Kani’s bail has Maran worried

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The Maran brothers who were at loggerheads with the DMK’s first family for a brief while before being accepted into the fold have all the reasons to be worried now that Kanimozhi is out on bail in the 2-G scam case. Having contributed to the DMK’s defeat in the last Assembly polls in the state by highlighting the 2-G

scam through their Sun TV network, they have not yet been forgiven by Karunanidhi and Rajathi Ammal, mother of Kanimozhi. After clawing their way back into the party and the family, they consciously avoided reporting on Kanimozhi’s incarceration ever since she was arrested in a bid to appease Kani’s parents.
But the news of her release on bail got adequate attention from the network. The buzz is that Dayanidhi Maran, who is in the eye of a storm over his alleged role in Aircel-Maxis deal and laying of cable lines from his residence to the Sun TV office, needs the whole-hearted support of the DMK supremo. Therefore, he even went to Tihar along with M.K. Alagiri to receive Kani. But then it was obvious that Kani did not like the very sight of him and conveyed it subtly to him. So much for Maran’s attempt to win favour with Kani and her parents.

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Mitra does a volte face on FDI in retail
West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra won’t admit it, but his views on Foreign Direct Investment in retail seem to have undergone a poriborton (change). In his earlier avatar as the secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mitra was in the forefront of campaigning for FDI in retail. Today, post his election as an MLA and his subsequent appointment as finance minister, Mitra finds himself on the other side of the debate, having to defend his party boss, Mamata Banerjee’s vehement opposition to FDI in retail.
The poriborton in Mitra’s stance did not escape the attention of Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who was recently heard remarking in the presence of Banerjee and Mitra, at a public event in New Delhi, that poriborton could also be seen in Mitra’s attire. Since his foray into politics, Mitra has opted for dhoti-kurtas over suits.

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BJP suffering from Ahluwaliaitis: Mani
Congress MP in Rajya Sabha Mani Shankar Iyer coins his own words and terms. He believes the BJP is suffering from a very “contagious disease”, which is spreading like HIV. An exasperated Mr Iyer, who appeared to be thoroughly irked by the continuous logjam in Parliament, said, “The BJP is suffering from Ahluwaliaitis (BJP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha is Mr S.S. Ahluwalia), which is a dreadful disease spreading like HIV.”

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Home ministry lists its achievements
The Union home minister P. Chidambaram completed three years in office but it was not him but the home secretary R.K. Singh who listed out the achievements of the ministry over the last three years. The ministry claimed special measures to tackle rising threats like Left wing extremism were taken during this period. Joint secretaries, DGs of BSF, NIA and CRPF were also present in the press briefing.

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Sibal silent on Anna issue
With time, things change. And politics and politicians are no exception to this. The adage seems to aptly fit Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who played the biggest and most vocal firefighter of the UPA government in the recent Anna Hazare episode. Over the past few days, ever since Parliament has been stalled in the ongoing winter session, the minister has bluntly refused to respond to any questions on Anna Hazare.
“I am not going to comment on this issue,” was his refrain to the ever pressing scribes who continued with their barrage of questions regarding the minister’s opinion on Anna’s threat to go on fast again. It seems that the government will need to rope in a new firefighter if the threat of the Gandhian is carried out.

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Power point
FDI debate rages on
After facing a volley of questions over why his party was opposed to the government’s decision of allowing FDI in the retail sector, senior BJP leader M.M. Joshi said, “Do you think the US wants to open dharamshalas in India? It is pressurising India to open retail stores so that it can profit while our small traders will lose their jobs.”