Email
Print
ShareWill dapper external affairs minister S M Krishna be the fall guy for the Sharm-el-Sheikh fiasco? Although the poor man wasn't even present when the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement was being drafted (he had been sent off to fill in for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the closing ceremony of the Non-aligned Summit), he seems to have become the face of the UPA's Egyptian blunder.
The thought hasn't crystallised into proposal for action yet but the whispers in Congress circles are getting louder that the government needs a political heavyweight and a more hands on minister in the foreign office. Krishna's poor performance in Parliament last week only underlined his deficiencies. While the PM protected himself from the BJP with invocations of Vajpayee, the EAM was not as nimble and bore the brunt of the opposition attack.
He was heckled and mocked in the Lok Sabha as the "Shivraj Patil'' of UPA 2 and could barely be heard above the din. It wasn't much better the next day in the Rajya Sabha. It's no secret that Manmohan Singh handpicked Krishna for the EAM's post because he wanted a lightweight there so that he could steer foreign policy himself. In retrospect, the decision is being seen as unwise. It took a tragedy like 26/11 to open the government's eyes to the perils of putting a dandy in a demanding place like the home ministry. Now the usually placid and uncontroversial external affairs ministry is proving to be a minefield as well.
***
Anil Ambani notched a point over brother Mukesh in their ongoing feud when Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav succeded in bringing their gas war into the Lok Sabha by disguising it as a UP power scarcity issue. But gatekeepers for Mukesh were more alert in the Rajya Sabha.
When Mulayam's brother Ram Gopal Yadav sought permission to make a special mention on the issue in the Upper House, leaders from across the political spectrum pounced on him and vetoed the request. They said corporate wars should not become a subject for discussion in Parliament. Faced with such unanimous opposition, Ram Gopal retreated hastily. But the SP has the satisfaction of extracting a promise from the government that the petroelum ministry will make a statement on the issue to the Lok Sabha on Monday. It is also patting itself on the back for managing to put on record an allegation that the government ``wants to help one individual'' by approaching the Supreme Court on the gas dispute.
***
DMK leader and fertiliser minister M K Alagiri is proving elusive. He hasn't attended three cabinet meetings in a row. His excuse: he is busy with the forthcoming assembly bye-elections in Tamil Nadu. His continuing absence provoked considerable irritation in the last cabinet meeting because the government is putting the final touches to its fertiliser policy which it wants to place in Parliament. It looks like junior minister Srikant Jena, who had rebelled at being given mere minister of state rank, will have to hold fort while Alagiri concentrates on state politics.
***
TAILPIECE
It's not just Krishna who has been the butt of jokes after Sharm-el-Sheikh. His junior minister Shashi Tharoor inspired a cutting SMS for his ill-advised comment dismissing the Indo-Pak joint statement as a mere ``diplomatic paper''. Taking off from a popular Hindi film song, the SMS doing the rounds reads: Yeh jo halka halka Tharoor hai, yeh to St Stephen's ka kasoor hai. Irate Stephanians want to know why their college is being blamed for Tharoor's ditsy remark.
