leader, that is Trinamul’s Partho Chatterjee’s room is also undergoing a makeover. The tattered room is now spit and polish clean and has been furnished with two branded ACs. Partho has made it clear that he doesn’t need an AC but the Community Party just won’t listen. They are merely listening to their hearts. They have to listen to their hearts – after all they have to sit there come next session. Might as well make their seats as comfortable as possible.

Pawar and his fellow minister Praful Patel are extremely miffed with the Congress Party. When Pawar has met the prime minister last time, he had requested him to reduce his workload a bit and has in lieu of the same requested a promotion for Patel, and a state minister’s post for his daughter Supriya Sule and a change of portfolio to Water resources from Agriculture. But the Congress very smartly reduced the workload for Patel instead. Air India’s GoM has been handed over to Pranabda. As for Sule, Pawar has been told to wait till her Singapore citizenship matter is settled.

Mamata didi has changed – she has become more beauty and health conscious. She’s paying far more attention to her makeover than to the Railway Ministry. She’s sworn off anything that is fried and has just bought herself two treadmills, one for Delhi and one for Kolkata. She’s on it at 7 in the morning for an hour, come what may. When she’s in Delhi in the Railway Ministry, she’s out brisk walking in the corridors of the ministry. She walks the corridors half a dozen times and the entire act is worth watching. Following didi on her brisk walks are her secretary, OCD, personal body guards walking as fast as they can – While walking, sometimes she disappears into the VIP quote release room or into the chambers of the Cabinet Secretary for a breather. She may have gained a lot of political clout recently, but she has lost as much as 10 kg weight. Now she’s even started to pay attention to the beauty tips by actresses in the party. There’s talk that she has even got a beauty therapy done for her face. Didi’s changing – after all she’s the one who’ll have to change West Bengal.

Jairam is in a class in himself. He takes on anyone who crosses his path. Anand Sharma and he never saw eye-to-eye, but now he’s got problems with Handique and Sriprakash Jaiswal, too. Jairam has always been openly vocal that the coal mines should be announced a non-mining areas. But Jaiswal does not like the idea. Since the time he has told the Maharashtra chief minister to learn from the Gujarat government on the environment issues, Ashok Chahvan can’t stand him either. Praful Patel and Sharad Pawar are on his radar already and when the likes of Praful Patel are on target, the airport usually becomes the hurdle in the way of political flights.