Reporter's Diary: Tickling the top brass

Tickling the top brass

After Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was sacked as spokesperson for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi seems to be in trouble for his tweet appreciating the schemes of the Modi government. Mr Gogoi praised Mr Modi’s ambitious “Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana”, but said it would take more than 50 years to cover six lakh villages in the country.

Taking a cue from the Tharoor episode, the detractors of Mr Gogoi are leaving no stone unturned to bring his remarks to the Congress high command’s notice. However, Mr Gogoi has been keeping a close tab on the developments. The day his statement was attributed to be a praise for the Modi government, Mr Gogoi pooh-poohed Mr Modi’s drive to clean India on Twitter: “We have been carrying out such activities to clean Assam since 2012.”

Though one doesn’t know if Mr Gogoi may have to face the wrath of the top party leadership a la Mr Tharoor, but insiders in the party say Mr Gogoi may have to do a lot of damage control to win the confidence of the Congress’ top brass.

A new dostana

A new friendship seems to be brewing in Uttar Pradesh between two ladies, both belonging to first families — one from politics and the other from Bollywood. Samajwadi MPs Jaya Bachchan and Dimple Yadav seem to be gelling well even though they do not have much in common.

At the recent national convention of the Samajwadi Party, Ms Bachchan and Ms Yadav had eyes and ears only for each other. While other speakers on the dais spoke of national and even international issues, the two ladies were in animated conversation with each other throughout the day. They were even seen smiling and laughing at regular intervals.

Last week, at yet another function, Ms Bachchan and Ms Yadav were again seen conversing like old friends. At the same function, Ms Bachchan said that Akhilesh Yadav was like her son and she was more fond of him than Abhishek Bachchan. Perhaps, it is her rapport with Ms Yadav that gives Akhilesh an added advantage. Wonder how long this friendship will last?

Sea of troubles

There is little doubt that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in a deep crisis. The Saradha chit fund scam is fast becoming an albatross around her neck. Several top ministers, MPs, police officers and even celebrities considered close to her are suspected to be neck deep in the Saradha sleaze. One Rajya Sabha MP is already in jail while at least four more MPs have been grilled by either the CBI or the ED.

This apart, a filmstar-turned MP is likely to face the music for his rape-and-shoot speech. As if these problems were not enough, a bomb blast in a house in Burdwan has exposed the presence of a trans-border terror module on Bengal soil. The recovery of lethal IEDs, which have the stamp of Jamaat ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, have left Ms Banerjee embarrassed. One TMC MP is already under the scanner for his links with a fundamentalist organisation.

In Kolkata’s political circles it is widely believed that the chief minister shifted her state secretariat from the Writers’ Building to Nabanna on the advice of an astrologer, who had predicted that she would remain untouched by any adversity if the seat of power was shifted across river Hooghly. Ms Banerjee shifted her office to a blue and white high rise in Howrah on the west bank of Hooghly in October 2013.

The shift obviously hasn’t helped Didi much.