HOUSE PROUD: Vora has official bungalows in four cities

The perks of political office can turn corporate czars green with envy. Especially if you are a politician in Chhattisgarh. You can claim privileges in both Bhopal and Raipur. Take Congress Treasurer Motilal Vora, who has more houses than a tombola game. He has fully furnished official bungalows in Delhi, Bhopal, Rajnandgaon and Raipur owing to his various avatars as MP and as former chief minister. Vora also has the option of staying in the VIP suites in the Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Bhavans in Delhi as former governor, former chief minister and possible future chief minister of these states.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress heavyweight Shyamacharan Shukla continues to occupy the sprawling bungalow on Shyamala Hills in Bhopal-needless to say, he also has a bungalow in Delhi as a Lok Sabha member.

The new state of Chhattisgarh is yet to command the exclusive loyalty of its representatives. Former home minister Charandas Mahant has official addresses in Bhopal and Delhi besides a host of other former ministers who continue to occupy government houses in Bhopal while technically representing Chhattisgarh.

They would do well to draw some inspiration from V.C. Shukla and Ajit Jogi who immediately gave up their official accommodation in Madhya Pradesh soon after Chhattisgarh came into existence.

Hot Address

For some reason, Gurdwara Rakabganj Road in Delhi is the most desired address of Ambika Soni, political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in January 2000, she has revived her interest in the bungalow at 6 G.R. Road. Despite protests of the current occupant, Datta Meghe of the NCP, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Dr Manmohan Singh put in a word for Soni. What makes 6 GRR special are the renovations carried out by Meghe's party colleague and Mumbai businessman, Mukesh Patel, who died last year.

Soni's detractors-who have been alleging that she is weakening the Congress in Kerala and Chhattisgarh to strengthen NCP leader Sharad Pawar-however, have put a different spin on the episode: Pawar occupies the adjacent house. Another point to be noted: Priyanka Vadra uses 34 GRR as constituency office for the people of Amethi.

CONFESSIONAL

Arvind Trivedi The new chairman of the Central Board for Film Certifications

Q. You played Ravana in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana. Now you want to be Ram. How will you succeed?
A. You should have the will to implement your ideas. You have to be honest. Where there is a will, there is always a way.

Q. How are your views different from those of your predecessor Vijay Anand?
A. I want to put a full stop to what he stood for. He wanted soft-porn films to be shown in special theatres. Public entertainment has to be healthy and that simply wasn't.

Q. How are you going about your job?
A. There is no love without fear. The fear of the CBFC-which had vanished-has to be restored in the minds of filmmakers. I am giving moral support to my officials so that they are under no pressure from anybody. We have also involved detective agencies to check on interpolations.

Q. Do the laws need to be amended to check obscenity?
A. The existing laws are enough. It is their implementation that has to be tightened. But TV channels beaming obscenity should be monitored. If that isn't possible, they should be banned.

Q. Won't banning channels be seen as an assault on the freedom of expression and creativity?
A. Even Singapore does it. Is it not a liberal country? We are not trying to encourage burqa (veil) culture. We are checking obscenity. The Indian ethos has to be respected.

Q. What new steps have you taken?
A. We have started a CBFC website where we provide space for expression of public opinion. I want to create public awareness about the ill-effects of obscenity. I want to carry the people with me in my drive. I want to draw a thick line between modernity and obscenity.

-Uday Mahurkar