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Regional buzz: Of Punjab Police’s new power centre and Khaira’s twitter rant after poll results
Keeping tabs on power politics in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K:
Keeping tabs on power politics in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and J&K:
Dressed to chill!
When it comes to dressing sense, the young generation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) seems totally different from old guard. At a press conference in Chandigarh last week, SAD’s two Young Turks, Bikram Majithia and Parminder Dhindsa, came wearing jeans and white T-shirts. In contrast, senior leaders Maheshinder Grewal and Daljeet Cheema, the main speakers at the press meet, were in traditional white cotton kurta-pyjama. When in Chandigarh, Majithia and Dhindsa are often in jeans with smart shirts or T-shirts.
MP Khalsa firm on stand
The Aam Aadmi Party’s attempts to reach out to ousted or suspended leaders have not gone as planned. Though the AAP is making a desperate reconciliation bid, they appear to be in no mood to let bygones be bygones. “It is a nautanki party (one full of theatrics). I don’t want to have anything to do with it. They stand exposed in front of me. I was the first one to point out the attempts of ‘outsiders’ to run the party in Punjab,” suspended AAP MP from Fatehgarh Sahib Harinder Singh Khalsa said without mincing words. A former diplomat, the MP, who was suspended from the primary membership of the AAP three years ago for alleged indiscipline, is in no mood to patch up with the leadership. Though he is clear about contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Khalsa is keeping his cards close to his chest. He was at a three-day lecture series organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Delhi last week. Only time will tell if that’s a pointer to a new political association!
Khaira’s twitter rant after poll results
Rebel AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira was quick to give his reaction, as always, to rural poll results on Saturday that saw a Congress sweep. “Its the victory of gross misuse of government machinery at your disposal just like what Badals did in the last 10 yrs when you cried foul! At least you know you’ve honoured no promise! Its actually Jiski Lathi Uski Bhains (Might is right) (sic),” he tweeted, tagging chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh. At the same time, Khaira, who stayed away from the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, in another post, said: “Total rout of @AAPPunjab is a clear signal by Punjabi’s that they’ll not be dictated by Delhi and a loud message for local ‘Subedars’ of Delhi to stand by the aspirations of the people of PB and shun so called ‘High Command’ culture (sic).” You can’t have your cake and eat it too, the old cliché goes.
Punjab Police’s new power centre
Punjab special task force (STF) chief Mohd Mustafa is back at the state police headquarters located in Sector 9 of Chandigarh. Though the STF has been allotted one floor for its officers in intelligence wing’s office in Mohali, the 1985-batch director general (DG) rank officer, who was out of main postings in the last 12 years, has got himself an office on ground floor of the police building that houses offices of most top cops in the state and is, therefore, the epicentre of power struggles in the force. The office was earlier occupied by Siddharth Chattopadhyaya who is now DG, power corporation, at Patiala. Mustafa is likely to be a new power centre in the police force because of his equation with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and being one of the leading contenders for the DGP’s post. The present incumbent, DGP Suresh Arora, is on three-month extension in service.
SAD, Congress caught in picture war
After hurling allegations, leaders of the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab waged a picture war last week to target each other. Akali Dal national spokesman Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday released a photo purportedly showing local government minister Navjot Sidhu bowing before Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. He then released a photo of Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar purportedly seeking the dera head’s blessings. “What is the reality of these pictures? People want to know the truth,” he asked the two Congress leaders. Jakhar, who has backed Sidhu on his Pakistan trip and the Kartarpur Sahib issue, hit back at the SAD top leaders at his press conference by flashing a photo purportedly of former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal along with his brother-in-law Bikram Majithia “savouring gol gappe” in Pakistan during their visit in 2012. “Sidhu made efforts for opening the Kartarpur corridor. They never tried for it,” he alleged. Who knows what the two sides will come up with next in this engaging fight ahead of the 2019 parliamentary polls? A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.
Punjab Police’s flip-flop
Punjab Police had to eat humble pie after putting checks on “easy entry” of mediapersons visiting its state headquarters. Like all other “common visitors”, they were told to complete formalities and get a pass made each time they visit the building. Taking umbrage, reporters condemned the move. One of them even wrote to Press Council of India, calling it “censorship”. However, the DGP’s office reversed the order. Now, all accredited journalists of Punjab will have “easy entry”. A similar move, according to some senior scribes, was initiated a few years back too, but to be withdrawn.
The clock is ticking for Haryana DGP
With just five working days left in the month, the proposal for grant of extension in service to Haryana director general of police (DGP) BS Sandhu is becoming a close call. The state home department recently committed a gaffe by ordering Sandhu’s retirement despite sending a proposal for his extension to the Central government. The retirement order was withdrawn later. Officials are confident that Sandhu’s extension orders will be approved in the coming five days. However, many feel that the matter needs to be pursued vigorously at the top most level. Fingers crossed!
Governor’s gyan to Congress leaders
Haryana governor Satyadeo Narain Arya found it an apt opportunity to exhort Congress leaders who had come to submit a memorandum against the BJP government last week to work against social evils. When the Congress delegation led by state president Ashok Tanwar submitted the memorandum against the “failure” of the Manohar Lal Khattar government to check a spate of heinous crimes against women, Arya gave them gyan. He asked them to rise above party politics and work against social evils. The matter did not end here. The government also issued an official press release.
(Contributed by Ravinder Vasudeva, Navneet Sharma, Hitender Rao and Rajesh Moudgil)
