GENEROUS GOVERNOR: Jacob

Government accommodation is among the divine rights of MLAs, so the Punjab legislators who were handed hefty bills for penal rents in 1987 must have been overcome with righteous indignation. Now in an act of benevolence ahead of the February 13 assembly elections, Governor J.F.R. Jacob has reduced the penalty for 15 of those fined for overstaying in the Punjab MLA flats in Chandigarh. Topping the list of beneficiaries are Congress leaders Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Bir Devinder Singh who owed the Union Territory of Chandigarh Rs 14 lakh each. Both have got away with paying Rs 14,000. Union Minister for Fertilisers and Chemicals and Akali leader S.S. Dhindsa who owes Rs 80,000, is also off the hook.

The VIP defaulters' list came into being in 1987 when then Speaker Ravi Inder Singh, finding several MLAs unwilling to vacate their official residence even after the dissolution of the Assembly, imposed a penal rent of 80 times the normal rent. But the sticky customers stayed on and on and didn't pay. So the Punjab Assembly secretariat linked their pension benefits to a "no-due certificate" from the Union Territory. Now, by saying they were under threat from Khalistani terrorists and needed to stay in a high security area, they have got away with paying only five times the normal rent-and will get their pensions.

-Ramesh Vinayak

SLEEPING ON THE TRACKS

It was a city of gardens and Raj nostalgia. Then came the traffic horrors that made Bangalore a motorist's nightmare. Next came the proposal for the Elevated Light Rail Transit System (ELRTS). In November 1999, a consortium headed by the UB Group, contracted to get the project on track, talked of the first phase being ready in 30 months.

JAMMED: Roads in Bangalore

It's almost time now but forget the trains, even the project's feasibility report and "ridership survey"-supposed to gauge consumer potential-are nowhere in sight. Never mind. Since 1995, the state Government has collected Re 1 for every litre of petrol sold in the city as a dedicated ELRTS cess. It's made for a kitty of Rs 300 crore.

To confound the confusion, the UB-led consortium has now proposed an alternative funding pattern for the Rs 4,800-crore ELRTS, asking the state Government to fork out 55 per cent, up from 25 per cent of Phase I of the project.

There's more. In December, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation made a presentation to the Karnataka Government on the merits of an underground railway system. Now Bangalore has two options. No doubt the Government will take double the time to procrastinate.

-Stephen David

POLL VAULT
Big Boys Play Local League

PROMISES: Naidu wants Hyderbad

Kite-flying is popular in Hyderabad; the sky fills on Sankranti day. This year it may remain so for a week after January 14 (Sankranti). For the first time since 1986, local body elections are to be held, and the election symbol of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) is flying high in preparation for the polls on January 22.

"Shahar Hamara, Mayor Hamara (Our City, Our Mayor)" is the upbeat slogan of the MIM. "We are sure of a repeat of 1986," says its leader in the Legislative Assembly Asaduddin Owaisi. The MIM was the single largest party then, with 35 seats (from the 60 it contested out of a total of 100), but it may not be as lucky this time. The rival Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT), which came into existence only after the last elections, is expected to divide the 11 lakh Muslim voters in a 26.60 lakh electorate. Moreover, the MIM faces a stiff challenge from the TDP and BJP which have joined hands. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has assigned ministers and party leaders to supervise electioneering in sensitive wards. The fresh development packages he's promised involve an outlay of more than Rs 6,500 crore and include the pending Rs 875-crore project to bring water from the Krishna river to the city. Obviously, Naidu loves Hyderabad, more so at election time.

-Amarnath K. Menon