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Last-minute Entry Delhi: The BJP's
surprise find for the Speaker's post -- G.M.C. Balayogi of the TDP -- almost missed the
bus. The Hyderabad-Delhi flight was delayed by 30 minutes. Fortunately, BJP General
Secretary Pramod Mahajan was present at the airport and he rushed Balayogi to Parliament
just two minutes before nominations for the coveted post closed. And even as he filed his
papers, everyone was keen to know a lot more of the man. Well, he was first elected to the
10th Lok Sabha, but the then Speaker, Shivraj Patil, does not remember him participating
in any debate. According to his bio-data though, Balayogi has made a significant
contribution in his home state, Andhra Pradesh. The 46-year-old former district munsif of
Kakinada takes credit for providing 1,389 jobs to unemployed teachers and legal heirs of
deceased government employees. Well, not a whole lot to speak about, yet.
Consensus Calling
Delhi: The
election verdict and the post-poll developments seem to have left a bitter taste among
many parties. The churlishness reached its zenith with the Samajwadi Party boycotting the
swearing-in ceremony of the BJP Government and the CPI(M) being omitted from the list of
invitees. However, amidst such acrimony there was still room for some civility. The
evening after she took oath, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj surprised
her predecessor S. Jaipal Reddy with an unexpected visit to his residence to seek his
advice. Similarly, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha -- after a quick trip to the RSS
headquarters -- called on not one but two predecessors, P. Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh.
Hopefully, this "consensual approach" will be the feature of this Lok Sabha.
Pakistan Connection
Ahmedabad:
Gujarat's woes with underworld gangs seem to be never ending. Last week, the state police
gunned down six Mumbai-based gangsters after a shoot-out in the Muslim-dominated Dariapur
area. The police recovered 10 kg of RDX, 39 hand-grenades, half a dozen pistols and two
AK-47 rifles from the dead who, they believe, were connected to mafia dons Chhota Shakeel
and Dawood Ibrahim.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the gangsters were
working on the directions of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Apparently,
their orders were to trigger blasts in the city, like it was done in Coimbatore and
Mumbai. The police are also working on the theory that the gang had another motive: to
kill senior police officers. "A timely tip-off helped us avert a big calamity,"
says Ahmedabad DCP Satish Varma. For Gujarat, it was a close brush with the ISI's
machinations.
Playing Safe
Ahmedabad: Chief
Minister Keshubhai Patel has never relied so much on astrology as he is doing now. First,
he was hurriedly sworn in on March 4, soon after the assembly poll results were out,
because the week-long inauspicious period called holastak commenced the next day. As soon
as holastak ended, a 28-member ministry was sworn in on the lone auspicious day -- which,
incidentally, was Holi -- that fell between holastak and another 10-day inauspicious
period called kmorata. Expectedly, the new Government did not take any important decisions
during this period. Keshubhai's new-found faith in astrology is not without reason. After
all, it was during the holastak period in 1995 that Keshubhai got himself sworn in as
chief minister against the advice of pandits. And in less than seven months, BJP rebel
Shankersinh Vaghela and his band of MLAs had forced Keshubhai to step down.
Learning the Ropes
Chandigarh: If
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal excels in flitting around in the state
helicopter, his prodigal son Sukhbir too is fast learning the tricks of state craft. On
cloud nine after he was inducted into the Vajpayee Cabinet following papa's last-minute
telephonic sifarish (recommendation) from the US where Badal is undergoing treatment,
Sukhbir was deputed to cajole defiant Akali MP from Tarn Taran Prem Singh Lalpura who,
irked over being denied a cabinet berth, refused to resign from the assembly seat. Badal
junior clubbed his political mission with a pilgrimage to the Golden Temple to make the
sortie an official one. It's a different matter that Lalpura ticked off Sukhbir and stuck
to his guns till the end, embarrassing the Akali-BJP combine.
Same Old Game
Chandigarh: The
Congress' Punjab unit refuses to learn its lessons. Following the humiliating defeat in
the Lok Sabha elections, the party has drawn up a list of priorities -- but improving its
image is not one of them. For the dissidents, including former chief minister Harcharan
Singh Brar, the answer lies in removing state party chief and Sitaram Kesri acolyte
Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. And what could the infighting cost the party? For one, the
panchayat elections due soon.
