O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Towering triple
Sweat, shots, and Sehwag
While the opening Test with South Africa at Chennai ended in a draw after a general run-fest, Virendra Sehwag made it one to remember for all time. And what an innings he played! Four years after he became the ‘Sultan of Multan’ with a match-winning triple hundred, the first by an Indian, came this towering 319.

Inflation climbs
Time to take tough decisions
The prospect of good times getting better with the loan waiver and tax breaks in the Budget followed by the Sixth Pay Commission proposals seems to be receding with inflation at its highest in more than a year. The alarming increase in the rate of inflation to 6.68 per cent has brought it almost to the level of 6.73 per cent that was touched in February 2007. 

Casual brutality
Anganwadi workers’ woes don’t end
Protesting anganwadi workers have again been at the receiving end of police muscle. The Punjab government, far from addressing their long-standing grievances, periodically has them roughed up. This has been happening during the rule of both Congress and Akali Dal governments, and it is no credit to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that the same highhandedness – which he objected to when the Congress was in power – is now being shown by policemen of his administration.

• Thought for the day

ARTICLE

No bonanza for the forces
Pay Commission has taken the military for a ride
by Lt Gen (retd) Vijay Oberoi
The Sixth Pay Commission presented its recommendations to the government on March 24 as expected. What was not expected, however, was the measly hike in emoluments of the defence forces. Nonetheless, all major newspapers on March 25 praised the Pay Commission for the bonanza given to government servants; the electronic media had preceded them with similar comments.

MIDDLE

Return to Matiana
by Harish Dhillon
I stopped at Matiana for tea. There were the same number of tables and chairs in the tea stall, arranged in the same manner as thirty years ago. I had retreated to Matiana to meet a publisher’s deadline and after a hard day’s work had been attracted to a game of volleyball on the school playground, below the Rest House. I was invited to join in.

OPED

Politics of principles
Gillani has to hold Pak and the coalition together
by Wilson John
Can Yusuf Raza Gillani hold Pakistan together? Any brave attempt to figure out a cogent response will necessarily have to deal with three basic questions: Who is Gillani? What is he in for? And is he up to it? Gillani, who took over as Pakistan’s 25th Prime Minister on March 25, is certainly not a novice in the art and game of politics.

Flight 93 memorial has ‘Islamic symbols’
by Leonard Doyle in Pennsylvania
Burnished into the nation’s collective memory of 11 September 2001 is the heroism of United Airlines Flight 93’s passengers, who overwhelmed the hijackers and forced them to ditch the plane rather than let them attempt an attack on the US Capitol building 150 miles away.

Chatterati
Spicy biography
by Devi Cherian
What is one to make of V.S. Naipaul’s revelations about his personal life and the way he treated his first wife? Is he just pumping up excitement before launching a tepid work on the world?

EDITORIALS

Towering triple
Sweat, shots, and Sehwag

While the opening Test with South Africa at Chennai ended in a draw after a general run-fest, Virendra Sehwag made it one to remember for all time. And what an innings he played! Four years after he became the ‘Sultan of Multan’ with a match-winning triple hundred, the first by an Indian, came this towering 319. Some observors might want to say that he is “not yet” in the same league as Don Bradman and Brian Lara, the other two-time triple centurions, but it is Sehwag’s style to simply smash his way into reckoning. The mere fact that he has achieved the feat, and with a fastest ever triple, should be testimony enough to the fact that in talent, he is second to none.

As for consistency, it is a fact that even when he was dropped, his Test average was above 50. Only a short while ago, his one-day abilities suddenly deserted him, and he seemed to regularly exit the crease with the speed of one of his shots through cover. Temperament counts as much as anything else in cricket, especially Test cricket, and to his credit, he has overcome any weaknesses there, and in his fitness. He made good on his come-back chance in Australia. And, his method of stand-and-deliver cricket is backed up by not just superb hand-eye co-ordination, but also a certain grounding in the fundamentals that he has gone beyond, like only a genius can. Remember, when he began to make his mark as a batsman, there would be talk about the “two Tendulkars” in the Indian team.

