Delhi: Masked Views

BJP General Secretary K.N. Govindacharya probably did not expect any controversy when he met officials of the British High Commission recently. Sections of the media published "transcripts" of the conversation, in which Govindacharya reportedly told the Britons, among other things, that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was merely a "mask" who mattered very little in the party's scheme of things. There were also uncharitable references to party chief L.K. Advani. Though rare in the BJP, such remarks have come in the past too, particularly when the party was in the midst of organisational elections, as it is now. Both Govindacharya and the high commission have termed the reports as "complete fabrications", but one of the articles happens to be authored by Bhanu Pratap Shukla, a former editor of the RSS mouthpiece Panchajanya. Once close to all these leaders, Shukla is now persona non grata in the BJP.

Lucknow: Warding off Evil

Lucknow: Whatever the stars may foretell, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is serious about completing his six-month term under the rotational arrangement between the bjp and the bsp. As it is, he had to take over the reins on September 21 during Pitra Paksha, a fortnight of the lunar month considered inauspicious by Hindus. Despite pressure from party colleagues to give a month's extension to Mayawati to let the bad period pass, Singh was unwilling to take chances with his unpredictable predecessor. Soon after taking over, he performed a puja -- a low-key affair at his government-allotted house, where he has built a small temple. Apparently, Singh performed puja throughout Pitra Paksha to ward of any ill-effects of an "inauspicious" start. And it was only on October 2, when the auspicious Navratra period commenced, that he moved to his official residence on Kalidas Marg.

Hyderabad: Cops as Robbers

For all his talk of a better and efficient administration, N. Chandrababu Naidu's own CMO (chief minister's office) seems to have slipped up on transparency and training, two of his pet catchwords. The scandal follows the recent discovery that a member of his security, now under suspension, had drawn allowances twice and misappropriated funds, taking even his colleagues for a ride. Officials were embarrassed to find that a majority of the 25-odd securitymen had been with the CMO for over three years. Even chief ministers since 1989 had not lasted that long in office. Worse still, none assigned to protect Naidu had attended any retraining programme in the past two years. The result: all except two chief security officers were given marching orders to their parent battalions.

Ahmedabad: Take Three

Even the dignified office of the governor seems to have fallen for the charm and glamour of the electronic media. Take the case of Gujarat Governor Krishna Pal Singh, who ended up paying a triple tribute to the Father of the Nation on October 2. Singh and his family arrived at the Sabarmati Ashram, paid their respects and just as the governor was signing the visitor's book on his way out, a Doordarshan team appeared and requested him to re-enact the scene. Singh and family willingly obliged, offering floral tributes for a second time for camera's sake. There was one glitch though: the lights weren't switched on. Singh didn't mind the third request either. Not surprising, considering that Singh had earned the label of a "political governor" within months of taking office in Gujarat last year.

Guwahati: Animal Instinct

When Maneka's ark set sail from the remote North-east last week, it left in its wake bewildered ministers, harassed forest officials and bemused animals. Leading a team of MPs to Guwahati during the Wildlife Week, Maneka Gandhi's first visit was to the zoo. There, screaming at decibels far above the howling of caged gibbons, she decided to do away with the zoo altogether. "Set all the animals free," she ordered the keepers imperiously. But when she realised that it would mean setting six clouded leopards, 27 leopard cats, several tigers, hundreds of monkeys (among many other species) free to roam the city streets, she settled for a few hill mynahs. After the birds had flown, some officials (at the risk of being caged) told her that hill mynahs are forest birds and the centre of a city is hardly the place to release them. To which madam Gandhi, author of books on wildlife and a self-proclaimed mine of information on fauna of all kind, barked: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Ignorance? Surely not -- just genuine concern for animals. Zoo officials say the mynahs will probably come back. They just hope Maneka doesn't.

Chandigarh: Truth Will Out

Akali stalwart G.S. Tohra has left even his followers aghast -- and his party red-faced -- by publicly admitting to having murdered a Muslim during the Partition riots. Tohra's startling confession of having stabbed a fleeing Muslim refugee to death at the Sirhind railway station was in response to an allegation by his protege turned foe, Union Welfare Minister

Balwant Singh Ramoowalia. Ironically, Ramoowalia's source of this hitherto classified information was none other than Tohra himself. During the Akali agitation of the early '80s, both were interned in a Punjab jail where the sgpc chief had reportedly boasted about his "killer instinct". Now that the two are sworn enemies, Ramoowalia has spilled the beans. Though Tohra has admitted it was an act committed in the heat of the moment, his critics have been quick to demand that he pay for his past deed. Captain Amarinder Singh, scion of the former princely state of Patiala, has threatened to move court as the site of the crime was part of his erstwhile kingdom.

