Another Punjab da Puttar may become a neta soon... Why Sonia's illness caused heartburn...Gossip from the Dilli Durbar.
Team Modi is working on a plan to inflict maximum damage on high-profile Congressmen.
Among the I-want-to-be-PM-so-baaaad's targets is Manish Tewari, he of I-want-all-journalists-to-be-qualified fame.
Dunno why Narendra Modi dislikes the garrulous Tewari so much, but his aides are in touch with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir SB to ensure that Tiwari does not get re-elected from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat.
Sunny Deol is likely to be pitted against Tiwari in Ludhiana. Sunny's pa, Punjab Da Puttar, the one and only Dharamji, was a BJP MP not so long ago.
How Sunny -- whose quiet private persona is very different from his Main tere khoona piyoonga screen image -- will do in politics is puzzling.
Another Congress MP whom Team Modi has its sights on is Ajay Maken.
Modi wants Sushma Swaraj to move from her Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, Lok Sabha seat, to take on Maken in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency.
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How Sonia's illness caused heartburn
Image: Sonia Gandhi being taken to AIIMS after she fell ill in Lok Sabha on Monday, with Kumari Selja by her sideSonia Gandhi’s brief illness on Monday provoked heartburn in Congress circles.
Kumari Selja's presence at Sonia’s side and television visuals showing the Congress president seeking the Union minister's support when she was monetarily off-balance caused considerable angst in Delhi and Chandigarh.
Those miffed include Selja's party rival, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda; the Congress General Secretary in charge of the party president’s office, Ambika Soni; Girja Vyas, Mohsina Kidwai, Renuka Choudhury and others.
While the Hooda camp interpreted Monday's photographs as a sign of Selja’s potential ascent, Soni and the other lady leaders felt they had greater proximity to Sonia and should have provided Madam support rather than Selja.
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Rahulbaba wants to be media-friendly
Image: Rahul Gandhi speaks to mediapersons outside his residence in New DelhiPhotographs: B Mathur/Reuters
Rahul Gandhi has begun interacting with the national media informally.
With the countdown nearly begun for the general election, his aides want the Congress vice-president to meet reporters on the party beat.
A proposal for one-on-one meetings was scrapped because such an exercise could take months.
Now Ajay Maken and Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari -- yup, the guy who wants only qualified journalists around -- are coordinating with Rahul’s shadow Kanishka Singh to get Baba to meet small groups of half-a-dozen reporters.
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PM ka pyaara
Image: Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko wave to well-wishers during a public appearance in TokyoPhotographs: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Ashwani Kumar can't stop beaming these days.
Forced to step down as law minister over Coalgate, Kumar has been appointed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy for Japan, with Cabinet minister-rank no less!
Kumar's brief: Coordinating all arrangements for Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko's November visit.
Both External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon resisted the move, but Dr Singh over-ruled them.
No one can quite fathom why the prime minister likes Kumar so much.
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