The Test also saw Rahul Dravid make his 25th hundred and cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket to join Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, a deserving achievement for an outstanding cricketer. If the South Africans found a sledge-hammer at one end, they were bowling to a brick wall at the other. His supporting role was crucial, and we may cavil at his pace only on the fourth day. But to end with Sehwag: Test cricket needs the swashbuckler – the man who brings up milestones not in nervous increments, but in fours and sixes; who does not circumspectly block out overs before lunch and tea, but carts the unfortunate bowler over the ropes and swaggers back to the pavilion without a care in the world. That was Sehwag at Chennai, and fans will thrill to the memory for a long time.

Inflation climbs
Time to take tough decisions

The prospect of good times getting better with the loan waiver and tax breaks in the Budget followed by the Sixth Pay Commission proposals seems to be receding with inflation at its highest in more than a year. The alarming increase in the rate of inflation to 6.68 per cent has brought it almost to the level of 6.73 per cent that was touched in February 2007. The inflationary condition is far more serious than indicated by the statistics, with prices of essential food items and many primary commodities already going through the roof. In fact, the inflation rate based on the wholesale price index does not mirror the economic distress already being faced by the common man for several months now. Prices have been soaring long before the government came up with the data on the uptrend.

Inflation affects all classes though the poor are worst hit with not only their incomes falling but also their sources of income disappearing. The appreciation in the value of the rupee has seen a precipitous fall in exports resulting in lay-offs and joblessness, particularly in the labour-intensive textile sector. The sub-prime crisis in the United States has also had a damaging effect with inflows declining into the Indian market. However, India’s robust growth rate has been able to cushion the adverse effects to a limited extent.

Now that it has come to the crunch, the focus has shifted from growth and money supply to containing inflation. Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram himself has said that holding the price line might require some growth to be sacrificed. The Reserve Bank of India will have to tighten money supply by increasing interest rates. While such monetary measures can do their bit, it should be borne in mind that higher agricultural productivity is of critical importance if India is to have inclusive growth with sustainable livelihoods for the majority. The sooner the UPA Government applies itself to the task of curbing inflation, the better it would be, if only to check the political consequences of rising food prices. 

Casual brutality
Anganwadi workers’ woes don’t end

Protesting anganwadi workers have again been at the receiving end of police muscle. The Punjab government, far from addressing their long-standing grievances, periodically has them roughed up. This has been happening during the rule of both Congress and Akali Dal governments, and it is no credit to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that the same highhandedness – which he objected to when the Congress was in power – is now being shown by policemen of his administration. The anganwadi women at the health department function in Bathinda on Thursday, attended by the Chief Minister, were dragged, pushed around and beaten, not only by the cops, but reportedly by several women Akali workers as well.

Only last week, at Jalandhar, a group had confronted the Child Development Project Officer for his alleged misbehaviour with an anganwadi helper. The anganwadi workers look after pregnant women and young mothers and their children, attending to needs ranging from food to vaccination. Many have complained that they frequently have to dip into their own resources, while storing food stocks, cooking it, and distributing it. Lack of stoves, fuel, and even adequate rental amounts for storing grain are among the causes for their being agitated. Low pay compounds their ability to cope with the demands of their work.

Periodic police brutality against protestors, particularly women, will not end unless the offenders are prosecuted. Some policemen seem to shed all restraint when dealing with the poor, the weak and the vulnerable. That women police personnel were not present at this function in anticipation of the anganwadi protest is another issue, though women in uniform too are part of the police culture and sometimes not very different in dealing with protestors. The police department needs a change of culture and mindset – that can happen only with better training, direction from the top, and punitive action against transgressors.

Thought for the day

Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction. — Goethe

ARTICLE

No bonanza for the forces
Pay Commission has taken the military for a ride
by Lt Gen (retd) Vijay Oberoi

The Sixth Pay Commission presented its recommendations to the government on March 24 as expected. What was not expected, however, was the measly hike in emoluments of the defence forces. Nonetheless, all major newspapers on March 25 praised the Pay Commission for the bonanza given to government servants; the electronic media had preceded them with similar comments.

This hype is perhaps understandable as there was lack of time for a detailed analysis. This piece will attempt to highlight some aspects of how the defence forces have been taken for a royal ride!

Before the Pay Commission was set up, the service chiefs had again pointed out to the government the necessity to set up a separate pay commission for the defence forces, as there was no commonality in the conditions of service of the military vis-a-vis the civil government servants of all categories. The request of the service chiefs was not accepted and no reasons were assigned for this.

