The announcement of Rahul Gandhis name as Congress president could be sooner than

most in the party assume. It could even happen by the month-end, according to
sources. The states have completed the process for internal elections, with several
states passing unanimous resolutions in Rahuls favour. Most assume that the next
step will be scheduling a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). But the
CWC permission is not strictly necessary. It is up to the Central Election
Authority to decide the election schedule. The low-key, three-member body consists
of Mullappally Ramachandran, Madhusudan Mistry and Bhubaneswar Kalita. Its office
is a tiny barrack at 12, Akbar Road, where it is difficult for all three members to
sit at the same time. It is up to this authority to fix the dates for the election,
and if no other candidate except Rahul comes forward by the last date for filing
nominations, his name could be announced as Congress president that evening itself.
Keeping on top
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attempted to increase the catchment area for
joint-secretary-level posts in the Central government by inducting officers from
other services apart from the IAS, such as the IPS, IRS or IFS (Indian Forest
Service). But when it comes to guarding its own interests, the IAS is zealous in
ensuring that it is a notch or two above. For example, according to the eligibility
criteria, IAS and IPS officers are supposed to be promoted to the joint-secretary-
level scale in about 14 years. But in the present government, while IAS batches
have been regularly upgraded around the specified time period, the IPS batches due
for promotion lag way behind. The 1996 batch of IPS officers was promoted to the
joint secretary grade after 19 years. The 1997 batch is still waiting, resulting in
practically a six-year difference in upgradation between the two services. In
contrast, when P Chidambaram was home minister, he had insisted that all service
batches be cleared simultaneously. In Modis government, the issue has been left to
officials from the PMO, Cabinet Secretary and Department of Personnel, all of whom
are from the IAS. Ajit Doval from the IPS, who has considerable clout in the
government, has failed to intervene on behalf of his service.
Rescuing the Ganga
As the new Water Resources Minister, Nitin Gadkari was given charge of the Clean
Ganga Mission last month. But he has less than two years before the next
parliamentary elections to produce results. The attempt to clean the polluted river
is a task which has defied many, from Rajiv Gandhi to Uma Bharti. Gadkari, who is a
practical man, realises that the project entrusted to him is a bottomless pit and
the time short. He has changed the strategy by relying more on private
participation and less on the government. Gadkari has opened a website and invited
individuals, NGOs, PSUs, NRIs and other organisations to adopt small stretches of
the nine most polluted sections of the river bank. Together with the local
administration, the volunteers have to work out a scheme that will also look into
financing. Already, Mata Amritanandamayi from Kerala has pledged Rs 100 crore for
cleaning one sector of the Ganga, while a leading television channel owner has
committed to cleaning another stretch.
Crossing boundary
After he took over as Vice-President, Venkaiah Naidu told old friends in the media
that from now on, he would strictly keep away from politics. But this is easier
said than done when you have spent a lifetime in politics. Last week, Naidu was
invited to release a book by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Those Eventful
Days. Rao, who was also acting governor of Tamil Nadu for 13 months, has written
the book on his stint in the state. This includes the period during which former
chief minister Jayalalithaa was hospitalised and eventually passed away, followed
by political turmoil within the AIADMK. Many question the propriety of Rao rushing
to publish it, particularly when there is an ongoing political crisis and he
remains the Governor of Maharashtra. Before he took over as Vice-President, Naidu
was the BJP in-charge of Tamil Nadu and watched developments in the AIADMK keenly
on behalf of his party. He is not exactly a neutral party. At least the DMK felt
that some of Naidus remarks at the book release had political overtones. The DMKs
M K Stalin objected to Naidus statement that the Tamil Nadu government was
responsible for fulfilling the promises made by Amma. And suggesting that the
AIADMK government, once it proves its majority, should be allowed to complete the
five-year term for which it was elected.