| Published on 26-12-2007 In National |
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| Corridor Whispers - Dec 26 Part - 2 |
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Written by
Insider |
The Dumper December
The purchase of several heavy vehicles (dumpers) by Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and his wife Sadhna has become a huge political controversy in the state. The allegations of disproportionate income generation by the chief minister and his wife have reached courts and state vigilance commission. As luck would have it, a government calendar has a "dumper" photograph in its December month. In most departments, the page has been turned off lest it offends the political masters. The man who had included dumper picture is busy explaining that he had no idea about the impending controversy.
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Gandhi-Bachchan's last link
In Teji Bachchan's death, the Gandhis and Bachchan have lost the last link spread over four generations and the possibility of a rapprochement.
What was surprising was that Sonia Gandhi did not make her grief public. It is believed that Uttar Pradesh politics and presence of Samajwadi party leaders forced Congress leadership to stay away.
For decades, Amitabh's mother remained a very special person for Sonia Gandhi and her family. In her first media interview to Pushpa Bharti in the Hindi magazine Dharamyug in 1985, Sonia had admitted it saying, "Mummy (Indira) had asked me to stay with the Bachchans so that I could also learn Indian customs and culture from close up. Slowly I came to learn a lot from that family. Teji Aunty is my second.... no, my third mother. My first is my mother in Italy, the other was my mother-in-law Mrs. Gandhi, and the third is Teji Aunty. Amit and Bunty (Ajitabh) are my brothers."
Teji-Sonia ties date back to January 13, 1968 when Amitabh received the young Italian girl at Palam airport. For next 43 days till her civil marriage with Rajiv Gandhi, the bride-to-be stayed with Bachchans, with Teji and Harivansh playing host. Indira loyalists Mohammad Yunus and T.N. Kaul had suggested Bachchans after Indira made it clear that she was not comfortable to the idea of Sonia staying in a hotel or at her residence before the marriage. Teji assumed the role of Sonia's godmother, introducing her to Indian ways of life. Even some of the marriage rituals, such as the mehendi ceremony, were held at the Bachchan home where Harivansh and Teji crooned humorous songs that the poet had composed. Sonia's mother Paola had come but it was Teji who played the role of the mother in the rituals of a Hindu marriage ceremony.
Teji one of the closest friends of Indira Gandhi had told writer Uma Vasudev that she was present when Jawaharlal Nehru breathed last. In Teji's own words, "she (Indira) was suffering under intense shock as if the earth had slipped away under her feet. But she... is so sincere and loyal and self -effacing that.... she thinks of others even in the smallest detail. She was sitting in the room holding her dead father's hand, his body hadn't even grown cold; even so, she had this sense of the impersonal demand in the midst of despair... and she exclaimed to me 'Oh Teji, see that a doctor is available when Padma 'mausi' comes! And a little later asking me again to see that a flask of juice was put in 'phupi's' room.
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In 1973, Indira had appointed Teji as one of the Directors of the Film Finance Corporation under the Chairmanship of B.K.Karanjia then editor of Filmfare. The Film Finance Corporation Of India, a Government of India undertaking's main objective was to finance the production of purposeful films of good quality with a view to improving the general standards of the medium.
During the emergency, when the Nehru-Gandhis were living at 12 Willingdon Crescent and the Bachchans were next door, Sonia had made a pathway between the two bungalows to make it easy for her and Teji to visit each other.
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Nepali Quota problem
The presence of nine Nepalese journalists who recently came on an invitation of Indian ministry of external affairs became a matter of controversy because all nine Nepalese scribes were Madheshis.
Madheshis are the ethnic group who live in a fertile strip of land known as the Terai along Nepal's border with India. Though Madheshis are a people of diverse languages, cultures, and sociopolitical identities, they are generally identified as "close" to India.
The visit coincided with the upsurge in Madeshi group demand for greater autonomy, more seats in Nepalese national legislature and stoppage of violence in southern Nepal. The guest list issue became so controversial that some guest themselves felt awkward. The visiting scribes feared that "back home" they would have to do some explanation why no Pahadi Nepalese journalist was part of the delegation.
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Another Advani Yatra?
The old man is itching to embark upon another yatra. Following the huge victory for the party in Gujarat, L.K. Advani is planning to embark on another "nation-wide yatra." The theme song will of course be Hindutva, n-deal and UPA's "power without responsibility" model for Sonia Gandhi.
Advani camp is also working on "secular" image of modern-day Sardar Patel. Days after his "prime minister in waiting" ceremony, Shahnawaz Hussain led a delegation of 90 Muslim clergy to "bless" Advani. Shahnawaz views his gesture as a huge "contributing factor" that all non-Hindutva allies readily accepted Advani as coalition leader.
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No More politics for Mallya?
It sounds a bit incredible but true. Industrialist Vijay Mallya wants to quit politics. Mallya's Rajya Sabha term is ending early next year but the liquor-baron is less than keen to spend another six years in the upper house. Sources close to Mallya claimed that the businessmen currently busy diversifying his empire, has said a polite no to Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar's offer to send him to Rajya Sabha. If Mallya sticks to his stand, he would be second prominent industrialist after Anil Ambani to quit politics after a brief stint. |
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