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Newsnotes Delhi: Trading
Places
To the casual visitor, Raisina Hill may seem like an extension of Parliament House
these days: in this fluid climate, the most unlikely political rendezvous take place under
the high-roofed corridors of the President's house. The other day, Laloo Prasad Yadav was
in the capital, fresh from his release from jail and sporting a bright tilak on his
forehead. On his way in, he ran into Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was coming out after
meeting the President. Spotting Laloo's tilak, Vajpayee -- never the one to miss an
opportunity for a jab -- asked him if he had any plans to take up the Hindutva cause.
Laloo, equally quick on the draw, retorted that he didn't mind taking up the cause of
Hindutva if Vajpayeeji would consider taking up the cause of "Bihar's backwards and
minorities". Last heard, Vajpayee had not responded to Laloo's offer.
Delhi: Business with Pleasure
Gone are the days when politicians met industrialists by night in hotel rooms. At a
recent bash in Delhi, where Finance Minister P. Chidambaram gave away the Businessman of
the Year Award to Mukesh and Anil Ambani, the most unlikely people rubbed shoulders with
each other. Journalist and author Arun Shourie was there, so were Jitendra Prasada,
Congress vice-president, and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. Among top bureaucrats present
was Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who quipped that the meet was in keeping
with coalition politics. And the Ambanis even gave a speech on the importance of an
industrialist-government nexus. The dinner party over, the question remains: which
political party will get the moolah at the time of reckoning?
Delhi: Trust in the Family
It's all in the family now. When it comes to the various Nehru-Gandhi
trusts and foundations, Sonia Gandhi is neither silent nor enigmatic. She handpicks the
powerful and the mighty to head these institutions. And so it was no surprise, nor any
coincidence, that a Congress prime minister should be the chairperson of such trusts. But
recently, the lady of 10 Janpath decided she had no use for P.V. Narasimha Rao any more
and made herself the chairperson and daughter Priyanka a trustee of the Sanjay Gandhi
Memorial Trust. Little option, say other trustees, for gone are the days when the Congress
could take the prime ministership for granted.
Delhi: Dogged Pursuit
The ghosts of two canines, allegedly killed in the capital months ago, have come back
to hound the Delhi chapter of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),
which Maneka Gandhi chairs. Dealing with the twin complaints, Metropolitan Magistrate
Bharat Parashar observed last week that all was not well with the SPCA. "It appears
the entire entries (on purchase of medicine) in the registers have been made in a single
day and probably after they were summoned by this court." The comment seemed enough
to galvanise the SPCA into action. Three junior employees were suspended and two vets, one
of whom had forged his medical degree, were sacked. Maneka -- who has no role in the
day-to-day administration -- assured the magistrate that she would herself investigate the
SPCA, the state Government's animal care outfit.
Maneka's preliminary findings show that animal care is the last thing on the SPCA's
agenda. Half-a-dozen officials are under suspension. About five animal sheds are occupied
by retired officials. The secretary, M.S. Negi, an SDM, can rarely spare time to look into
SPCA's functioning. Maneka's requests to Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma to appoint
a full-time secretary has fallen on deaf ears. Maneka, who has no financial powers, argues
that the Government need not fund the SPCA -- current annual budget is about Rs 40 lakh --
if it is allowed to utilise the almost Rs 25,000 it earns every day through fines. As much
as the animals it is supposed to take care of, the SPCA itself needs a healing touch.
Mumbai: Humble Repartee
Former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda is getting better with his one-liners. In Mumbai
recently, he tried to make the best of a tight schedule, wearing his trademark bored look
most of the time. But during a packed news conference one woman startled the glum Deve
Gowda: "Why should women vote for your UF when you have let them down on the Women's
Reservation Bill?" Visibly offended, Deve Gowda thundered, "What do you mean
sister? I was the one who piloted the bill." And, no thank you, he doesn't want to
propose himself for the top job again. There was more: "Yes, I understand Hindi
better now but if you ask me to make a speech in Hindi, I'll probably run away." And
leave the field to I.K. Gujral with his perfect Urdu diction? Deve Gowda merely smiled.
