Dubious Distinctions

Men -- and women -- villains -- and vamps -- and some plain bores and boors. (No, we are not talking of Osama and Veerappan types here) <br > <a > Free Speech: Your Take </a>

Foot In The Coffin

George Fernandes Defence Minister
Mr Comeback remained unfazed even when a CAG report alleged corruption in procurement of coffins for Kargil martyrs.

Silence of the Lamb

O. Panneerselvam Stopgap TN chief minister
If Jayalalitha needed a puppet on a chain, she found it in him. He moved no file, signed no papers sans Amma’s nod.

Devdas Of The Year

Govindacharya BJP’s man-in-hiding
Spurned by the party, by the woman he loved, he took refuge in the Himalayas. Last seen: crestfallen and with beard.

We Don’t Need No Education

Murli Manohar Joshi Union HRD minister
Just a lot of thought control. And no one does it better than him, with some help from friends in the RSS.

Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki

Sonia vs Maneka The Nehru-Gandhi bahus
Katherine’s Frank book on Indira gave the younger sister-in-law enough ammo to target the Congress president.

Cry-Wolf Of The Year

Shahnawaz Hussain Aviation minister
He went on a flight of fancy over an Alliance Air hijack that wasn’t; the only heads to roll were of the cabin crew.

Badshah Of Balderdash

Navjot Singh Sidhu Cricket commentator
Punjabi meets post-modern in Sherry’s preposterous patois of pulpisms. Stop...we’re beginning to sound like him!

Mr Antoinette

Shanta Kumar Consumer Affairs & PDS minister
Millions starved as he sat atop 60 mn tonnes of foodgrains but he maintained all was well and the system was at fault.

Pawar Bake

Sharad Pawar NCP chief
He thought he could have his 61-ft cake and eat it too but the Milkman of Baramati’s b’day bash was a PR flop.

The Spoken Herd

Miscellaneous TV Guest Regulars
Amar Singh, Mani Aiyer, I.D. Swami, Kapil Sibal, Pramod Mahajan… just some of the relentless soundb(a)iters.

Alumina Alumnus

Ajit Jogi Chhattisgarh chief minister
He vowed never to give up Balco but was castled by the SC into finding other ways to protect his state’s tribals.

ReFree for All

Mike Denness Match Referee
The Menace, a former stodgy England captain, did the impossible, getting six Indians out without bowling a ball.

Speed Kings

Drug Abuse Sportspersons
Swept under the carpet for years, the dirty secret is out: Indian sports is tainted by substance abuse.

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Temple Of The King

VHP Hindu Supremacist Organisation
Through 2001, the VHP kept Ayodhya on high boil, even storming the site. But the Rambhakts earned little but bad will.

The Mirror Crack’d

Aks Big B’s Big F
The Baritone’s comeback vehicle picked up a flat en route the box office—along with a terminal piston pack-up.

Mortar Maniacs

Construction Lobby Gujarat’s builders
With their unique mixture where more sand is less cement, the architects of the year-opening disaster raked it in.

Sopper Topper

Rajnath Singh UP Chief Minister
On Monday, it was sops for the MBCs, on Tuesday, for the unemployed, then women, students, teachers, farmers...

Pati, Patni Or Woh

Ex-AGP Chief Prafulla Mahanta
Committed political hara-kiri when he ‘married’ Sanghamitra Bharali, while already wed to Jaishree Mahanta.