Himachal Confedential: Number 9

Playing safe

At the end of his second-term as chief minister,Prem Kumar Dhumal seems to have acquired quite a peculiar style of not muddling in bureaucratic infighting. He does not displease any hurt bureaucrat who come to him with any grievance against his/her senior. He gives a patient hearing and sends the officers satisfied — only to realise later that Professor Sahib has passed the buck to another bureaucrat. As a result,bureaucracy has been left wandering with a few sulking that there is no one to redress their causes. Some time ago,when a senior IAS officer met Dhumal with a serious grievance,the CM called up another bureaucrat to say: “Hey friends,why don’t two of you sit together and set things right?”

Children’s Congress

Sons are rising again on Himachal’s horizon. After all,their politician parents need them to carry on the legacies. The competition is neck-deep in the Congress after Anurag Thakur,Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s MP son,having already positioning himself in BJP’s top hierarchy. Union Minister Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikaramaditya has become a contender for the state Youth Congress post. Another political scion,Raghubir Singh — son of former minister and Congress MLA G S Bali — is equally confident about his election to the post. As Himachal is witnessing Youth Congress elections first-time,a new “Children Congress” is taking shape.

Hridaya Ram’s mentor

BJP’s new face in Renuka — Assembly constituency going to bypoll on November 30 — has become an ardent disciple of a “sarkari” astrologer. Ram has quit his ADC-rank post to contest the poll. First hurdle came when the state personnel department declined to accept his “retirement” request. Second was the opposition to his candidature from local ticket contenders. Ram rushed to his political mentor,who took him to an astrologer,whose advise even the chief minister cannot ignore. Next day,Ram was sent on a secret “teerath yatra” to holy places like Kurukshetra and Ujjain to wash off the evil spirits hovering over his head.