The service chiefs then suggested that at least a member from the defence forces should be appointed as part of the pay commission. This too was brushed aside. The third request made to the government was to at least ensure that the issue of ‘relativity’ was not made applicable to the military, again on the same grounds that no other cadre/section of government had anything in common with the conditions of service of the defence forces.

Now that the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission have been made public, even this request has been negated. The military has once again been given the wrong end of the stick, by not only equating but diminishing the status of the officers and men of the defence forces.

The concept of the running pay band for all ranks was mooted by the defence forces and was incorporated in the Fourth Pay Commission, but was not recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission. Now, it has come back, but with a twist. The present commission states that it is a good concept to adopt for the civilian employees and consequently let the military also follow suit! How kind! Linked to this is the question of status, or in other words ‘relativity’.

The recommendations of the commission state that the status of all government employees would be determined by the ‘grade pay’ as fixed for civilian employees. A cursory look at the relevant tables will show that we are back to square one, wherein a colonel of 16 to 18 years service is being equated with a civilian in the PB-3 category, having 7 to 10 years service.

In addition, while a major or equivalent in the defence forces has been given a status of 6100 and a lieutenant colonel of 6600, there are four different grades squeezed in this at 6100, 6500 and 6600 from the civil side. Thereafter, between a colonel (7600) and brigadier (8400), an additional grade of 8300 has been squeezed in.

The biggest anomaly however is at the lieutenant-general level (11000). Till now, lieutenant-general and equivalent officer was equated with the S-30 grade on the civilian side i.e. equivalent to an additional secretary or the Director General Police (DGP). There is an obvious attempt now in the Sixth Pay Commission to deliberately downgrade the status of a lieutenant-general by interposing two more grades (S-31 and S-32 at 13000) between a lieutenant-general and the apex level of army commanders and equivalent (80,000 fixed). This is a typical ploy of the bureaucrats to sneakily upgrade themselves, as they have done in the past.

A good point from the point of view of the defence forces is the recommendation accepting the necessity for the grant of military service pay (MSP), but associated with it is that the rank pay, which all officers up to the rank of brigadier are getting (from Rs. 200 for captains to Rs 1200 for brigadiers) has been withdrawn. By extrapolation, this rank pay at today’s prices would have been equal to if not greater than the MSP of Rs. 6000 for all ranks. So, what have the defence forces gained?

I also do not understand the rationale of a fixed sum of Rs. 6000 as MSP for all officers up to the rank of brigadier and Rs. 1000 for all Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR). MSP is meant to compensate military personnel from the privations which a career in the defence forces entails. Whether in peace stations or in field areas, a soldier is ready twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are no defined working hours for them. In addition, they are the only citizens of the nation who have restrictions on their fundamental rights.

The defence forces are constantly and continuously exposed to hazardous situations and there is always a threat to their lives and limbs. On an average, the number of army personnel killed in active operations is nearly 415 annually; a very high figure indeed, when there is no war being waged.

Throughout their careers, they have to maintain stringent physical standards. This is as much applicable to a jawan as to those holding the highest ranks in service. This takes its toll in terms of nearly 5000 personnel being invalidated out on medical grounds every year.

There are many drawbacks in family-related and professional aspects. Military personnel have frequent dislocations to family life, children’s education, as well as additional expenditure on account of regular transfers. Over half the service of defence personnel, particularly those from the army, is spent in field areas, where families are not permitted, resulting in long separation of soldiers and officers from their wives, children, parents and other kin.

Statistically, army personnel suffer separation of nearly 18 years in a career span of 24 years. An extremely turbulent life by any standards! The Indian Army’s heavy commitments in counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations and their effect on the quality of life on all ranks are too well known to need any elaboration.

It is for these reasons that the defence forces had projected the dire need for MSP. However, what has been recommended is highly inadequate. I also do not understand why officers above the rank of brigadier have been excluded. There is also no rationale for having only one fixed scale for officers and another for PBOR. A reasonable and just amount would be 25 per cent of the basic pay, encompassing all ranks from a jawan to the Chief of the Army.

One additional point needs to be stated. The Commission has given a plethora of recommendations on both small and big points, but when it came to an extremely legitimate request of the defence forces relating to enhancement of pay of lieutenant-generals -- who though otherwise fit to become army commanders cannot be promoted, as they have less than two years of residual service – they have shied away by leaving it for the government to decide. This, when the same system has been in vogue in the civil services for decades!n

The writer is a former Vice-Chief of Army Staff

MIDDLE

Return to Matiana
by Harish Dhillon

I stopped at Matiana for tea. There were the same number of tables and chairs in the tea stall, arranged in the same manner as thirty years ago.

