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Regional buzz: Of dirty job for Haryana babus, CM’s Lambi rally, and more
Keeping tabs on power politics in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K.
Flooded with fat!
Dirty job for Haryana babus, cops
Haryana IAS and IPS officers have been given a new task by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. And this one really stinks. Khattar has asked over 40 of the top officers to ensure that the entire fresh and previously accumulated solid waste and gobar is collected and disposed far away from at least one village before October 2. This has to be done with people’s participation. The officers have also been directed to upload the photographs of this special campaign on a website and write a brief report. The obsession of the BJP government to indulge in such theatrics, however, has not gone down well with the bureaucrats. “Is this what the government wanted from its senior officers? Such publicity stunts are best left to ruling party politicians. Would the presence of a senior IAS officer generate civic sense amongst people?’’ was the majority view. The government had allocated 47 blocks to IAS and IPS officers for improving infrastructure and services after last year’s Chintan Shivir. Those who sang paeans must be seriously introspecting now.
Flooded with fat!
Punjab IAS officer Kahan Singh Pannu who is leading the Tandarust Mission and cracking down on food adulteration, has at least two dozen containers of desi ghee of different brands in his office. “The containers have been sent to me by people saying these are all adulterated. I can’t have their quality checked because there is no apparatus available with the state government. We will get a machine soon to check desi ghee,” he said. Till then, the ghee containers are giving him “inspiration to fight food adulteration”. What a way to get inspired!
The big question in AAP: Who will blink first
Blame it on political posturing or bloated egos. Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leadership and the rebel legislators have been repeatedly declaring they do not want the party to break and will hold peace talks. But both sides want the other group to make the first move. Though the AAP state leaders, including leader of opposition Harpal Singh Cheema and state unit co-president Balbir Singh, have talked about the unity efforts, Bholath MLA Sukhpal sKhaira, who heads the dissident camp, says no one from the party has contacted them till now. “All this talk of unity is only in newspapers or on television channels,” he said. Khaira constituted a five-member committee on Tuesday for talks to sort things out. But that hasn’t helped. A state union leader also said they are still to be approached by the dissident group’s panel. What remains to be seen is which side blinks first.
Congress leaders pin big hopes on CM’s Lambi rally
Punjab Congress leaders never miss any opportunity to voice their discontent over “lack of say”. When the chief minister’s political secretary Sandeep Sandhu visited Lambi on Saturday to discuss preparations for the October 7 rally, several district leaders told him they feel ignored in the constituency as no one listens to them. Sandhu, in a bid to pacify them, assured he will raise the issue in front of the chief minister. Now, Congress leaders are hoping that things will change after the CM’s rally as he is visiting Lambi for the first time after contesting the assembly election last year.
Rs 37 have changed my life: Ramoowalia
Balladeer-turned-politician Balwant Singh Ramoowalia met five-time former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal the other day. When Badal asked him how things were at his end, Ramoowalia said that a sum of Rs 37 had changed his life. “I spent Rs 12 in getting my name deleted from the voter list in Moga (Punjab) and spent another Rs 25 in getting my name entered as a voter in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). And, it revived my political career. Then, I asked him about what he gained after a huge expenditure in the 2017 assembly polls,” he said, recalling his meeting with the Akali leader. Ramoowalia had left the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in 2015 to join the Samajwadi Party and become jails minister in the Akhilesh Yadav government in UP.
Khattar in pious mode
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar appears to be on a religious trips spree these days. He went to Vaishno Devi temple and later laid the foundation stone of a school at Nowshera, Jammu, to be constructed by Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Educational Trust. Last week, he performed 48 km parikrama at pilgrimages in Karnal, but his refusal to visit a gurdwara there after its management refused to remove Khalistan ideologue Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s portrait evoked criticism from some quarters. A day later, he visited Dera Kar Seva in Karnal to pay his obeisance. Surely, we will hear more about such visits during the festival season.
Hooda’s breakfast buffet for journos
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is known for not being a great newsmaker. At a recent press conference, Hooda played the perfect host by treating the journalists to a lavish breakfast spread. That was before he even started addressing the reporters. Once done eating the sumptuous feast, Hooda quickly listed out couple of issues he wanted to speak about, leaving a lot for the journalists to ask. But by then almost everyone had given up. Discussion on spongy rasgullas and a Palwal delicacy and speculations on electoral prospects of every party remained the only high points of the rendezvous.
When Anurag was caught on a sticky wicket
Cricket administrator-turned-politician Anurag Thakur was caught on a sticky wicket the other day when an elderly constituent asked the young MP why it took so long for him to visit the area. In a video circulated on social media, Thakur is seen pacifying the retired Sanskrit teacher by listing his engagements, including trips abroad and within the country. As a supporter of Thakur urges him to bless the MP, ‘Shastriji’ cites the example of a housewife who toils till late night but never complains or refuses chores. Thakur perhaps learnt his lesson.
Satti takes a jibe at LOP Agnihotri
Himachal politicians were known for maintaining dignity while hitting out at opponents, but not any longer. BJP state president Satpal Singh Satti, while taking a jibe at leader of opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, raked up his past. “He (Agnihotri) drowned the newspaper he once worked with. Now, it is the turn of Himachal Congress,” he said, making a reference to the LOP’s journalistic background.
Ram Madhav trains guns on Rahul
After Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s onslaught on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav last week took him on. He said the BJP initially thought the Congress would also run away from civic polls like NC and PDP and their decision to contest was a welcome step. “But it has a negative agenda. Yeh HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) ke andar mobile phones banwane wali party hai. Yeh party ke neta yahan chunav larh karke issi prakar ke hi promises karenge… BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) mein se aapko potato chips bana denge aur HAL mein Se mobile phones bana lenge. Aise promises Jammu mein bhi karte honge,” he said in his unique accent to guffaws, adding that there were no takers for such politics.
(Gurpreet Singh Nibber, Navneet Sharma, Sarbmeet Singh, Hitender Rao, Rajesh Moudgil, Naresh K Thakur, Ravi K Khajuria)
