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Setting an Example Delhi: If there's one person
who follows the BJP-led Government's directive to its ministers to become more
people-friendly, it is Home Minister L.K. Advani. After Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee suggested at the BJP National Council meeting in Gandhinagar that ministers and
officials should dispense with the security paraphernalia, the former party president
decided to follow it to a T. On landing in Delhi after the meeting, Advani refused to take
the official car waiting for him near the aircraft's ladder. Even as the security
personnel pleaded with him to follow safety regulations, the home minister had boarded the
Indian Airlines bus to the terminal. Bystanders and fellow passengers were naturally
stunned.
Once A Congressman...
Gandhinagar:
The BJP National Council meet in Gandhinagar provided some quaint touches of Congress
impulses grappling uneasily with Sangh Parivar traditions. Former AICC joint secretary
C.R. Singhvi booked himself a strategically located room in Hotel Trident, where most of
the top leaders were staying. Whenever he saw anyone emerging from the lift, he would rush
to greet them, announcing, "I'm now in your party." Power Minister Rangarajan
Kumaramangalam wasn't so gauche. He first ensured a special garland from Tamil Nadu for
new party chief Kushabhau Thakre. The next day, in full view of the cameras, he walked up
to the podium to whisper a prolonged message to Thakre. When the prime minister walked in,
the new convert tapped him on the shoulder to extract a polite namaste. The cameras duly
recorded it.
Blowing Hot
Chandigarh: A
popular joke has it that Punjab is ruled by the SSP -- Sukhbir, Surinder and Parkash, in
that order. That Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's wife Surinder Kaur and son Sukhbir
Singh Badal -- a minister in the Vajpayee Government -- call the shots in the state is no
secret. Recently, the pilots of the Pawan Hans helicopter, on lease with the state
Government, were the target of Mrs Badal's ire when the chopper's air conditioner failed.
While Badal didn't say anything, the hot cabin made Mrs Badal lose her cool. Not only did
she upbraid the pilots for poor maintenance, she even threatened to stop payment of the
flight charges. Chastened they were, but the pilots did muster the courage to tell her
highness that maintenance was possible only if Mr Badal could spare the helicopter from
his hectic sorties.
Flying Vote Bank
Shimla:
Desperate to improve his wafer-thin majority, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has hit
upon a novel idea to woo voters during the crucial June 3 elections to three assembly
segments. A 20-seater helicopter has been leased for regular sorties -- at a subsidised
fare for tribals -- on the Shimla-Lahaul-Spiti sector. Such flights are usually operated
during winter when these areas remain cut off. Evidently, the summer sorties would mostly
ferry BJP leaders and workers for campaigning. Besides, Dhumal is also getting another
five-seater helicopter overhauled to be stationed at Kullu for his personal use. Whether
the summer bonanza shores up his party's electoral chances among the tribals or not, it
will surely scratch the bottom out of the state's empty coffers.
Fading Glory
Patna: These
are bad times for Laloo Prasad Yadav. Recently, when Laloo, with wife and Chief Minister
Rabri Devi in tow, went to Khagadia to announce relief to victims of a boat tragedy, there
was an uproar in the crowd. "Who's he to announce relief," a local Samata Party
MP shouted. As the crowd turned restive, the couple beat a hasty retreat. Again, just as
Laloo -- with the dutiful Rabri by his side -- was about to distribute appointment letters
to hundreds of teachers at a public function in Patna, came a restraining order from the
high court, forcing him to leave in a huff. After his release from jail last December,
Laloo went about humiliating officials in public, making it clear that it was he who
called the shots in Bihar. Now, it seems, he's being paid back in his own coin.
Delaying Tactics
Chennai:
Justice delayed is justice denied. Not quite in the case of AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalitha.
When the special court recently dismissed her discharge petition in the TANSI land case,
in which she was charged with abetting the sale of government land to a firm owned by her,
it was for the 78th time in only 17 months that hearings were adjourned. Delaying tactics
are also the norm in other cases relating to Jayalalitha. The coal import case was
adjourned 23 times after the chargesheet was filed on April 2 last year, while the hearing
in the colour TV case was adjourned 14 times.