I had retreated to Matiana to meet a publisher’s deadline and after a hard day’s work had been attracted to a game of volleyball on the school playground, below the Rest House. I was invited to join in. The excitement was infectious and forgetting my artificial leg, I did join in. I overreached myself and fell. Solicitous hands pulled me to my feet and guided me to the parapet.

They came later, the two of them, to reassure themselves that I was all right. Kali Ram from the ITBP, was short, fair and stocky, with a fringe of brown hair over his forehead. He was gregarious and smiled often. Pooran, from the army, was lean and wiry and sported a crew cut. He spoke and smiled little.

Yet they both revealed the same, simple, uncluttered approach to life, both in their aspirations and their attitudes. They exuded an air of contentment and well being, a conviction that life was beautiful and created an ambience of warmth and friendliness.

A routine was set. I would go each evening to watch the game. The losing team would treat the winning team to tea and over tea the day’s game would be analysed and dissected. I realised that the enthusiasm of the game was no accident: they were preparing for a tournament in Baragaon. Later Pooran and Kali would come down to my room for a drink.

Gradually I too became infused by their sense of contentment and well being. I felt all my troubles and pains fall away from me and also came to believe that, inspite of everything, life was, indeed, beautiful.

All too soon my work was done, my vacations ended. It was a quick, quiet farewell at the bus stand, with the usual promise to keep in touch, a promise that had remained unfulfilled these thirty years.

The memory of that brief but wonderful friendship came coursing through my mind and my eyes smarted with unshed tears. I wanted desperately to meet them again. They would have retired by now and it would be easy to find them.

Then I checked myself. Relationships cannot be taken for granted, wrapped up and consigned to the shelves of memory, to be drawn out again and looked upon when a passing, nostalgic, whim so dictates. Relationships, to be kept alive, have to be nurtured and cared for, like delicate plants.

Kali and Pooran would be happy to see me, but the happiness would soon be replaced by awkwardness. Our old relationship was dead and there was nothing on which to build a new relationship in the hour or two that would be given to us. I could not let this awkwardness impinge upon my hauntingly beautiful memory.

OPED

Politics of principles
Gillani has to hold Pak and the coalition together
by Wilson John

Can Yusuf Raza Gillani hold Pakistan together? Any brave attempt to figure out a cogent response will necessarily have to deal with three basic questions: Who is Gillani? What is he in for? And is he up to it?

Gillani, who took over as Pakistan’s 25th Prime Minister on March 25, is certainly not a novice in the art and game of politics. He has been in the business of politics even before Asif Ali Zardari married Benazir Bhutto in 1987 or Nawaz Sharif was catapulted from a public relations officer in his father’s steel mills to the Chief Minister of Punjab.

Gillani has a lineage far deeper than Sharif’s, or Zardari’s. He comes from a prominent family of landowners and spiritual leaders in southern Punjab; his home town the old city of Multan. His forefathers have been active in politics long before Pakistan was born. His grandfather and grand-uncles were leaders of the All India Muslim League and were signatories to the 1940 Lahore Resolution of the Indian National Congress, referred to widely as the Pakistan resolution. His father was a provincial minister in the 50s.

Yusuf Raza Gillani entered politics in 1978 when he joined the Muslim League after completing post-graduation in journalism from the University of Punjab. Soon after, President Zia ul-Haq nominated him for a government assignment. In his first election, Gillani contested and became the chairman of the Multan Union Council in 1982 and two years later won a seat in the National Assembly to become a federal minister under Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Junejo.

He, however, fell out with Junejo, parted ways with Muslim League and went to meet Benazir Bhutto in Karachi with a request to join her party, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). In the 1988 elections, Gillani defeated Nawaz Sharif who was at then the Chief Minister of Punjab. Bhutto made him first the Minister for Health and then gave him the charge of Housing during her first tenure as the Prime Minister (1988-1990). Gillani became a Speaker in Benazir Bhutto’s second tenure as the Prime Minister and showed, on several occasions, the strength of his character.

