The BJP seems to be upbeat in its prospects of sweeping the state polls in both Uttar Pradesh and Goa. The UP state unit feels it will sweep by winning 215 seats and the party’s Goa unit is fluff with the belief that it will win the polls on its own, without any alliance. Sources suggest that the sudden meeting between defence minister Manohar Parikker and Union Surface Transport and Shipping Minister and RSS strongman Nitin Gadkari was one of its sort. It is believed that Parikker told Gadkari that if the party wins in Goa, he would like to shift base to Panjim rather than stay put in Delhi, and Gadkari reportedly agreed to convey Parikker’s desire to the Sangh bosses.

AIIMS, globally known for better health and multi-specialty treatment, seems to be sick by itself. The present director MC Mishra (retiring on January 30, 2017), famous for his arbitrary decisions, has done something flabbergasting this time. He made his close aid Dr Umesh Kapil the Head of Gastroenterology Department. Dr Kapil belongs to Human Nutrition Department. Notably, the required eligibility for the position of the head is MD (Medicine) and DM in the same field. However, Dr Kapil does not have these requisites. Sources exclaim that Dr Kapil comes in the list of inefficient doctors. This is why in 1997, the then head of department Dr Ramesh Tondon had recommended his removal.
What has shocked the AIIMS fraternity is that in the history of the institute, this is the first time that a Head of Department was appointed but without the director’s signature on the order, which is a must as per the AIIMS Charter. Otherwise in general cases, any letter of appointment or promotion comes from the faculty cell, based on which the Director issues his order. Sources reveal that the entire sequence of events engineered by Dr Mishra was to sideline Dr Anoop Sarai as he is the best person for the post, given his degrees, experience and age. Ironically, on the one hand there is an outcry of shortage of doctors in AIIMS and on the other, experienced doctors are being dispatched for administrative duties. And a private practitioner has been made a member in the selection body. Despite this, Dr Mishra is lobbying for service extension. In the race for search of a new director of AIIMS, the names in the forefront are Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s relative Dr Rasik Vajpayee, Dr Randeep Guleria, Dr Jagdish Prasad and Dr AB Dey.

The now vanquished titan of BJP, octogenarian LK Advani organised a lunch at his home a couple of weeks ago. His old loyalists like Anant Kumar and Ravi Shankar Prasad joined the lunch at his residence. Things served on the plate were the usual high quality vegetarian stuff, but the real spice at lunch was on how to make Advani the next President of the country, and if not President at least Vice President. His loyalists opined that he is apposite for being the President. They decided that a couple of senior Ministers will push the proposal to the PM to nominate him as the next Prez. Apparently, Advani is much more liked in and outside the party than Modi.
Scuttlebutt is that the entire responsibility of spearheading the campaign is on Anant Kumar shoulders. But – given Modi’s aversion for Advani despite all their efforts, the loyalists did not have the gumption to discuss this with the PM. Advani was furious. He vented his anger in the parliament when he rebuked Anant Kumar for the improper functioning of house. While others were puzzled with this sudden burst of ire, Anant Kumar did not miss the real point.

Smriti Irani has learned to swim against the tide in an altogether novel avatar. Now she thinks before opening her mouth and promptly putting her foot into it. She has become apparently polite, even with her detractors. Besides, she has become alert in the work procedure of her ministry. Insiders say in the last few days, two controversial mill owners of Mumbai asked for time to meet the textiles minister. In fact, one of the two is quite close to Irani’s PS. But the duo was dismayed when told that they have been blacklisted by the country’s investigation agency. Irani then apparently called her officials and made it clear that such unwanted and tainted people were not to be allowed in her vicinity. Reportedly some prompt action was taken and orders issued.

