Chatterbox

Chief of Army Staff Gen JJ Singh's wife Anupama hosted a garden party for select Army wives on Saturday and the chief guest was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur.

The theme of the party was a Spanish carnival and professional singers and dancers were invited from Goa to perform. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia's wife Isher Judge Ahluwalia and Welfare Minister Meira Kumar were also there.

All the ladies joined the dancing: after all, if Sonia Gandhi can do it, why shouldn't they? Although the theme was Spanish/Portuguese, fortune cookies were offered to Gursharan. Her cookie said: successful people prefer solutions to problems. "My life is full of problems, so clearly I need to be successful," was her wry comment.

Not a small job

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, of the chicken-worth-Rs-50,000 fame, has become an office-bearer in the BJP and is taking his job very seriously. He came to the BJP office in his new post for the first time last week.

A colleague prepared a press release that seemed to be perfectly adequate but offered it to Rudy to read as a courtesy. "Change the first line," Rudy ordered. "Do you really think so," asked the colleague, "It seems ok to me." "No, change it," Rudy insisted.

Down but not out

Chandrababu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, is looking for a role to play in politics. Can anyone offer him one? He is in Delhi at least once a month and last week, he called on CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh to work out a broadbased third front.

Since both parties are opposing the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu wants them to oppose the party at the Centre also. Will it happen? No one knows. He was a big player in the formation of the National Front and wants to recapture the days of bygone glory. So far, it has been cordial talk but thumbs-down on any concrete proposal. But Naidu is not giving up!