Was sitting at home in front of the laptop when 'poof', our dear friend Budhirakshasan appeared out of thin air.
"Where have you been all these days BR?"
"Oh! here and there"
"What is brewing in the corridors of power in Delhi?" (As you know, BR is the ultimate fly in the wall)
"Manmohan Singh is worried"
"Obviously he would be. The economy is in deep trouble, the 2G scam is getting uncomfortably close, even his pet Nuclear deal is in trouble with all the protests against N Plants in the country, the Chinese are aggressive in the border, there is an escalated terror threat perception, Global recession is bound to affect India, Anna Hazare movement has eroded his credibility and finally there is the Rahul Gandhi Sword hanging over his Prime Ministership and then there are the rogue coalition partners, not to mention the Brutuses of his own party"
"No No Swamy! You have got it absolutely wrong. He has never worried about any of those things and never will"
"Then................"
"He is worried stiff about all these stories of Narayanamoorthy and Anna Hazare for the Presidentship in 2012"
"Why should he be?"
"Ah! MMS's only aim now is to somehow pass the next 9 months till the Presidential election, when he will be 'elevated' to a post for which he feels he is eminently suitable. He has proven to be the 'ultimate rubber stamp' since 2004, and is 'Her Majesty's pet Poodle'. He had always felt that these two qualifications would ensure a nice sunset for him. And now, suddenly he has competitors in Narayanamoorthy and Anna Hazare. And this makes him lose sleep for the first time since a terror attack during UPA1 when he had insomnia worrying about the welfare of the terrorist."
"I never thought of it from that angle. But if he is elevated to the Presidentship, then who will be the PM? Pranab or P Chidambaram or AK Antony?"
"None. Pranab is too smart and efficient for the liking of queen bee. PC has a mind of his own - a definite disqualification. Antony would have been ideal. He is another MMS in the making, but he is a grassroot politician - a rare species in Congress top ranks. Also, his being a christian will be held against him."
"But there will be still 2 more years to go for the Elections"
"The best bet is Meira Kumar, the current Lok Sabha speaker. She is Babu Jagjivan Rams daughter, a woman and a Dalit. And she will do the bidding of the G- gang (oops! family) without any murmur. For a party that has made a mark out of symbolism, there could be none better than her. Also, she will be an ideal foil to counter the MMJ threat"
"But MMS is surely no threat""Swamy!!!! not MMS, but MMJ - Mamatha, Mayawati and Jayalalitha"
'Poof' and he was gone.