Thiruvananthapuram: Trump Card

Who said credit cards are meant only for the rich? Not in Kerala anyway. A new credit card, the Agri-Card, has been launched exclusively for poor farmers in the state. Unlike other cards, the farmers have to pay only half the usual interest rate on the Agri-Card.

The state Government's innovative scheme, to be implemented through the state Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp), will enable a poor farmer to avail of loans up to Rs 10,000 from the Canara Bank at a subsidised interest rate of 6.5 per cent. the remaining 6 per cent interest would be paid by Horticorp for which the state government has deposited Rs 2 crore with the bank. The only condition is that the farmer should own at least five cents of land and grow vegetables.

"Agri-Card is one of our many schemes to make the state self-reliant in vegetables," says state agriculture minister Krishnan Kaniyamparambil. Kerala produces only six lakh tonnes of vegetables a year against the demand for 13 lakh tonnes. The state's vegetable growers have still more reasons to smile as the State Bank of India too has decided to join the card scheme -- even willing to forgo the state Government's contribution.

Patna: Extending Help

Giving extensions to "pliable" bureaucrats no longer makes news in Bihar. But even by the state's fallen standards, the third six-month extension given to State Police Chief S.K. Saxena at the instance of the Prime Minister's Office (pmo) has caused much brouhaha. While most senior police officers are upset that it has adversely affected their promotion prospects, opposition leaders charge that Saxena got the extension because he plays an important role in propping up the enfeebled Rashtriya Janata Dal (rjd) Government. "The extension proves that Prime Minister Gujral is Laloo Prasad Yadav's protector," says bjp President L.K. Advani.

Sources say Chief Minister Rabri Devi, Laloo's wife, and rjd Working President Ranjan Prasad Yadav had to seek Gujral's personal intervention after Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta turned down the state Government's proposal to grant Saxena an extension. Laloo had earlier petitioned the pmo from his prison ward at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna. At the same time, Rabri Devi also sought the help of Congress President Sitaram Kesri. "Nothing better can be expected from a prime minister who uses brave words to streamline administration but does not have the courage to say no to the corrupt," says Janata Dal leader Laxmi Sahu. If anything, the entire episode is a reflection of the degradation of the political system in Bihar.

Chandigarh: Friendly Favour

When Parkash Singh Badal took over as Punjab chief minister in February, he had promised a corruption- and nepotism-free government. But eight months down the line, his actions are proving that keeping it is another matter. The recent appointment of Justice (retd) Harbans Singh Rai, a close friend of the Badals, as the state's Lok Pal has exposed the chief minister to charges of favouring his buddies. "The justice Justice Rai dispenses would be as per Badal's wishes," charges Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh. Although pcc chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal was party to the choice of the Lok Pal, Congressmen are worried that sgpc chief G.S. Tohra's repeated threats to put them behind bars for corruption may come true.

Mumbai: Differing Versions

With music director Nadeem Saifee, prime suspect in the Gulshan Kumar murder case, out of the immediate reach of the Mumbai Police, investigating officers closed the net around Gulshan's business rival Ramesh Taurani last weekend. Taurani, owner of Tips Audio, was arrested after his driver Selvaraj told the police that he was witness to Taurani handing over Rs 25 lakh to a hawala agent close to mafia don Abu Salem in Nadeem's presence. Officers claim Taurani's arrest follows the investigation line that rival music companies were involved and they have now "solved 75 per cent of the case". Pradeep Vakil of Vatsa Music and Praveen Shah of Time Audio are likely to be interrogated soon. Shah's elder brother Dhirubhai, arrested for fera violations, was questioned last week in the Gulshan case.

Taurani's arrest, however, reveals inconsistencies in the police version. For instance, the police initially claimed that the murder was plotted at a star-nite party in Dubai on June 12, but now say it was planned in May this year. Also, the "supari" (contract killing) amount varies from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. "To take the case to its logical end, Nadeem's interrogation is imperative," says L.R. Rao, assistant commissioner of police. With that a distant possibility, the case will take a while to conclude.

