Why Didi is afraid of Dada

• New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) It appears no Congress minister dares to talk with West Bengal's Communist leaders in the formidable presence of Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. But Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is an exception.
• Popularly called 'Pranab da', he even shared a car with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee - archrival of Mamata Banerjee - after a meeting at the prime minister's residence over price rise.
• Mukherjee is not believed to be too happy about Banerjee meddling in the central government's handling of problems in the Left-ruled state.
• But Banerjee, often addressed as 'Didi', had to be silent on Pranab da's open bonhomie with the Marxists because she fears he may lose his temper, which he often does. She also believes that he has the ability to broker a political alliance with the Communists in the state where she is making an all-out effort to end three decades of leftist rule, they say.
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• A Thackeray waits
• Is the Congress reluctant to open its doors to Smita Thackeray, who has fallen out with her father-in-law Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray? Or has she set her sights too high?
• Though it has been over four months since she sent clear feelers to the grand old party, matters haven't moved much. While Smita wants to be invited by no less than Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the party's Maharashtra unit finds no reason for the leadership to indulge her.
• State Congress leaders feel she is being over-ambitious and does not merit the prominence she seeks, a little birdie has it. They say she has the option of joining the party the way millions of others do - by filling up a membership form.
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• What an idea, madam ji
• The Jammu and Kashmir government faced a breakdown over a controversial bill allowing educated youths to apply for government jobs only in one's home district. But it seems the crisis was averted, thanks to 'madam'!
• The legislation would mean that Scheduled Caste candidates would have to stick to districts in the Jammu region only as there is nobody from Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley who falls in that category.
• Pitted against each other were lawmakers from the Valley and Jammu until Chief Minister Omar Abdullah knocked on 10, Janpath, the residence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
• From there he got a brief to ensure a provision under which Scheduled Caste candidates could apply for government jobs in any of the 22 districts in the state, sources say.
• The crisis was defused and the National Conference-Congress coalition saved.

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