| Published on 22-07-2008 In General |
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Written by
Insider |
Team Advani Jittery
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The trust vote has put the BJP in a spot. Whatever may be the outcome on July 22, Team L.K. Advani does not like the ever changing equations in Delhi durbar. The calculations that even in the event of fall of the UPA, the BJP may not emerge stronger. The BJP think-tank is wary of the rise of Mayawati as a credible challenger to the prime minister-in-waiting. The prospect of the good doctor regaining his confidence is not rosy for the BJP either. With few months left for next round of parliamentary polls, a vote of confidence for Dr. Manmohan Singh effectively punctures the entire Advani-BJP campaign that UPA is a government without governance.
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Amar Singh meets a match
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In the Congress circles, Union Commerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath has become a much admired and respected person. Kamal owes this new-found-love to his ability to take on Samajawadi party general secretary Amar Singh. Amar had met Nath with a long list of demands in return for his support to n-deal but the commerce minister said to have said no to some of his demands. Nath rejected Amar's call to scrap tax benefits to a leading industrial house in petroleum sector saying the policy of giving export sops is universal and scrapping export status would be difficult. "He (Amar) met me and mentioned the Reliance refinery in passing. I told him I am not abreast with the issue, but the export oriented unit policy is universal. It is not for one sector or one company,'' Nath said.
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Varun, Shukla—different concerns
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The Congress-Samajawadi Party alliance has made both Rajiv Shukla and Feroze Varun Gandhi extremely restless though for different reasons. Shukla's political stocks have fallen within the Congress so much that now the high profiled MP who fancied himself as rival to Amar Singh is now spending more time at 24, Akbar Road sharing a room with general secretary B.K. Hari Prasad.
The Congress-SP alliance has been a bolt from the blue for young Varun who was counting on SP's unofficial support during the next round of Lok Sabha polls. Varun has had several rounds of meeting with Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh and had zeroed in on mother Maneka's Pillibhit and a neighbouring constituency to make his debut in the Lok Sabha. But in the emerging scenario, his calculations have gone haywire.
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Paying obeisance
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Members of an Indian youth delegation to China would not help noticing a young man constantly touching feet of a high-level government functionary. A closer scrutiny revealed more. The youngster was related to the official and owed everything to him for his surprise inclusion in the delegation.
The frequent act of thanking was not without reason.
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Pranab gets his due
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Pranab Mukherjee has been working sixteen hours a day but he has not been complaining. The senior Congress leader who has 'Mr. indispensable' tag in the Congress, earned an honour from himself when Sonia Gandhi appointed him as her deputy in the AICC's campaign committee for next Lok Sabha polls. What is more heartening for Pranab is the fact other members of the committee include Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh but in hierarchy, he has been placed ahead of him.
The committee to be chaired by Sonia and has Pranab as deputy chairman, also has Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni signaling her rehabilitation in the party. Soni is itching to get even with some powerful AICC general secretaries including Sonia's political secretary Ahmad Patel but party circles feel mere inclusion in the campaign panel may not take Soni too far.
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Rescuer Dasmunshi
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The close call over trust vote is seeing many anxious moments in the UPA. Thus when Priyaranjan Dasmunshi returned to Delhi barely four days before the vote, his arrival provided much relief to Congress' crisis managers. Munshi may have ceased to be union parliamentary affairs minister, but in the party, he is valued as an expert in mustering the crucial numbers for the Lok Sabha polls. Munshi's successor Vayalar Ravi has so far been a non-performer. In fact when a group of scribes recently called on him, the minister officially responsible for getting requisite 272 Lok Sabha members was watching a Malayalam movie in his office. Now that is called confidence.
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Khans "dosti"
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This is not from reel life. Katrina Kaif's birthday at a hotspot in Mumbai recently saw clash of titans. Old and perhaps hidden hostilities between Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan came out in the open.
Salman was in good sprits but when king Khan and wife Gauri walked in, the host suddenly realized that Shah Rukh has turned out a friendly appearance in brother Suhail's production whereas he had always gone out of his way for SRK, whether it was appearing on KBC with Katrina, or dancing for SRK's home production Om Shanti Om.
Eyewitness account said when they were sitting across each other, Sallu began saying things about Paanchvi Paas and said something which meant being mean and selfish. The otherwise cool Badshah of Bollywood ignored, but the jibes continued. At one point, the superstars were so enraged that if looks could kill, the industry would have lost crores. In the absence of Farah Khan, Gauri played peacemaker just in time. |
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