Column

Bal Thackeray’s pitch for Sharad Pawar as Prime Minister exploded like a hand grenade in the Congress camp. If the Sena tiger was out to scare the Congress, he seems to have succeeded, and how! Ever since Saamna fired the Thackeray salvo, Congress circles have been digging for a saffron conspiracy to destabilise the Manmohan Singh government. Consequently, the Capital’s hyperactive political grapevine is buzzing with speculation that a Third Front revival is imminent with Pawar as PM and Karunanidhi as President, supported by the NDA.

The buzz was almost deafening the day the Lok Sabha was prematurely adjourned amid talk that the BJP planned to move a no confidence motion. Congress leaders went around with ashen faces, looking like they expected the sky to fall any moment. Although the BJP scortched the rumours by the afternoon, the ruling establishment decided not to take any chances. The Lok Sabha was adjourned one day earlier, just in case! On the other hand, the Rajya Sabha, where a no confidence motion cannot be moved, continued till the scheduled break.

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The unease in the Congress camp is symptomatic of the insecurity that has gripped the party in recent weeks. Two factors are fuelling this fear. One is the party’s dismal electoral performance in Punjab and Uttarakhand. The other is the growing restlessness within the UPA. The friction with the NCP is on public display in the ongoing war of words between them.

The DMK is keeping its counsel but the signals coming from Chennai are icy enough for Hell to freeze over. According to those who keep tabs on equations within the UPA, Karunanidhi has made it known to the powers-that-be in Delhi that he is displeased with the central government’s reluctance to sanction big ticket projects in Tamil Nadu.

He’s been pressing for, among other things, a railway project, a power project and a gas cracker plant but the ministers concerned have not obliged so far. His aides claim that Andhra Pradesh was innundated with Rs 20,000 crores worth of projects by the Vajpayee government because of Chandrababu Naidu’s pivotal role in the NDA. It’s Tamil Nadu’s turn now, they insist.

The Congress has counter-grouses. For instance, it had recommended some names for appointment on the boards of the Mumbai Port Trust and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust but shipping minister A Baalu rejected the requests.

The most publicised tiff was over the appointment of Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Jony Joseph to JNPT. Baalu nixed the transfer at the last moment. There’s a week to go before the financial year ends. Will Tamil Nadu be showered with unexpected gifts as ministries rush to use up their budgets? Watch this space.

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Tailpiece
Pakistan’s new high commissioner to New Delhi, Shahid Malik, has started his tenure with a bang. After several years of low-key celebrations on Pakistan’s National Day, Malik threw a big reception last week.

It was remniscent of the old days when Pakistan Day was on the engagement calendar of everybody who’s anybody in the Capital. So, despite the reception coinciding with the start of the India-Sri Lanka match, the city’s glitteratti turned out in large numbers. Malik’s special touch was to fly in a qawwali troupe from Lahore.

For the first time, a Pakistan Day celebration ended with a musical evening. Of course, this is Malik’s second coming in India. He was Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner in the early nineties and he used the occasion to re-establish old contacts and make new friends.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net