BON VOYAGE TO MANI SHANKAR AIYAR

Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas after a long period in the political wilderness is back in news again. During his tenure as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, he happened to earn the wrath of our Prime Minister ManMohan Singh for persisting with his mission of signing an agreement with Iran for erecting an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline (IPI) which was stoutly objected to by the big brother USA then under the rule of George Walker Bush. Bush’s antipathy towards Iran and Afghanistan is still known world-wide, and he being an intimate friend of an ever obliging Indian PrimeMinister succeeded in scuttling the proposed plan ie. Iran-Pak-India gas pipeline which if erected would have been of immense potential for India, still an energy-starved nation.

 

Mani Shankar Aiyar as expected was promptly removed from the Petroleum Ministry and entrusted with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and in the true spirit of an honest, principled Congress man took up the new portfolio.

 

Our PrimeMinister who had already come of age as a cunning and mature politician besides being an economist lost no time in appointing a pliable, loyal Pro-American like the ‘master’ himself, a man from South Mumbai, Murli Deora very popular among the Mumbai industrial tycoons as the new Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.  

 

Mani Shankar Aiyar, an intellectual he is, a former diplomat and borrowing a political parlance - if my knowledge is correct - the brother of an eminent economist Swaminathan.S.Aiyar- he is not in news now and like his brother, don’t know why Mani Shankar Aiyar also faded into oblivion for a long gap. With his occasional articles in national dailies, Mani as he is fondly called waited for an apt moment to plunge into the political arena, since political figures always prefer to be in the lime-light. In other words hog the lime-light.

 

Mr.Aiyar, thanks to Sonia Gandhi, Congress Supremo unsuccessfully contested the Mayiladuthurai Loksabha seat in 2009, and that was the reason behind his political wilderness. In cricketing parlance even a good player suffers ‘bad patches’ in his career, politicians too suffer such ‘bad patches’. A patient man that Mr.Aiyar is, he preferred to wait on the sidelines. His not so friendly approach towards US and a friendly approach towards China apart and his defeat at Mayiladuthurai constituency was another reason.

 

Murli Deora, always a Pro-American guy also the blue-eyed boy of fat cats of Mumbai couldn’t and need not weather any such nagging problems.

 

As the grand extravaganza, the Common Wealth Games, third important one after the Olympics and Asiad, about to raise curtains on October 3, are round the corner, nearly 60 days left- in came reports of large-scale corruption at various levels, like an avalanche, reports of large-scale involvement of organizers pocketing mammoth sums almost to the tune of Rs. 744 crore - Now the rulers as well as the organizers are running helter and skelter to patch up a ‘hotch-potch’ arrangement (my God) for the events to commence in time. Please note, the demand for Common Wealth Games to be held in 2010 was raised by Organising Committee leaders of Common Wealth Games in India in 2003 arguing that such an event need to be held in a developing nation like India and Canada the other contender naturally lost the race for holding it there. It is alleged that the Organising Committee for Common Wealth Games was virtually sleeping over the issue till 2008 and after the prolonged slumber all hell broke loose with the responsible ones in a hurry to finish the ‘movie’ within two years time. Even that attempt left in shambles also money going to different pockets, in the words of Mani Shankar Aiyar more than 30 agencies are involved in the scam Organising Committee Chairman, Suresh Kalmadi has found himself in a catch-22 situation. Union Carbide disaster and the related judgment leaving the victims in the lurch, the simmering Kashmir not much of a head-ache all left incomplete with not much follow-up, the new victim, Common Wealth Games related scam gaining the upper hand media celebrations are in the air. Take your remote, jump from one news channel to another all tell the same story.    Amusing indeed.

 

Now that Mani Shankar Aiyar claims he in his capacity a true follower of Congress party, in his own words only a back-bencher has opened up a can of worms for the public to do the rest and feeling ashamed of the goings on, has vowed to go abroad till the completion of the event ie. October 14. He can go abroad, he has the wherewithal, what about us poor chaps? We people have learned to bear with it already.

 

To a query posed to him by Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN, a great man he is, no doubt whether Mr.Aiyar can’t seek an appointment with PM, Sports Minister M.S.Gill, Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi and ask them to take necessary steps taking into account the seriousness of the problem, Mr.Aiyar evaded the query and instead he took the opportunity to extend to his friend Suresh Kalmadi, all best wishes and a very Merry X’Mas.

Mr.Aiyar too, a great man indeed.