It was Kesri's removal from the AICC chief's post that set
the ball rolling. Brar was quick to organise the increasing pack of Bhattal's detractors,
including more than a dozen former ministers and at least nine of the party's 13 MLAs. As
for Bhattal, while she had initially offered to resign as PCC chief -- she is also the
leader of the Congress Legislature Party -- she did a volte face after the party's poll
debacle and instead blamed large-scale rigging. In a tactical move to take the steam out
of the dissidents' campaign, she has set up a five-member panel to look into the reasons
for the party's dismal performance.
For now, the two sides are trading charges, with Bhattal
claiming that a few "disgruntled elements" have ganged up against her. However,
her detractors say that she is definitely on the way out. As for the Congress, its
troubles in the state seem to have only begun.
Model Constituency
Lucknow: Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's constituency is being given a fresh coat of paint. The
entire state machinery has been mobilised for the beautification drive, to be completed
before Vajpayee lands in the Uttar Pradesh capital after winning the vote of confidence.
State Public Works Department Minister Kalraj Mishra personally inspected broken roads and
ordered immediate repair. And Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon declared that
Lucknow would resemble Mumbai. So, road dividers and hoardings are being painted anew and
saplings planted on both sides of roads which now glow under powerful sodium bulbs. But
what seems to be bothering Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is the deteriorating law and order
situation in the VVIP constituency. If the electoral promise of a fearless society is not
fulfilled in his constituency, how will Vajpayee do it for the nation?
Sky-rocketing Bills
Srinagar: Jammu
and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's penchant for hobnobbing with national leaders
across the country is well known. He is seen in Delhi in the morning, in Mumbai in the
afternoon and back in Jammu in the evening. What is not known, however, is the price the
state's Civil Aviation Department is paying to keep up with its city-hopping chief
minister. The department has already shelled out Rs 22.17 crore to purchase an aircraft
(Rs 17.82 crore) and a helicopter (Rs 4.35 crore) for Farooq's use since he took over as
the chief minister on October 9, 1996. Apart from the sky-rocketing aviation bill,
Farooq's frequent flying habit has drawn criticism from his opponents in the Valley. Some
have dubbed him the "non-resident chief minister". This criticism would be much
sharper if one were to account for the fuel and other related costs of the chief
minister's jaunts. But the state Law Minister P.L. Handoo refuses to divulge details.
"In the prevailing security scenario, it improves the efficiency of the chief
minister's services," justifies Handoo. Does it improve the efficiency of the
administration? That's another question.
Riding in Comfort
Calcutta: The
city's taxis are getting into top gear. In what promises to be one of the best things to
have happened to Calcutta's commuters, on offer are air-conditioned taxis. Apart from the
comfort that this could offer in the city's congested streets, the move, courtesy the
biggest union of cab owners in the city, could apply the brakes on the number of
fare-related complaints.
"Taxis had become unpopular among citizens because they
were generally unavailable. This was caused by the owners' refusal to ply them as fares
were low. It was far more economical to keep them locked in garages," says Kalyan
Bhadra, leader of the union. Now he hopes value-added services will benefit the people and
the owners. The move is backed by state Transport Minister Suhas Chakravorty, who flagged
off Calcutta's first air-conditioned taxi last week. Cynics,however, are quick to point
out that earlier innovations on similar lines, albeit on a smaller scale, have failed. The
Government is hoping that the results will be different this time.
Negative Gain
Mumbai: As
budgets go, the Maharashtra budget for 1998-99 is high on financial jugglery and low on
direction. Into its third year now and assailed by criticisms of non-performance, the Shiv
Sena-BJP Government, many believed, would pull itself up with the budget. Instead, the Rs
11,600 crore budget has little to offer to anyone.New tax levied on, among other items,
liquor served in four- and five-star hotels, tobacco and branded flour is expected to
fetch the treasury Rs 600 crore -- this will go a long way in reducing the fiscal deficit
of Rs 846.29 crore. Finance Minister Mahadev Shivankar is confident that the deficit can
be further pruned to Rs 46.29 crore by the end of the year. However, what worries
bureaucrats and analysts is the Rs 5,221 crore revenue deficit -- a new high for
Maharashtra. Clearly, the Government is spending far more than what it is earning.
Following on the heels of the Lok Sabha election rout, the
budget was expected to offer sops to alienated sections of the Shiv Sena-bjp alliance. The
only exception accorded was a Rs 1,100 crore special package for the backward Vidarbha and
Marathwada regions, where the combine suffered major reversals. With the state economic
survey painting a dismal picture, particularly about shrinking foodgrain production, it
seems the going will only get tougher for the Government. "It's quite a balanced
budget," says Shivankar. If only everyone could believe that. |