Two instances would suffice to show Gillani’s mettle. The Sharif-Benazir relationship was always marked by hatred and vendetta which fell to greater depths during Benazir’s second term as the Prime Minister and Gillani’s Speakership. Disgusted with PMLN’s abusive attitude, Benazir wanted Gillani to exercise his power as the Speaker and summon some of Sharif’s aides jailed on various charges to the Assembly.

Citing propriety, Gillani refused to do so even at the cost of angering his party leader. On another instance, he refused to forward a reference against Nawaz Sharif to the Election Commission, an action which angered many of his party colleagues. When General Pervez Musharraf took over the reigns, of the several politicians he targeted, Gillani was on top of the list.

He was charged with handing out 350 government jobs without following proper procedures and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and Rs 100 million fine in 2001. Though several ISI officials and Musharraf’s confidantes met him in prison to switch sides and work against Benazir, Gillani refused to oblige, preferring instead to stay in jail for five years before the courts threw out the case and freed him. Gillani’s status and respect in Benazir’s eyes remained high thereafter.

Gillani, on more than one occasion, has proved to be a man of strong convictions, not shy of sacrificing political positions for taking a principled stand. This could prove to be a double-edged weapon in today’s Pakistan where there are too many desperate aspirants to power. To first look at the positive side, among those who are clamouring for power, Gillani is perhaps best suited to take on the daunting challenges facing his country.

His first and foremost task would be to keep the coalition together; it is critical to the future of democracy in Pakistan. If the coalition fails to hold together, it will be Musharraf who will have the last laugh. The public which has voted against the military regime will be disappointed and disgusted with politicians, and will be left with no alternative but look towards the army for relief.

Gillani has had dealings with Sharif even before, negotiating peace on behalf of Benazir Bhutto and keeping the rivals at arm’s length in the National Assembly. For Zardari, Gillani is a loyal Bhutto man and can be entrusted with the task of holding the coalition together and strengthening party’s position in Punjab despite Sharif’s presence in the government. Fahim or Zardari himself would have found it difficult to strike roots in Punjab where Sharif always had considerable support.

Unlike Fahim, Gillani can also be expected to be on a much friendlier and working relationship with the Army chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani, who is determined to cleanse whatever dirt and debris the army has accumulated in the last two years of turmoil. Kiyani will expect Gillani to keep Sharif’s campaign against the former Army chief in check, and not go beyond a line which will prove to be embarrassing to the Pakistan Army.

Gillani, a man of easy disposition and a generous attitude, would rather go with the Army chief and avoid confrontation. Gillani could also be expected to work with the US, especially on dealing with terrorist groups despite Sharif’s cold vibes during his meeting with senior US officials early this week.

In this, Gillani would rather follow the advice of the Army chief than his coalition partner; Zardari, by all accounts, would also support this line of action since Benazir, before she was killed, had also clearly stated her support for the US-led War on Terrorism.

The writer is a Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

Flight 93 memorial has ‘Islamic symbols’
by Leonard Doyle in Pennsylvania

Burnished into the nation’s collective memory of 11 September 2001 is the heroism of United Airlines Flight 93’s passengers, who overwhelmed the hijackers and forced them to ditch the plane rather than let them attempt an attack on the US Capitol building 150 miles away.

But disagreement and rancour has dogged efforts to commemorate the 40 victims of terrorism on this Pennsylvania hillside. Seven and a half years after the tragedy, several family members of those who perished say that the planned memorial is in the shape of an Islamic crescent and points directly towards Mecca.

They complain that a planned ‘Tower of Voices,’ a 93ft tall structure that will hold 40 chimes, representing the victims of terrorism, is in fact a ‘minaret’.

Tom Burnett, whose son Tom Jnr died in the crash, said of the design that it is “aesthetically wonderful”, but a lot of it contains “Islamic symbols”. He added: “We ought to just throw the design out and start anew because it really dishonours those who died.”

Mr Burnett represents only a minority of the families of Flight 93 but he is not alone in his concerns about the planned memorial, which is not expected to be built until 2010. To the dismay of many, an active community has grown up n online and in the locality – with the sole aim of blocking the memorial in its current form.

The controversy has caused no end of annoyance to local businesses, some of which stand to reap rich financial rewards as the numbers of visitors to the crash memorial grows over time. Already nearly half a million people come to the temporary site.

The 9/11 Commission investigation also concluded that the passengers did not succeed in breaking into the cockpit but that the hijackers crashed the plane when they thought they were about to be overwhelmed.