Bit by sure bit, Raj Babbar has come into the kitchen cabinet of Congress VP Rahul Gandhi, and this has become clear after the failed negotiations for a poll alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party. It is said that after Rahul’s gameplanner Prashant Kishor could not work out the polls, Raj Babbar decided to squeeze into the slot now that Kishor has been sent to the freezer. But his repeated efforts to meet the SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav failed. Then one day suddenly, Babbar happened to bump into Prof Ramgopal Yadav, Akhilesh’s prime adviser and now apparently an Mulayam adversary in the Parliament House. The veteran SP warhorse took him aside dor a cuppa at the Lok Sabha canteen. There, after a protracted discussion, it dawned on Babbar that the Yadavs, father and son, have together worked out a carefully planned path. While Akhilesh would harp on an alliance with the Congress, Daddy Yadav would oppose it. The gameplan, it seems, is to keep the Congress VP on tenterhooks and finally draw him to agree to a seat sharing where Raga’s party would get a smaller number of seats than the 60 he is eyeing in the UP polls. It is learnt also that Babbar told the professor that this time around, Priyanka Gandhi too come openly into a fuller roll for the UP polls, but el professario rebutted him, saying Priyanka is a little late to call, for the UP voters have already made their choice!

Yeh Sochna Galat hai ki tum par nazar nahin hai,
Masroof hum bahot hain magar bekhabar nahin hain
A single person brings change; a married person is seen in long ques of ATM.

At the Leadership Summit of the Hindustan Times, Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had to summon all his wits to save his back. The moment he took to the dais, there was a ‘carpet bombing’ of questions. Especially pointed was the question why every single of his statements generates a controversy. But Parrikar tackled the googly with a straight bat: he said his mother tongue is Konkani, which is not as colourful as Punjabi, leaving little scope for colourful speeches. This is why, he said, whenever he wants to say something, people, especially scribes, fail to understand him and gives his statements a different meaning.

The most interesting faceoff in the same HT Summit was in the session addressed by Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and state Congress’ never-say-die Captain Amrinder Singh. On hitting the dais, Sukhvir touched Captain’s feet in obeisance. The session anchor asked the redoubtable Captain what quality in Sukhvir he admires the most. The veteran said: “See, his politics is different from that of his father, especially because he never goes back on his words. He likes Diet Coke and so do I. so much so that even when I had packed him off to jail, I ensured that Coke was never on short supply. Next came Sukhbir’s turn and the anchor asked him what Badal does not like in the Captain. Sukhbir said promptly: “As such I like him because he has a strong character, but I have always failed to understand why he gets cowed down by his party High Command (read Sonia Gandhi). Like, he has welcomed Navjot Singh Siddhu joining his party, but the High Command has yet to say ‘Yes’. At this point the audience roared in laughter!

Uncertainty due to demonetization has gripped Uttar Pradesh ahead of next year’s Assembly polls, in which the BJP had a clear edge till a few months back. Team Amit Shah is now forced to keep changing its tactical positions and newer plans are surfacing each passing day. One of the big plans of Shah was to cull the opponent parties and bring their senior leaders into the BJP’s fold, in which they seem to have tasted some success. At this point in time the BJP considers Bahujan Samaj Party as its main threat in the state. Naturally, it is aiming to cajole the BSP leaders to cross over. In fact the BJP did not even spare an attempt to ‘Behenji’ Mayawati’s main political brain Satish Mishra. The effort failed because Mishra’s daughter had already been dispatched to join the BJP earlier, a master stroke that could see a grand finale.

Just recently, the new Congress brain, Prashant Kumar, had held a marathon meeting with Samajwadi Party’s chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and the latter said he could let Congress have 54 seats, but not more that, as an electoral alliance. ‘PK’, after some more cajoling, had indeed finally made Akhilesh increase the seats to 58. Back in 10 Janpath, PK met Rahul Gandhi and said if Rahul directly speaks to Akhilesh, the latter could even concede 65 seats. But Rahul Baba ruled this out. Rahul reportedly said that he could not talk directly, as that does not sit well with his character. PK argued that if an alliance works out, Congress could win at least 35 seats. But Rahul refused. His argument was that that would end up in the Congress cashing in on the anti-incumbency vote against the ruling SP, which the Congress workers would not see as the ‘done thing’! PK’s gameplan bombed…