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Rustic Radiation Delhi: Post-Pokhran,
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was apprising Opposition leaders about the nuclear
tests. Most of them just listened, but Laloo Yadav did some rustic plaintalking. "Kya
jaroorat thi bambwa phorne ki (What was the need)?"he asked. As Vajpayee explained
nuclear deterrence, Laloo looked suitably bored. Butting in at one point, he remarked,
"Ab aap test kiyen hain to theek hai. Kahin bomb use nahin kijiyega. Ham to Bihar
mein bach jayenge. Lekin Dilliwalon ke liye to fallout ki mushkil hogi (Now that you have
tested it, don't use the bomb. We in Bihar will be safe, but the fallout will be deadly
for Delhiites)." The prime minister and his bemused aides promised to keep Laloo's
counsel in mind.
Canned Image
Bhopal: The
Madhya Pradesh Public Relations Department is saddled with two episodes of TV documentary
on Chief Minister Digvijay Singh which Doordarshan initially okayed but later refused to
telecast even in the sponsored category of the local kendra. The film, which cost nearly
Rs 7 lakh to make, has Singh answering questions in the style of Andhra Pradesh's
Chandrababu Naidu. Apparently, DD bosses developed cold feet soon after the BJP came to
power at the Centre. They first referred the matter to the Prasar Bharati Board and
subsequently said no. Now the state Government is toying with the idea of buying slots on
a private channel to boost Digvijay's image.
Business Quota
Mumbai: When
some corporate bigwigs from Mumbai, including Rahul Bajaj and Harsh Goenka, met Shiv Sena
chief Bal Thackeray last week, on top of their mind was a long-standing proposal for
setting up a B-School (business school) in the state with American collaboration.
Thackeray responded enthusiastically, until one of the visitors subtly hinted that
"they hoped there would not be any request for quotas or reservations". That did
it. Thackeray first asked if it was a "kind of Doon School", and then promptly
added that he would actually not settle for "less than 10 per cent" (of the
seats). The pashas naturally regretted their gesture of "transparency", but the
deed was done and they left with spirits considerably dampened. Last heard, the corporate
taipans were looking at a neighbouring state (Andhra Pradesh) where they hoped the issue
of quota won't be raised.
Home Truths
Chandigarh: Punjab
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is never short of ideas, particularly when it comes to
taming a section of the state bureaucracy. At the recent monthly meeting of administrative
secretaries, Badal, quoting austerity measures, asked the bureaucrats to curtail their
field visits and limit their telephone expenses. But the bureaucrats have a simpler
solution: they feel that if Badal stops holding frequent official meetings in his hometown
Faridkot, he would be doing the state exchequer a favour. Last heard, Badal wasn't too
receptive to the idea. After all, Faridkot also happens to be the constituency of Sukhbir
Singh Badal, the chief minister's son who is now the Union minister of state for
industries.
Taken Unawares
Lucknow:
Believe it or not. The first time Kalyan Singh heard about the May 11 nuclear explosions,
he actually thought it was a terrorist strike somewhere in Uttar Pradesh. Shortly after
the news of the Pokhran tests broke, a journalist telephoned Kalyan Singh to elicit his
reaction: Kalyan's response was: "What? bomb blasts? No, I have no information about
any bomb blasts." He even went on to tell the caller that he would check with the
Home Department and let him know. Keeping the caller on hold, Kalyan checked with the Home
Department and replied, "No, there is no bomb blast and the state is completely
peaceful." Before the journalist could explain further, the chief minister had cut
the line, leaving the mediaman rolling with laughter.
Ready for a Repeat
Mumbai: For the
Congress in Maharashtra, buoyant after the rout of the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in the last
Lok Sabha elections, this perhaps is the acid test. The party is primed for the next
battle -- the impending elections to six Rajya Sabha and 10 Legislative Council seats --
and party leaders believe they can repeat the performance.
If the alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the RPI was the
key to its last success, there is a new element to the Congress formula for these
elections: winning over a majority of the 44 Independent MLAs, all former Congressmen, who
prop up the Sena-BJP Government. At least half of them are said to have promised support
to the Congress. Going by their respective strengths in the Assembly, the Congress is
assured of two Rajya Sabha seats, the BJP and Sena one each. The real fight is for the
remaining two seats. "We are working to a plan and it will work," says Chhagan
Bhujbal, Shiv Sainik-turned-senior Congress leader. According to sources, the game plan
includes inducing splits in the Sena and the BJP. Given the level of dissent in the
coalition, that shouldn't be a difficult task.
Looming Dissent
Guwahati: After
threatening to do it for some time, Atul Bora, Assam's PWD minister and senior Asom Gana
Parishad (AGP) leader, quit the Cabinet in a huff on May 18. His reason: Chief Minister
Prafulla Mahanta's "vindictiveness" towards him personally. Mahanta had
reshuffled his Cabinet recently, shifting Bora to the Forest Department. Bora took
umbrage, and, while announcing his resignation, demanded a change of leadership. In an
apparent show of solidarity, four other ministers were present when Bora announced his
resignation. One of them, state Education Minister Jatin Mali, was later sacked for
"anti-party activities". Describing Bora's resignation as only a
"conspiracy" and not a "crisis", Mahanta affirmed that reshuffling the
Cabinet was entirely his prerogative. It is -- but only as long as he is chief minister.
Counter-strategy
Mumbai: An eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In a bid to put the brakes on the growing menace of
the underworld in the city, the Mumbai Police has constituted a special team called the
SOS -- Special Operation Squad. Trained in martial arts, armed and unarmed combat, this
100-strong team has been trained by former army commandos to intercept, target and stop
criminals. Positioned on motorcycles at strategic points all over the city, these mobile
policemen will be at the scene of the crime as soon as possible in a bid to stop the
misdemeanour.
For the Mumbai police, these commandos have come at a welcome
time. In the last one month, the city has witnessed a spate of robberies, all targeting
jewellery stores; two hard-core criminals, Firoz Konkani and Salim Passport, have escaped
from police custody, while over seven people have been shot dead by gangsters. And with
growing public fear that the underworld violence will spill over and affect the common
man, the decision to set up the special commando squad could not have come earlier. As
Mumbai's Commissioner of Police R.H. Mendonca says, "If we have to stop them, we have
to hit them really hard. That is what the SOS is all about."
Roadblock
Bangalore: For
the second time in less than two years, A. Ravindra has learnt the bitter lesson: that it
just doesn't pay to be tough. Last week, the Bangalore City Corporation (bcc)
commissioner, better known in the city as the "Demolition Man", found himself
shunted out. In January 1996, under pressure from corporators and vested interests, the
then chief minister H.D. Deve Gowda pulled him out of the bcc when he began demolishing
illegal buildings. The builders lobby put enough pressure on the politicians to show him
the door.
Ravindra is no stranger to controversy. Last year, he was
almost transferred when he incurred the wrath of city mayor Padmavathy Gowda as he
prevented work on a temple annexe, whose construction she had allowed in violation of
building laws.
The mayor had vowed to kick him out before her term ended in
October 1997, but it was only the intervention of Chief Minister J.H. Patel that saved his
job. But Patel could do nothing when new Mayor J. Huchappa decided to ease him out on one
pretext or the other. Ravindra seemed to have provided him the opportunity when recently
he called for global tenders for a Rs 120 crore project involving re-laying of arterial
roads in the city. The well-connected local contractors moved swiftly, and last week,
Ravindra found himself ousted yet again. |
