Sinh of commission

India Shining may have been a disaster, but the BJP is too fond of such campaigns to let an election season go by. Its campaign managers are out to make friends and influence as many people as they can. Narendra Modi, who believes in supervising important businesses personally, has taken an active interest in the commercial blitzkrieg about to hit the stands. Having made clear his deep dislike for lies and damned lies, he has chosen statistics as the preferred weapon of combat. This essentially means that the BJP spokesperson in Delhi is dropping the names of every possible economist and researcher in the country to claim that Gujarat has registered the highest rate of growth among Indian states in recent years. The list includes the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the Union finance minister, agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan, industrialists Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani, the World Bank — and one Monteksinh Ahluwalia (à la Shankersinh Waghela, Madhavsinh Solanki and such legendary sons of the Kutchh soil). The name sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It does indeed belong to the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, but for a few weeks more, would Punjab mind too much if he is claimed by the Gujarat BJP?

Health update

The failing health of the former prime minister, AB Vajpayee, is easily the hottest topic of discussion within the sangh parivar — there being not too many attacks on Hindus of late. The 83-year-old Vajpayee is largely wheelchair-bound these days, following a stroke, although his condition is known to be improving. The hush-hush discussions in the saffron camp are about the Vajpayee family’s refusal to let anyone have a darshan of the leader. How ill is Vajpayee then? Or is he?

Sons and warriors

If scriptwriters at Balaji Telefilms run out of ideas, they can always turn to M Karunanidhi’s family for ideas. Karunanidhi’s domestic troubles have not quite blown over. Just when he thought that he had managed to make his warring children bury the hatchet, rumblings started in the MK Azhagiri camp. Azhagiri fears that his father is going to choose MK Stalin, his brother, over him as the heir apparent. Meanwhile, the Kalaignar’s poet-daughter, Kanimozhi, looks all set to earn a cabinet portfolio. Azhagiri is, understandably, anxious, and wants to return to Chennai from Madurai to remain close to the political action. He can’t possibly sit and watch his siblings help themselves to the political pie.

To paint the skies red

The battle against HIV/AIDS has reached the skies. Literally. One hears that professionals battling the disease have successfully petitioned Praful Patel, the Union civil aviation minister, to paint one of the jumbos in the AI fleet in dark red — the universal colour of the AIDS campaign. The Red Ribbon logo would be embossed as well, in case someone missed the point. Oodles of money have been spent to get the nod from the ministry for the noble purpose. But what good can it possibly do in the end? After all, only the few passengers boarding that particular aircraft would be getting the message. And on top of it, the decking up would cost the national carrier a neat sum. But that is not all. Withdrawing an Airbus 320 from an already-stretched fleet for one whole month — that is the time needed to get the paintwork done — in the middle of peak tourist season would certainly make the airline staff see red.

One down

Ever thought of how little hue and cry was raised over Rahul Dravid’s removal from the captaincy of the Indian cricket team? Of course, the ‘experts’ have done their bit, criticizing or sympathizing with Dilip Vengsarkar. But what about the masses, and their netas? Flashback to December 2005, when the dropping of Sourav Ganguly had sent the nation into a tizzy. From the chief minister of West Bengal to the speaker of the Lok Sabha, every Bengali politician worth his salt had publicly protested against the axing of the Prince of Cal. Till date, not a murmur has been heard from Karnataka politicians, be it in Bangalore or in Delhi. Lone exception: industrialist-MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who shot off a letter of protest to BCCI chief Sharad Pawar. Is Dravid unpopular among politicians, or is he plain lucky?

Guests are welcome

Bihar shining? What’s this about Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal, Anand Mahindra visiting the state one after another? Alas, they were guests of NK Singh, not of the State!

Stand up and be counted...as a lady

If you thought only cricket was a game of glorious uncertainties, think again. The Indian women’s soccer team beat the Iranian ladies at home in an Asian qualifier recently. However, in the away match, the Indian girls, perhaps still dazed by the result of their first match, received a severe drubbing. The matter could have rested there, but for the post-match report that was prepared for Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the patron-in-chief of Indian football, to help him understand the causes of the debacle. A number of reasons were cited: Iranian ‘men’, dressed in scarves, long-sleeved jerseys and pants, turning up to play the match, or that a noisy “all women crowd” had made matters difficult on the pitch for the Indian players. This has put poor Das Munshi in a real fix. Accusing Iran of playing men masquerading as women in an international fixture would surely raise the possibility of yet another storm in India’s diplomatic teacup.