Using Salve to Trump Sibal
The Congress has fielded Kapil Sibal to be the face of its promise of reservations for the Patidar community in Gujarat. Using Sibal’s legal credentials for credibility, the Congress claims that its promise for reservations for the Patidar community is legally valid. To counter this, C.K. Patel, the president of a core committee of Patidar groups, consulted Harish Salve and asked him two questions regarding the Patidars, described as a member of a caste which is neither included in SC nor in the OBC list in respect of which reservations are constitutionally permissible. The first question asked to Salve was: Would a reservation in favour of the Patidars be consitutionally permissible? The second: Would a reservation in excess of 50% be constitutionally permissible? Salve replied to the first question with a “negative”. And his reply to the second question was “a reservation in excess of 50% would be unconstitutional”. Now the ball is back in Sibal’s court to see if he can find a solution that is both positive and constitutional.
Achhe Din for Gehlot
One thing is for sure, whether the Congress wins Gujarat or not, Ashok Gehlot is certainly holding a winning hand. Though he has been made in-charge of Gujarat, he has his eyes solely fixed on Rajasthan and has even brought in his supporters as observers for the Gujarat elections. And if the Congress improves its tally in the state, then Gehlot will certainly demand his share of the pie, in Rajasthan.
Is Tharoor the new Jairam?
Has Rahul Gandhi dumped his old wordsmith for a new one? The buzz in the Congress circles is that it’s not Jairam Ramesh, but Shahshi Tharoor who is now summoned to Rahul’s side every time he needs a fancy turn of phrase. Shashi Tharoor was also part of the team that accompanied Rahul to the US. In fact, he is said to be particularly amused by Tharoor’s take on demonetisation, which goes something like this: “A short story about demonetisation: To hunt crocodiles, the water was drained from the pond. No crocodiles died as they can live on land as well, but all the small fish died.” Ouch! Though on another note, it’s the inevitable circle of power. Earlier, Jairam was known as the new Mani Shankar Aiyar. Now, Tharoor is the new Jairam.