In Karnataka, caste matters more than party affiliations. You could be a member of the BJP or the Congress, but if you are from a particular community, you would come together. This is the basis of the latest grouse of the former Chief Minister, B.S. Yeddyurappa (a Lingayat). He has accused the current Chief Minister, D.V. Sadananda Gowda (a Vokkaliga), of being biased towards former Chief Ministers, S.M. Krishna (Congress) and H.D. Kumaraswamy (JD-S), both Vokkaligas, by failing to provide complete information to the Central Empowered Committee with respect to a CBI probe against the duo. Some may say Yeddyurappa is protesting against everything these days, but Gowda knows that it can be quite a sticky affair if this issue is not handled with some amount of political acumen.

Tax blues, courtesy Trinamool

The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee's fascination for the blue-and-white colour combo, seems to have made the going tough for officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. With a variety of rumour mills working overtime, civic officials found several people queuing up to them to ask if painting homes blue and white would entitle them to tax relief, or help lower property tax rates. Shocked civic officials actually called their seniors to see if such a scheme had come into existence.

Secretive about philanthropy

Most of the country's billionaires were in Bangalore last week to meet the world's second richest man, Bill Gates. They had come to discuss how to lend more to social causes. The meeting was conducted in a hush-hush manner, and reporters tapped every source they knew to find out what transpired. At least one industrialist made it clear that he was sworn to secrecy and would not reveal anything. All that one was left with were some mundane statements on the meeting. Wonder why some corporate houses don't follow the same secrecy code when they roll out their CSR activities.

BJP's power play

Last week, the BJP concluded its two-day national conclave and the party had a clear message for its saffron cadre. They stand to win the 2014 election, provided they draw advantage from negative voting against the Congress-led coalition at the Centre. Though the party's political resolution remained silent on the mid-term polls, the resolution itself has set the stage for a country-wide political campaign with a mission of exposing the UPA's failures.

Dalit parties slug it out

The differences between the various factions of the Republican Party of India and other smaller Dalit parties in Maharashtra are well-known. Ever since the demise of its founder B.R. Ambedkar, the Dalit political movement in the State has been hit by internecine warfare. Last week, this fight once again surfaced, when 51 members of the Prakash Ambedkar-led Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh were arrested by the police for allegedly trying to barge into Siddharth College in south Mumbai over a dispute. The Mahasangh has alleged that the trustees of the society are running the college for personal gain. The trustees belong to the Athavle faction of the Republican Party, which has an alliance with the saffron parties.

Beat the petrol hike

It's not just you. It seems like the recent petrol price hikes have affected India's top banking honchos as well. Recently, at a banking conference, the chief of a private bank revealed how the current scenario had got him to walk ‘all the way' to his office. Obviously, the distance from his house to his workplace was not mentioned, as the remark was made in good humour. Well, it does raise an eyebrow when a profit-making private bank's chairman travels to office on Shank's pony. He may have well set an example for many. Although, as a sceptical journalist remarked, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to ‘walk all the way to his workplace'!

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