Bhopal: Open Issue

For the Madhya Pradesh Government, it was a giant step in its ambitious project to exploit diamond deposits in the state. On October 10, it floated tenders inviting bids from international conglomerates to mine 11 blocks of 5,000 sq km each, mainly in the mineral-rich Raipur and Bastar areas.The project is expected to net the state Government Rs 1,000 crore a year.

Though several companies from Australia, Canada and the US have shown interest in the venture, to be undertaken jointly with the MP State Mineral Development Corporation, officials are keeping their fingers crossed on a bid by De Beers, which controls three-fourths of the total diamond trade in the world. De Beers is averse to the idea of an open auction in India as all its diamonds are sold through the London-based Central Selling Organisation. "There's no going back on the conditions mentioned in the tender document," says a state mining official.

To ensure that allegations of corruption don't resurface, the tender documents will be opened within two hours of the deadline, on November 25, and processed by the public-sector Metallurgical Engineering Corporation. After all, it was following months of studies abroad and negotiations with opposition leaders that the state Government got to float the tenders.

Hyderabad: No Pipe Dream

It is nothing short of a miracle -- even non-believers of Sathya Sai Baba would agree with this. The Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust's (sssct) unique scheme to provide water to 731 villages in the dry Anantapur district has benefited over 11 lakh people in 670 villages in less than three years. Another 1.5 lakh people will gain when the remaining 61 villages are covered by November-end. All this at an incredibly low Rs 250 crore.

"Never has a project of this magnitude been executed in such a short time," says R. Kondala Rao, technical consultant to the Andhra Pradesh Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department. sssct got Larsen and Toubro to lay about 2,000 km of pipelines, build sumps, construct reservoirs and instal cisterns. Last week, the sssct handed over charge to the newly created Sri Sathya Sai Water Supply Board with the district collector as chairman. Clearly, this sort of synergy is bound to better the lives of Anantapur's people.

Ahmedabad: Sound Service

It was a classic case of the West meeting the East. Last week, feather-clad foreign-based Gujarati girls danced in a procession through the city's streets while their male counterparts, attired in the hallmark British band dress with a plume on the headgear, played the band in true western style. The occasion was the silver jubilee celebration of the formation of the Maninagar branch of the Swaminarayan sect (one of the four which follows the teachings of the 19th century social reformer Swami Sahajhanand). Over 25,000 foreign participants were part of more than 1 lakh people who descended on Ahmedabad for the 11-day fete.

The late Swami Muktijivandasji, who formed the new sect 25 years ago, had called upon his followers in London and Nairobi to set up bands. As a result, his London-based followers set up the Muktijivan Band, which plays on special occasions (including Princess Diana's funeral) in Britain. What is unusual is that the band players are all businessmen. The fete, however, wasn't just a merry-making affair. It had a social angle too. Two seminars, on environment and de-addiction, were organised. The funds-flush sect also addressed the water problem in Kutch -- many followers are Kutchhis settled abroad -- and other dry areas of Gujarat. Says the sect's present head Purshottam Priyadasji: "We believe in converting the devotees' religious fervour into positive action for the society." Religion with a difference?

Chandigarh: Brittle Peace

The Delhi High Court's recent order cancelling the bail of Ranjit Singh, the jathedar of the Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs), could not have come at a more inopportune moment for the ruling Akali Dal in Punjab. The court directive has struck a discordant note among Sikhs at a time when the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) is preparing to accord a grand reception to Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister I.K. Gujral during their visits to the state on October 14 and 17 respectively.

It was after much lobbying by Akali leaders that Singh was granted bail in January last year, after serving 12 years of his life imprisonment as an accused in the murder of Nirankari chief Baba Gurbachan Singh in April 1980. He was appointed Akal Takht head in June 1990 by the sgpc mainly to appease Sikh hardliners. There is increasing pressure now on the Akalis to influence the Centre to withdraw the criminal cases against the jathedar and to amend the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 so that the Akal Takht chief becomes immune from prosecution. Says Sikh scholar J.S. Ahluwalia: "Ranjit Singh's rearrest may not only cast an aspersion on the revered status of the institution he heads but also strain the brittle peace in Punjab."

The only consolation for the Akalis is that the jathedar has hinted he will not defy the law. "The Government also wants to avoid a clash between the law and Sikh traditions," says Punjab Advocate-General G.S. Grewal. However, hardliners are biding their time to make the jathedar's rearrest an issue and put the Akalis on the mat.

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