HOLY COW: Digvijay's move has upset Muslims

congress leaders seem to have a penchant for playing to the gallery regardless of the cost to the country's secular fabric. Rajiv Gandhi was widely perceived to be behind the decision to open the doors of the Ram temple in Ayodhya for political gain, and his successor, P.V. Narasimha Rao, was indirectly responsible for allowing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Now, it is the turn of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. At a public meeting in Dhar, he said, "If you want Bhojshala, make Sonia Gandhi the prime minister. In Dhar, the issue is akin to Ayodhya." The very next day the Central Government and the ASI allowed day-long pujas at the complex on Tuesdays. The BJP clearly doesn't want to allow Digvijay all the credit.

What impact it will have on the Muslims, who have been offering namaz every week at the Kamal Maula mosque in the Bhojshala compound, is yet to be assessed. Politics of religion still rules strong.

The Concussion of Power

HOLY COW: Digvijay's move has upset Muslims

Power corrupts and cabinet rank makes you go berserk. Jharkhand Panchayati Minister Madhu Koda of the BJP, who was recently given cabinet status, underlined his power by beating up Nazarat Deputy Collector R.K. Gupta with sandals. The crime: he failed to feed Koda's army of supporters during an official tour.

Given the penchant of his ministers to bring down governments, Chief Minister Arjun Munda is unlikely to reprimand the panchayati minister.

Powerless

When the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd suspended two engineers for their failure to collect dues from consumers, the employees' unions retaliated swiftly: they launched a drive against VVIP defaulters. It caught many a bigwig by surprise. Former chief minister Ram Prakash Gupta was at his Mall Road residence when the officials landed and snapped the wires-he had run up bills of Rs 2.02 lakh. He was in exalted company-former chief ministers N.D. Tiwari and Kalyan Singh have arrears of Rs 5.7 lakh and Rs 2.8 lakh, and several former ministers and MLAs have dues ranging from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 11 lakh.

Some like Mulayam Singh Yadav quickly coughed up the Rs 3 lakh that he owed to avert a disconnection. Tiwari, who has not paid his power bills for five years, is in no hurry since he is comfortably ensconced in the chief minister's bungalow in Dehradun.

CONFESSIONAL

Vidya Charan Shukla The Congress veteran who has decided to join the NCP

Q. Is your decision to quit the Congress final?
A. Yes. I have considered the political situation both in Chhattisgarh and the country and have concluded that the Congress under its present dispensation will not be able to deliver what it did for five decades after Independence. I reached this decision after much soul searching.

Q. Does it have anything to do with your strained equation with Sonia Gandhi and her nominee in the state, Ajit Jogi?
A. I don't believe in personal attacks. Although I do disagree with what Jogi has done. He was thrust upon the people of Chhattisgarh. Had he won the last election from Shahdol, he would have been an MP from Madhya Pradesh. He has lived most of his life in Indore and Delhi and has no grounding in either Chhattisgarh's political or its social life.

Q. But how will joining the NCP help your cause? What happened to the Chhattisgarh Sangharsh Parishad you had launched?
A. The Parishad is a social organisation and for the elections we need a political platform. The NCP has carried forward the true ideology of the Congress. During my several meetings with my old friends, there was unanimity in our views.

Q. What will be your future programme?
A. Right now I will focus on strengthening the NCP in the state. The response of the youth and farmers has been overwhelming. That is a reflection of the extent of discontent with the Jogi Government. The people are looking for an alternative and the NCP will provide that.

Q. How many seats will you contest and will there be any understanding with the BJP?
A. We will contest all 90 seats, but have not ruled out seat adjustments.

— Neeraj Mishra