Gujarat Confidential

Battle royale

Two of the five erstwhile kings of the tribal district of Dangs were upset when a forest officer allegedly misbehaved with them. Last week,they wrote to Chief Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the said officer. Apparently,king of Varsorna Dhanrajsinh Suryavanshi and king of Lingha Bhawarsinh Suryavanshi had gone to the office of District Forest officer Gangasharan Singh on Tuesday. Dhanrajsinh was appealing for an increase in manpower to save trees from getting smuggled and Bhawarsinh wanted documents verified to take a loan under Green Kisan Credit Scheme. Bhawarsingh said,“We want the government to take action against the DFO; he misbehaved and told us to get out of his office. We were insulted in front of our sewaks.” Gangasharan,on the other hand,said,“I have not misbehaved with any one. Bhawarsinh contacted me to get papers verified. After seeing the letter I told him that this was an official document and how did he get it. The kings gets permission of cutting 10 trees every five years. For cutting and other expenses they get loan under the Green Kisan Credit Scheme. In the letter kings have to mention value of timber trees. On the basis of our letter,banks give loan to kings and after cutting and auction process the loan amount is deposited in the bank. The value of timber seemed high so I told Bhawarsinh to come back the next day with documents. He misbehaved with me and went out of my office. The allegations made by Dhanrajsinh is baseless.”

Remembering martyr

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After its inauguration,the 976 metre-long flyover from Gujarat College to Vivekanand Bridge in Ahmedabad stands without a name. The Congress had suggested it be named after Vinod Kinariwala,the freedom fighter who was shot dead at the age of 18 during the Quit India movement. An existing memorial of Kinariwala in the city was inaugurated by Jayaprakash Narayan in 1947 at the Gujarat College.

Well prepared

Not only Narendra Modi,even the BJP workers had no doubt that the party will anoint the Gujarat Chief Minister as its prime ministerial candidate. Thus,when Modi landed at Ahmedabad airport on Friday night — hours after his coronation in New Delhi — banners and placards reading ‘PM’ Modi,dotted the area. It was evident that these banners had been prepared well in advance. “We had been ready since long; the announcement was only a matter of time,” said a party leader.