By Nora Chopra A furious left party leadership is toying with the idea of giving only issue-based support to the UPA Government and winding up the Left-UPA co-ordination committee after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dared them to withdraw support and pull down the government on the Indo-US Nuclear deal issue.
While there is a thinking within the left parties that Manmohan Singh should not take their support for granted, the Congress party itself is divided on the issue of the deal.
While Sonia Gandhi is said to be skeptical, her son Rahul Gandhi is supporting the deal.
Rahul will also speak on the issue whenever the debate takes place.
Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh and Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar too are said to be opposed to the deal.
Both were absent from the Lok Sabha when the Prime Minister made his statement on Monday on the 123 agreement.
Pressure on Sonia to intervene Pressure is mounting on Congress President Sonia Gandhi to intervene between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat as she enjoys a cordial relationship with the left leaders..
Sonia was last seen gleefully talking to Karat at the dinner she hosted for Hamid Ansari before the Vice Presidential polls.
She sat next to Karat and was seen talking to him animatedly.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar sat next to his friend, CPI general secretary AB Bardhan.
They were heard talking about cricket.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav concentrated on his food while Minister TR Baalu was keenly watching the proceedings.
Advani has not read it! Believe it or not, senior BJP leader L.
Advani has neither read nor understood the 123 agreement.
He has asked Arun Shourie to go through it and point out where the party differs with the Government.
He admitted this in an informal chat with Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi in the Central Hall of Parliament When Dasmunshi urged him to give an explanatory note if he wants a debate and explain the areas of opposition, Advani said 'I have not gone through it.
I have given it to Arun Shourie to look into it'.
Meanwhile, eyebrows have been raised at the dearth of leaders in the BJP who could go through the 123 agreement.
Initially, when Vajpayee wanted BJP to look into it and point out the discrepancies in the draft and areas of opposition, no one came forward to take up the task.
It was then that Advani and Vajpayee chose Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha to look into it and point out the areas of difference.
In their first reaction to the draft, Shourie and Sinha even failed to point out the Hyde Act point.
It was only after the left parties had made an issue of the Hyde Act that they too picked it up.
RSS trying for Modi-Rajnath truce The RSS is said to be working out a truce between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Rajnath Singh.
RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat has taken up the task of brokering peace between Modi and Rajnath.
During his recent stay in the Capital, Bhagwat called Rajnath Singh and Suresh Soni, who is in charge of the BJP, separately and gave them a stern warning.
Rajnath has reportedly been told to stop creating problems for Modi.
They have been asked to at least suspend their campaign against Modi till the elections.
Both Soni and Rajnath against whom Modi has lodged a complaint with the RSS bosses, have been deprived of the right to take decisions on Gujarat and Narendra Modi.
They have been told that whatever decisions the BJP bosses take on Gujarat should be in consultation with RSS leaders, Madan Das Devi and Joshi.
And Mohan Bhagwat should be kept informed about those decisions.
Bhagwat took cognizance of the matter after Rajnath Singh sent a three-member delegation to enquire into how Congress workers beat up the BJP Mayor of Jamnagar in the Modi-led BJP regime.
Modi was unhappy that a central team of the BJP was sent to probe against the party government in Gujarat.
BJP MP says RSS redundant! Is the RSS losing control over the BJP? A Rajya Sabha MP and BJP think tank, would have us believe so.
The MP, who is known for his long association with RSS, was recently overheard telling journalists that the RSS has become redundant and outdated.
'It no more attracts young people to its cadres,'' was his comment.
Ignorance is bliss BJP, the country's main opposition party is ignorant of the political realities in Goa.
On July 13, journalists received a message from the BJP office that Churchill Alemao would lead a BJP delegation to meet President Pratibha Patil to brief her on the Goa situation.
This at a time when Alemao was having lunch with the Congress leaders and Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi who was dispatched to Panaji to restore the Congress government and resolve the crisis! BJP general secretary in charge of Goa, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, was not even aware that Churchill, with whom they were trying to have a deal, had crossed over to the Congress.
Once they came to know of it, the programme to meet the President was cancelled and journalists informed accordingly.
Ansari's austerity drive Soon after he became the Vice-President, Hamid Ansari, says the grapevine, decided to follow in the footsteps of former President Abdul Kalam.
Like Kalam, who had closed down most of the rooms in the Rashtrapati Bhawan to curb expenditure, Ansari too has launched an austerity drive.
He has reduced his staff to 20 from the existing 40 working in the Vice-President's office.
Unlike Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who used to serve high tea with a full spread of delicacies to those who came to meet him in his office, Ansari serves only tea and biscuits.
No expenditure is the new mantra.
-(IPA) Interview