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi is still confident that
Jayalalitha's days are numbered, but police officers from the Crime Branch (CID) and the
Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption do not share the optimism. A police officer
investigating the TANSI case says, "If the accused had not deliberately resorted to
delaying tactics, this case could have been disposed of by now." In which case,
Jayalalitha, who claims the case was foisted on her because of political reasons, could
perhaps have vindicated her honour.
Dole Clamour
Calcutta: When
West Bengal Finance Minister Ashim Dasgupta announced a Rs 50 crore package for employees
of sick industrial units in the state budget this year, he did not visualise what he was
getting into. Now, even casual workers are clamouring for the dole. According to
Dasgupta's plan, 83,333 employees of sick units were to be paid Rs 500 a month from May 1.
But that had to be postponed as the trade unions demanded a clear definition of a closed
unit. In his budget speech, he had defined it as "a unit that had remained closed for
one year or more". But by the Government's own admission, there are only 100 such
units that together employ 38,846 workers. If it now decides to compensate more workers,
it would mean that the Marxists have been masking the real extent of industrial sickness
in West Bengal.
Probe Demand
Thiruvananthapuram:
When the Kerala Police busted the VIP-linked sex racket in Kozhikode eight months ago, it
was widely believed that those involved in the case would be put behind bars. But with the
investigation proceeding slowly, the state Women's Commission has decided to request the
CPI(M)-led LDF Government to hand over the case to the CBI.
All the 12 chargesheeted in the case, including two former
mayors of Kozhikode, are out on bail. A 37-year-old woman, who allegedly ran the sex
racket, was arrested a few months ago. Anveshi, the women's group which had exposed the
scandal, alleges that many more VIPs, including a former Muslim League minister, have been
let off despite a victim naming them in her complaint.
Such is the pressure from parties against a thorough
investigation that three of the commission's members aligned with the Congress-led UDF
opposed the handing over of the case to the CBI. Three LDF members supported the move
along with its chairperson, noted activist B. Sugathakumari. Subsequently, however, one of
them told the panel that she was under pressure from LDF ministers not to support the
move.With almost all major parties displaying near unanimity that the CBI not be called
in, it is likely that the truth will never be out.
Stopgap Measures
Patna: The
bureaucracy in Bihar seems to be functioning on an ad hoc basis, with several loyalists of
former chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav occupying key posts. In the latest instance, a
member of the state Revenue Board, S.N. Biswas, was last week given additional charge as
chief secretary from May 1. The decision follows the refusal of Laloo confidant B.P. Verma
to accept a fourth extension in the post. "The problem is Laloo won't give anyone a
key post unless he is confident that the official will toe a certain line," says
Laxmi Sahu, Janata Dal general secretary. The fallout: almost a dozen senior IAS officers
are holding key positions, while 13 posts of deputy development commissioners are lying
vacant in the districts.
Not surprisingly, the state's IAS officers are protesting.
Says Shashi Bhushan Verma, general secretary of the state Administrative Services
Association: "The Government is just looking for blue-eyed boys for key
postings." And evidently, there aren't too many around to choose from.
About-turn
Mumbai: Last
year, they were the toast of Mumbai. Vijay Salaskar and Praful Bhosale, the two assistant
police inspectors, and their teams had the mandate of state Home Minister and Deputy Chief
Minister Gopinath Munde to crack down on the city's underworld. In less than six months,
the teams had shot dead over 70 men of the underworld, mostly from the dreaded Arun
Gawli's gang. The gangster lost several of his trusted lieutenants and his Akhil Bharatiya
Sena, that once challenged the might of the Shiv Sena in the metropolis, now lies in total
disarray. Several other gangs also lost crucial hitmen. Munde had hailed the
"encounters" as the best possible way of controlling the sudden surge in mafia
activity. But soon human rights groups started accusing the police of staging fake
encounters. A plethora of writ petitions followed. One specifically charged the police
with killing an innocent man in a fake enounter. The state Government, which had earlier
announced that it would set up six additional teams, did an about-turn last week and said
that the crack teams would now be disbanded. Police Commissioner Ronald Mendonca preferred
to call it a "restructuring of the force". But with the crack teams disbanded,
Mendonca is worried that the gangs would be emboldened to renew their spate of attacks. |
