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| Who will take PM’s place at UN meet? | | |
- By Harish Gupta
Before departing on a 10-day foreign trip beginning September 8, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to name either a new external minister or a special envoy to represent the country at the UN General Assembly session in New York. This will be the first time in almost a decade that a Prime Minister will be giving this important annual ritual a miss. It is no secret that his is a conscious decision to avoid getting into any new controversy over the nuclear deal. In the absence of the Prime Minister, normally the external affairs minister delivers the speech at the UNGA and meets other world leaders. But considering the Prime Minister’s busy schedule before September 8, the prospect of naming a new minister too is dim. Secondly, the PM is gearing up to shuffle his Council of Ministers after the festival season or even before his departure. So if there is paucity of time, he may choose to depute a seasoned parliamentarian to represent the country at the UNGA. The names that are being mentioned for this are that of Dr Karan Singh, Kapil Sibal and Pranab Mukherjee. Of course, minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma is always there to fill the vacuum. The name of Prithviraj Chavan, the minister of state in the PMO, is also being mentioned.
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BJP goes red in the face
The BJP leadership was considerably embarrassed on the question of restoring the membership of 10 expelled Lok Sabha members who were caught on camera in the "cash for query" scam. The party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, vehemently denied that he had written any letter to the government or the Speaker in this regard. It was admitted that during a meeting in the Speaker’s chamber the party informally said that the expulsion of these MPs should be revoked. Even RJD leader and railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav strongly advocated their case. But it got embarrassing when parliamentary affairs minister P.R. Dasmunshi disclosed that Malhotra had indeed written the letter requesting the Leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee, to consider their cases. It seems Malhotra wrote the letter when Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani declined to do so. Now Pranab Mukherjee is looking into the matter afresh, though experts say that nothing tangible may come out of it.
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Last word not heard on Telangana
If food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav met TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao to request him to wind up his indefinite fast for the creation of the state of Telangana, parliamentary affairs minister P.R. Dasmunshi too went to meet him separately. His message was: Do not say anything against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and do not sever ties with the UPA. It seems that the last word on the creation of Telangana has not been written yet. Pawar wants to create a Third Front and is holding regular parleys with the UPA and NDA allies. A worried Congress is also working hard to retain the alliance. So Dasmunshi has only bought time. But for how long?
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Lalu works towards image change
Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is unhappy that he has got bad press on the Sadhu Yadav episode in the Lok Sabha, especially at a time when he is doing a good job with his own ministry. In fact he had been more than happy when the Congress leadership congratulated him by saying that the RJD’s three ministers — Lalu himself, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (rural development) and Prem Chand Gupta (company affairs) — are performing extremely well. So Lalu has decided to refurbish his image and placate everybody. With the end of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, he is
holding his ministry’s
consultative committee meeting in Goa. All 34 members attached to the ministry were informed on phone about the meeting. Obviously, Lalu too needs some time to cool off.
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Arjun shuns Rajputs
The other day, HRD minister Arjun Singh shocked his fellow community members when they called on him. He told them he was not a leader of the Rajputs and that they should not live under any such illusion. The leaders of the All India Rajput Mahasabha had gone to him to pledge their support for him and also to tell him that he should not tread the OBC path as was done by V.P. Singh. But Arjun Singh refused to oblige them. Therefore, when Arjun Singh went to Varanasi, not a single Rajput leader was present there to welcome him. With the minorities already backing him, Arjun Singh is now eyeing the backwards vote bank by throwing his weight behind the issue of reservation of seats for OBCs. Fly wonders whether he is eyeing the post of President next July.
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Khare favourite for NHRC post
With Justice A.S. Anand, former chief justice of India, retiring from the post of chairman of the National Human Rights Commission soon, the search is on for a new chairman. As per the NHRC Act, only a retired CJI can hold the post and remain chairman till he attains the age of 70. Two names are being mentioned in this regard, that of Justice R.C. Lahoti and Justice V.N. Khare. Informed sources say that Justice Khare is the hot favourite for the post.
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