Was it master’s voice?
As is the wont, the ongoing slugfest over the state of the economy has sparked off furious speculation on what prompted Yashwant Sinha’s outburst. Was it sui generis or did he fire the salvo on behalf of the BJP’s ‘Margdarshak mandal’? Sinha has vehemently denied he was ever part of the non-functional BJP veterans group. But adding fuel to the speculation was finance minister Arun Jaitley’s pointed overture to veteran L K Advani at the Bibek Debroy-Ashok Malik book launch where he took on Sinha with a few words on “Advaniji’s advice” to him when he first entered Parliament — “better to speak on issues than persons”.
It’s another matter that he proceeded thereafter to go directly contrary to that advice, and returned Sinha’s fire. (A point that was cited by Sinha in his counter to the counter.) The BJP veteran however has kept his silence throughout, even when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said twice in his Dussehra speech that border security and India’s standing in the world had improved for the first time in 70 years.
While on the Sinha-Jaitley tug-of-war, the FM’s “job applicant @80” jibe may have been a tad unkind, but it generated laughs all around. Even Yashwant Sinha could not help admitting that Arun Jaitley introduced humour into the otherwise bitter exchange. It seems Jaitley was flooded with messages and phone calls the next morning, congratulating him on his rebuff. Among the callers were PMO top-brass who seem to have appreciated the point he made about not having the leisure of former FMs to write columns or be a full-time critic of the government.
Holding a mirror to Pak
Make no mistake: the much-feted UN speech of Sushma Swaraj was written by none other than the external affairs minister herself. For one, the IFS cadre in the MEA are not proficient enough in Hindi to write an entire speech, covering a whole span of issues.
The impassioned point the minister made on India’s western neighbour was as much for the domestic population as for the powers-that-be in Islamabad. The whole idea behind raising the wasted years, in development terms, was meant to spark off a debate within Pakistan’s civil society.
The EAM cannot be blamed for wanting Islamabad to set its priorities right, given the fact that she and her ministry get several dozens of medical visa requests from across the border every day, most of which are promptly granted on humanitarian grounds. While the rich and famous in Pakistan go to the West for medical treatment, most of the middle-classes come to India.
Sitharaman’s security
On defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman declining to accept Z-plus security cover for herself, home minister Rajnath Singh seems to have tried convincing her that it was not exactly for her personal security but due to the fact that now she’s a member of the all-important Cabinet Committee on Security. However, Sitharaman is still not using a bullet-proof vehicle. She is driven by army personnel and her immediate security has been beefed up with guards in plainclothes. Well, as defence minister, she’s entitled to special security provided by the armed forces. Sitharaman, however, wants to maintain an unobtrusive and unencumbered lifestyle, just as before.
Diggy Raja’s Narmada Yatra
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is undertaking a Narmada padayatra which began with him taking the blessing of Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati. Lest it is taken to be anything other than a personal journey, photos on the Congress social media platform prominently feature Singh’s young wife Amrita.
As an argumentative journalist who used to anchor a show on RSTV till recently, Amrita’s not known to be demure but she appears covering her head with pallu, in true Thakur-Rajput tradition. Combined with the temple-hopping Rahul Gandhi had done during his recent Saurashtra visit, Singh and his wife’s yatra is also seen to be an attempt at an image makeover by the Congress. This is the grand old party’s attempt to reclaim its old ground.
Santwana Bhattacharya
The author is Political Editor, TNIE.
Email: santwana@newindianexpress.com