In battle for George, party eyes his house (Capital Buzz)

NEW DELHI - While the two women in socialist leader George Fernandes’ life - Leila Kabir and Jaya Jaitley - are squabbling over him, his Janata Dal-United is avidly eyeing his spacious official residence with its large garden, 3 Krishna Menon Marg, in Lutyen’s bungalow zone.

After getting a favourable verdict from Delhi High Court recently, Kabir shifted Fernandes lock, stock and barrel to her south Delhi residence. Jaya’s belongings have been dumped in an outhouse.

The Delhi unit of the JD-U has virtually taken over the coveted bungalow and lost no time in opening a party cell office in the house to legitimise its claim. The Rajya Sabha tenure of Fernandes ended July 7. Party sources say the JD-U is desperately trying to get the residence allotted to one of the other senior leaders.

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Goodbye Mike, hello David!

The capital is wistful about losing Indophile Mike Bryan, the former president of Penguin India, to faraway Canada, where he will replace David Davidar, who was in the spotlight over charges of sexual harassment by a former colleague.

Since he took over the mantle of the publishing giant’s India operations in 2007, Bryan had become a part of the “desi” set - both in temperament and style. He was one of the few who, like the other white native, William Dalrymple, sported the Indian look once in a while.

Introducing Indian authors came easily to Bryan at launches - for it was a country the Englishman was close to. In fact a few weeks ago, before leaving for London, he had promised that he would speak on “Indian ghosts and their lores” once he returned on July 14.

Some ghosts are, however, not going to leave Davidar alone. With the suit settled out of court, Davidar is expected to return to the country with wife and family soon.

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Art of lobbying, European style

Champagne flowed amid animated chatter as arms lobbyists - that tribe of low-key suave operators - diplomats and journalists gathered at a do hosted by the German ambassador. At stake was the mother of all defence deals, the $10.4 billion contract for 126 fighters for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The Europeans, apparently unhappy with the last-minute scrapping of a slew of almost final deals, suspected the “American hand” behind it and launched an all-out charm offensive.

German envoy Thomas Matussek was at his charming best, pitching for the Eurofighter and saying it had brought four nations - Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy - together to enter into a cutting-edge partnership with India for the next 20 to 30 years.

“Our price is the best value for money,” chipped in Bernhard Gerwert, the CEO of Military Air Systems at European aerospace major EADS.

When $10 billion deals are involved, words flow like champagne!

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How Jagan killed cabinet chances

Congress MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy may have succeeded in forcing the party national leadership to look the other way over the resumption of his Odarpu yatra in memory of his father, but it may not have come without a price.

Party sources say the Kadapa MP had a good chance of getting a ministerial berth at the centre, but his defiance of the high command’s wish has finished whatever chances he may have had.

Congress leaders say the young MP, who is keen to nurture the legacy of his father, YSR, appears to be a man in a hurry. They say the best course for him would be to do a ministerial stint in Delhi, gain administrative experience and send the right feelers around the next assembly polls which are still four years away.

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North-South divide over China

Differences over visa clearance to three Chinese journalists have led to a battle of sorts between the North Block and the South Block in the heart of the power capital.

Sources say the home ministry has been sitting for six months on the visa applications sent by the foreign ministry for security clearance to journalists of state-owned Chinese TV.

The home ministry’s attitude towards China, dubbed as “paranoid” and “alarmist” by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, has not been taken well by the foreign ministry that fears that it was hurting New Delhi’s efforts to normalise relations with Beijing.

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Why BJP leader praised Sheila

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s lavish praise for Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at a book release function created quite a buzz in political circles. But there is an insider’s take on the saga.

BJP leader Harsh Vardhan had said, “I want her to rise to the highest level.” But explaining the praise for Dikshit, a BJP insider said conspiratorially, “He wants Sheila to move to the centre and vacate the coveted post, so that the BJP can stage a comeback!”

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A friend for Jairam Ramesh

Critics have poisoned the air for Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. Fed up with relentless griping, Ramesh vented his outrage, saying a shade dramatically people are now calling him Raavan for allegedly opposing development projects on environmental grounds. But he is no longer wallowing in isolation.

He has apparently found a friend in Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal. After signing an agreement for cleaning the Ganga with the support of seven IITs this week, Ramesh said: “Our collaboration with the HRD ministry shows that the environment ministry has some friends outside the ministry.”

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Curious ways of NAFED

Affairs at the scam-hit National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) are taking curious twists. Last week, the agency defied an agriculture ministry directive and sought the removal of its government-appointed managing director C.V. Ananda Bose.

But more curious was a message pasted on the notice board at the office prior to the board meeting seeking Bose’s removal, while also giving the reasons why the meeting would go ahead without his presence.

“The managing director could not be contacted and not responding - either through e-mail or on phone,” said the notice, like a missing person’s list at police stations.

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Amethi by yet another name?

What’s in a name? A lot, apparently. Stung by the renaming of Amethi, the constituency of Rahul Gandhi and a pocketborough of the Gandhi family, as Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj after a Dalit icon, Congressmen are waiting for sweet revenge.

They can’t protest as they don’t want to be seen as anti-Dalit, but are betting on a return of the Congress in Lucknow.

“We will rename it as Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. Any referendum can prove which is a more acceptable name to the people there,” said an agitated party leader.