For new governor, it may be Kerala calling

After the Congress assumed power in New Delhi and lost in Kerala, Sankaranarayanan was appointed governor of Nagaland and later shifted to Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand. After the term of governor S C Jamir was over in October last year, he was appointed governor of Maharashtra. Sankaranarayanan was a cabinet member in the Kerala government both under the leadership of K Karunakaran and A K Anthony, now defence minister. As a cabinet member and governor of Jharkhand, his performance was impressive. The manner in which he was shiftedfrom Jharkhand to Maharashtra is politically significant. It coincides with theappointment of Anthony as AICC general secretary, incharge of Maharashtra, as aresult, the defence minister was never required to depend on the Congress-ledDemocratic Front government for information on sensitive issues. Now, even whileholding a constitutional assignment, his eyes are on Kerala, which will soonwitness assembly polls. Senior bureaucrats both in Kerala and Maharashtrabelieve like S M Krishna, now external affairs minister, and S K Shinde, nowpower minister, both of whom once held the gubernatorial assignments,Sankaranarayanan too is waiting for an appropriate moment to put in hispapers.After his unceremonious exit in 2008 from the cabinet in thewake of the worst-ever terror attack on the metropolis, R R Patil successfullygot back the home portfolio, but was unable to retain the same chamber on thesixth floor of Mantralaya. Then Patil launched a massive search for a sprawlingcabin, with a committee room. Patil was finally allotted the chamberformerly occupied by veteran NCP leader Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, ruraldevelopment minister in the erstwhile government. For the initialfew months, it was business as usual. However, party activists brought to hisnotice that the huge fish tank in the chamber may not be lucky for him. Theypointed out that despite the fact that a fish tank in the house always bringsgood luck, Mohite Patil lost the assembly polls from a region where he was oftendescribed as the uncrowned king. A few hours after the observation,Patil's office quickly swung into action. A massive search was launched for thepersons who had brought in the fish tank. Peace was restored only after the fishtank was removed from the chamber. Incredibly, now every visitor is asking Patilabout the fish tank. He isspeechless.In the corridors of power, particularly in New-Delhi, 32year old Rajiv Satav is among the most important youth leaders. Son of formerMaharashtra minister Rajani Satav, Rajiv has been recently appointed as thepresident of the All India Youth Congress, after he was elected to the statelegislative assembly from the backward Marathwada region. Inpolitical circles, he is being recognised as one of the most important membersof the Rahul Gandhi brigade. In fact, when the nomination process for stateassembly polls was in progress, he was handpicked by Gandhi. But inhis home town, Hingoli, the district administration has completely ignored him.Though he has been knocking on the doors of senior bureaucrats at the districtand divisional level, the response is dismal. A week ago, revenue ministerNarayan Rane had to step in to ensure that developmental works proposed by Satavare implemented in letter and spirit.