Ahemdabad:Protege Turns Problematic
Indian politics is littered with stories of friends turning foes. The latest is being
scripted in Gujarat. When Shankersinh Vaghela was forced by the Congress to step down from
the chief ministership in October, the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) leader got his
confidant Dilip Parikh to fill the slot. But barely two months have passed and they have
already started working at cross purposes. Vaghela wants an immediate mid-term assembly
poll so that he can earn political mileage out of his decision to create 48 new talukas.
He is angling for about 40 seats, which he thinks would deny the BJP a clear majority and
turn him into a political kingmaker in a house of 182 MLAs. Parikh, on the other hand, is
dead against a mid-term poll, knowing well that it would mean relinquishing his chair.
Their differences have caused a vertical divide within the RJP, with the party wing keen
on early polls and the legislative wing led by Parikh opposing any such move. It is
unlikely to be a short story..
Bhopal: Slapping Partners
At this particular board meeting, the sparring went beyond the verbal. First, the
chairman slapped his managing director (MD). Then the MD attacked the chairman with shoes.
"In fact, I beat him up with his own shoes," bragged the MD of the Madhya
Pradesh Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Corporation, M.M. Dahima. Before hitting
each other, the two traded the choicest abuses in full view of the staff, who have since
gone on strike demanding the removal of the chairman, B.N. Satnami, a political appointee.
While the Government is yet to take any action against them, the corporation is closed,
and so are the branch offices.
The dispute arose when the chairman's request for a travel advance was turned down by
the MD, who claims he was going strictly by the rules. A snubbed Satnami then exercised
his "powers" by removing Dahima and putting a lock on his office chamber. When
Dahima asked the staff to break it open, the chairman used force to prevent them. Now
Satnami has filed a complaint against his MD with the Economic Offences Wing of the
police, alleging defalcation of funds. The MD has retaliated by threatening to file a
defamation case. For now, Round 1 has gone to Dahima, while Satnami cools his heels at
home -- minus the phone connection and the official car.
Jaipur: Administrative Lapse
It was a typical case of the authorities looking the other way -- till it got too late
to save the situation. Indeed, the Rajasthan Police and the state Government have only
themselves to blame for the fallout of last week's clashes between two Muslim groups in a
Jaipur locality -- the "unprovoked" firing by the police left six persons dead
and 74, including 34 policemen, injured.
The genesis of the violence lay in an innocuous issue: the alleged encroachment on a
burial ground by one group which had set up a liquor shop there, a case that had been
pending with the Waqf Board for years. On the afternoon of December 15, when the board
sent a team to survey the land, the encroachers chased the members away. When the police
tried to intervene, they too were attacked, prompting a lathicharge. And the authorities
left it at that -- a mistake that they would pay for.
By evening, Muslims of the area collected in large numbers, allegedly armed, and
resorted to violence. Taken by surprise, the police opened fire, resulting in the
casualties. Things were finally brought under control after curfew was declared and the
Army called in. The state Government, rather expectedly, reacted with condolences and
compensation, even ordering a judicial inquiry into the incident. "In retrospect, I
feel it was probably a deliberate attempt in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections,"
says a senior police officer. Considering that on the same day a Hindu-Muslim riot over an
eve-teasing incident was averted in the nick of time, the BJP Government cannot take
things for granted, especially in view of the coming elections.
Thiruvananthapuram: Graphic Debates
For a display of real concern in the state Assembly, it certainly was a spirited one.
During a rather monotonous debate on the Excise Amendment Bill, Congress legislator M.A.
Kuttappan took everyone by surprise when he pulled out two beer bottles from his handbag
to say that the beer supplied by the state-owned Beverages Corporation contained alcohol
in excess of the prescribed limit. This created pandemonium in the House and the Speaker
had to ask the watch and ward staff to remove and destroy the beer bottles. However,
Kuttappan, who was later admonished by the Speaker, is not the first to create such drama
in the Kerala Assembly. During an earlier session, a member had displayed marijuana to
illustrate its widespread cultivation and use.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Cost of Freedom
After three long years, Fauzia Hassan is getting her first taste of freedom. The
54-year-old Maldivian woman, an accused in the ISRO espionage case, was recently released
from Viyyur central prison following the expiry of her one-year detention under the
National Security Act. "I want to be in my country as early as possible and forget
India," she said. Not everyone is letting Hassan savour her freedom though. Her
lawyer has served her with a Rs 25 lakh bill -- for appearances in the courts and
organising favourable publicity for her. Forgetting India won't be easy. |