The story of how the passengers fought back against the terrorists and saved countless other lives, is now part of the national narrative. Tom Burnett Jnr, a father of three young daughters, spoke to his wife Deena from an onboard phone. He said he and his fellow-passengers were “going to do something” despite her protests that he should “Sit down. Be still. Be quiet. Don’t draw attention to yourself. Wait for the authorities.”

Tom replied: “We can’t wait. Deena, if they are going to run this plane into the ground, we’re going to do something.”

Another passenger, Todd Beamer revealed in a telephone call that passengers were planning a counter-attack. His last words, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll,” would become a battle cry for Americans fighting the Taliban and al-Qaiida in Afghanistan. Even President George Bush has taken to using it in his speeches.

Up the hill, a temporary memorial stands under the flight path of the plane which was bound for San Francisco but had turned back in the direction of Washington DC. Volunteers staff a small wooden hut. Beside it is a wire fence where visitors attach mementos. There are a few flags and a large cross.

How a planned memorial, for which there were more than 1,000 anonymous submissions and which went through two separate juries before being agreed could end up being described as an ‘Islamic mosque’ remains a mystery for many of those involved.

Part of the blame must lie with Paul Murdoch, architect of the winning design who initially described it as a ‘Crescent of Embrace’. The title caused the internet to erupt with conspiracy theories. Then someone noticed that the arc actually pointed towards Mecca. The fact that this was also the direction to Washington DC was lost on the conspiracy theorists.

The architect quickly agreed to remove “any perceptions relating to Islamic symbolism.” The crescent became a circle, with two symbolic breaks, one where visitors will walk along the flight path, the other at the crash scene.

Joanne Hanley, National Parks superintendent for Western Pennsylvania, who is responsible for building the memorial, has little time for the conspiracy theorists. Now that the design of the memorial has been changed to accommodate the critics she is incensed that the controversy still rumbles on.

By arrangement with The Independent

Chatterati
Spicy biography
by Devi Cherian

What is one to make of V.S. Naipaul’s revelations about his personal life and the way he treated his first wife? Is he just pumping up excitement before launching a tepid work on the world?

“Kiss and Tell” biographers seem to be the flavour of the season, even if the other memoirs in the news right now, L.K. Advani’s, is more in the nature of “Hiss and Tell”. Naipaul’s long revelations about his lurid sex life is clearly more than just a simple confession. He is obviously trying to tell the world how complex a character he is, and hopes that the world will forgive him for inflicting mental agony on his wife and for the public display of unacceptable behavior.

The details he has supplied are perhaps meant as much to titillate as to ensure a flurry of comment that he hopes will raise his popularity. As it is, Advani’s book has raised many eyebrows. And he has embarrassed many of his colleagues. But all are silent as not to create more problems than he has for them in his autobiography.

Functional ties

The mystery over L.K. Advani’s surprise visit to 10 Janpath is in the process of being unraveled. It seems that a Union Minister, who thinks of himself as a champion of secularism, suggested that the ‘Prime-Minister-in-waiting’ call on the Congress chief. No Congress or Left leaders were present at Advani’s book release function. The Union minister suggested that Advani call on Sonia and “restore functional ties”. And the festival of Holi provided an ideal opportunity and excuse.

Can the Advani-Sonia meeting be touted as a victory of secularism? Well, if anything, it seems, 10 Janpath has changed. The Congress leaders may not have easy access but “others” are getting easier and “surprise” access to the city’s most sought-after address.

Well, as of now, top Left leaders can visit Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence almost at will. Then there was a surprise appearance of BSP supremo and UP chief minister Mayawati. Advani followed.

New alignments

All eyes now are on the arrival of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav at Sonia’s door. Noises about new alignments are in the air. Rahul called Amar Singh to condole his father’s death. And since then, Amar Singh’s tune towards the Congress seems to have changed.

In Mulayam’s case, old dreams die hard. He may have lost Uttar Pradesh, but he does dream about power at the Centre. So upbeat was he about the motley crowd of the Samajwadi Party, the Telegu Desam Party and the Indian National Lok Dal forming the next government, that he said the Third Front will be the ‘first front’.

One, however, wonders who will be the Prime Minister in such a situation – Chandrababu Naidu, Om Prakash Chautala, Jayalalitha or Mulayam himself? Hopefully the voters will spare us this concoction.