CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat has recently got support from an unexpected quarter. Karat has demanded a full time Chairperson for the Women Commission. Girija Vyas’s tenure is going to end shortly. But after being rejected as the speaker of Loksabha she is again eyeing for the post. But lots of congress women leaders are also want to grab that post. Moreover union women & child welfare minister Krishna Tirath is not comfortable working with Girija. Surprisingly they have extended support to Karat.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not happy with the way the allied leader Praful Patel is managing the civil aviation ministry. In the recent strike of Air India pilots and before that Jet Airways strike – the Congress believes that Patel has mismanaged the whole situation. Moreover, in some cases Patel has both direct and indirect support. Rumour in the power corridor is Praful Patel himself is fed up with the ministry. He has seen his best time in UPA 1, but in UPA 2 he has nothing much to contribute. His disinterest actually is creating more problems.

The worries of saffron MP from Bhagalpur Shahnawaz Hussain have increased because BJP MP from Godda Nishikant Dubey often visits Bhagalpur and Mian Shahnawaz considers this an encroachment of his parliamentary constituency by an outside person. Now Dubey’s problem is that his paternal home is in Kahalgaon which comes under the Bhagalpur parliamentary constituency and Dubey’s constituency also adjoins the Peerpainti Assembly constituency. So it is natural for him to pass through Bhagalpur while on his way to Godda. Dubey has also been trying hard for some time now to get Vikramshila excavated. Some months ago he had reached Vikramshila along with a 20 member parliamentary delegation from Japan by two chartered aircraft and this delegation was led by Seemadaharu, the Financial Adviser to Japanese Prime Minister. Congress leader Sadanand Singh and senior leader Ambika Prasad who were sitting on a protest over the issue of excavation of Vikramshila were all praise for Nishikant that he was the true son of the soil who could ensure development of the area. Perhaps this is what Shahnawaz did not like.

It seems Jagmohan Reddy would miss out on getting the chair of his late father in Andhra Pradesh. The manner in which a ferocious campaign was launched to install Jagmohan as the next Chief Minister has not pleased 10 Janpath. It is perhaps for this reason that Madam Sonia Gandhi has spoken about making such a leader the next CM who is not only acceptable among the public but who is also equal in stature to the late Rajshekhar Reddy. About Jagmohan, the senior Congress leaders are of the view that he is very junior and for his his political journey he should learn a few lessons from Congress prince Rahul Gandhi. So are the chances of caretaker Chief Minister K. Rosaiah much better?

In the forthcoming session of Parliament, the Liberhan Commission issue could remain centrestage. The action taken report is ready and that too against all expectations. It was first being anticipate that the ATR would remain flexible and soft towards Advani but in the changed political scenario both the purpose and sharpness of the report have changed. Instead of Advani, the approach of the ATR could now be soft towards Joshi. The tone of the report is expected to be harsh against Advani. Sources tell us that sufficient evidence has been gathered to nail the radical Hindutva organisations like VHP and Bajrang Dal. The intention of the Congress is to ban both these organisations so that the minorities can be pleased in the country. The approach of the Congress towards Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh has also changed somewhat. The Central Government wants to keep an eye on the Sangh and a reflection of these issues can surely be seen in the ATR. Leaders like Advani, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharati and Kalyan Singh could be held guilty for demolition of the disputed structure. They could also be held guilty of hatching a conspiracy. Or the ATR has enough ammunition for a full scale war.

There was a time when the Congress people took great pride in Tharoor because the gentleman was a favourite of 10 Janpath. But in the changed political scenario, ever since Tharoor had to leave a five star hotel of Delhi under humiliating circumstances, the brightness of this star has diminished somewhat in the political firmament. Recently the intelligence agencies have informed the Prime Minister and Home Minister that the Canadian wife of Tharoor is also an important diplomat. So this is also made out to be a matter of conflict of interest. Tharoor’s wife is a diplomat of another country and Tharoor is himself the junior Minister in the Ministry of External Affairs here. His wife Christa Guiles herself invested about 214.5 million in America, Canada, Dubai and Kerala. The hotel bill of the Minister has also been paid by a company called Alfas. The Prime Minister is himself taking this entire matter quite seriously. So in the days to come, Tharoor may have to leave his post or his portfolio could be changed.

BJP’s real worry is about the image of the party in public. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election when the party had lost, Pramod Mahajan had taken the moral responsibility of the defeat on himself and there was Atal Bihari Vajpayee who decided not to be the Leader of Opposition. Then Mahajan was described as a saviour of Vajpayee. BJP’s defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is an `orphan’ defeat. There is no one to own it. The man who drowned Advani also wrote an article in an English daily just two days after the defeat to explain his responsibilities and `why we lost’? He termed this a victory of the middle classes. Or the indication was clear that till the time the party would come out of the shadows of the Sangh, it would not gain. This line floated by him was also propagated by his close friends Swapandas Gupta and Sudheendra Kulkarni in their articles. So, the attack on the Sangh was clear, neither was the intention two-faced nor the thoughts.

The meeting of the Sangh chief with Atal Bihari Vajpayee last Friday was not only for enquiring about his health but to give out the message to the remaining few Atal loyalists in BJP that the time has come to sing the farewell song of the Advani era in the party. So, the Sangh has again hit out at Advani and told him to first demit the office of Leader of Opposition as only then will BJP get a new president. And Advani is still adamant that BJP should first get a new president and only then will he leave his post. Rajnath is having the last laugh in this tussle between Advani and the Sangh. So till the time BJP gets a new president, his tenure would keep on extending … perhaps three four months more …

Renowned playwright George Bernard Shaw had once said – `I have kept reserved two premier tickets for you, come with a friend of yours, that is if you really have one’. On Tuesday afternoon, the Sangh got a somewhat similar proclamation made by Rajnath; the Sangh’s wish – Rajnath should remain and so should Ramlal. Sushma, Jaitley and Venkaiah did come together to Rajnath’s residence for lunch but the friend in them had been left behind somewhere. Sangh wants unison among these `post Advani generation’ leaders. But if one were to believe the Sangh then what happened during the friendly gesture at the lunch table has given it more reasons for concern.

Two days before his foreign tour, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev went to meet Rahul Gandhi and the conservation between the two was such that an hour passed by. Now it was time for Rahul to get a surprise. With great humility he asked the Baba the reason for his visit and from where in Uttarakhand was he desirous of a Congress ticket. This offering of the young Gandhi did not impress the Baba, and he said that for the time being he wanted to stay away from politics. It was later that a disciple of the Baba told Rahul what the Baba really wanted. Was it nomination to Rajya Sabha? Only Rahul or the Baba know this?