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This article was first published 12 years ago

The real 'hand' behind the fuel price hike

Last updated on: September 24, 2012 22:40 IST

Image: Sonia Gandhi listens to her son, Rahul, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh looks on.
Photographs: Stringer/Reuters

Kabhi haan, kabhi naa... The gossip now is that Rahul Gandhi won't become a Cabinet minister.

Even as Congresswallahs wonder what Mamata Banerjee is upto, there is one senior leader in the party who is feeling very grateful towards Didi.

To find out more, don't miss this week's Dilli Gupshup.

Guess who backed Dr Manmohan Singh to the hilt on pushing economic reforms?

Hold your breath! It was none other than Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul apparently convinced his mother that the prime minister needed a free hand in this matter.

Once Ma Sonia was convinced, Manmohan went on the offensive!

Those in the know within the Congress say it was Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma, followed by Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, who wrought this miracle.

Both are strong votaries of the reform process and worked hard on Rahul, sharing data and making presentations at 12, Tuqlaq Crescent.

Once Rahul was convinced, he set about convincing 10, Janpath.

No wonder then, Anand and Jairam are sporting huge grins and gushing over Rahul's persuasive backroom skills.

Click on NEXT to find out why Rahul won't become a Cabinet minister.

Why Rahul WON'T become a minister!

Image: Did Rahul Gandhi want to become a Cabinet minister?
Photographs: Kamal Kishore/Reuters

The much-talked about Cabinet reshuffle will happen, but Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to become minister.

Rahul was reportedly keen to throw his hat in the ring, but hectic lobbying by the old guard succeeded in keeping his ardour in check.

Veterans like RK Dhawan, ML Fotedar and AICC General Secretary Digvijaya Singh argued that a member of Nehru-Gandhi family should only enter the government as prime minister.

Diggy Raja even gave interviews saying that becoming a minister was not a prerequisite for holding the office of prime minister.

Union ministers like Salman Khurshid, Jairam Ramesh and few others who were keen on seeing him in the Union Cabinet are now backing the idea of Rahul playing a 'bigger role' in the AICC.

Click on NEXT to find out which Congress minister is grateful to Mamata Banerjee...

Still grateful to Mamata...

Image: Union Minister for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal is grateful to Mamata Banerjee.
Photographs: Stringer/Reuters

If there's one Congresswallah who's still grateful to Mamata Banerjee, it's Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.

He views the West Bengal chief minister as his saviour -- after all, it was her shenanigans that diverted the nation's attention from the scam popularly known as Coalgate.

Jaiswal was also pleasantly surprised when he received a personal call from Didi on his birthday, a few days after the Trinamool Congress withdrew its ministers from the Union Cabinet.

The question now doing the rounds is, how will Jaiswal reciprocate Mamata's goodwill gestures!

Click on NEXT to find out why veteran Vijay Goel is upset with the BJP leadership.

Is Vijay Goel disillusioned with the BJP?

Image: BJP leader Vijay Goel is upset with his party.
Photographs: Courtesy vijaygoel.in

Delhi's influential BJP leader Vijay Goel is deeply hurt by the actions of his party's bigwigs.

He felt slighted when the party leadership shunted him to Assam on the day of the nationwide Bharat Bandh.

The Delhi politician cannot fathom why he was kept out of the Nitin Gadkari-led demonstration at Delhi's Chandni Chowk, which he says is his karmabhoomi.

An upset Goel is still to get a convincing reply.