Himachal Confidential; Assuming centre stage

Despite AICC general secretary Birender Singh being the brain behind the padyatra plans,it is Bali who seems to have taken over,to emerge the key player,especially when PCC president Kaul Singh Thakur is still recovering from injuries sustained in a road accident. While some loyalists of Union Minister and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh in Kangra don’t seem to approve of the former minister’s role,Bali seems undeterred and cannot stop himself from assuming centre stage in Kangra.

Kashyap ‘baba’

While the Congress may be gunning for BJP MP,Virender Kashyap,after he was allegedly caught on camera accepting cash to get work done,his party MPs,particularly those with jinxed political careers,are seeking the MP’s help and are seeing him as some sort of ‘saviour’.

A quick look at Kashyap’s political graph and the reason becomes clear. Before he was elected or even handed a ticket for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections,Kashyap had lost nine consecutive polls. Out of favour,he reportedly went to a spiritual abode at Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s insistence and that seems to have reversed his political fortunes. He returned to win the Lok Sabha polls in 2009 and create a record of sorts.

Next,he helped Khushi Ram Balnatah win the Rohru bypoll in 2009 and recently guided Hridya Ram to a stunning victory at Renuka. With the next assembly polls in 2012,“Kashyap baba” is going to be in real demand,say party sympathisers.

‘Stumbling’ babus

The sudden transfer of HRTC Managing Director Bharat Khera,has left many bureaucrats guessing. Earlier it was additional DGP-rank officer Sumesh Goel ,who was shifted out of HRTC after Mohinder Singh became transport minister. But,Khera’s case seems to have more than it actually appears on the surface. Only a fortnight back ,BJP had won the Renuka byelection with Mohinder Singh as poll incharge and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal giving him a free hand to do anything to win the poll.

Maybe Dhumal would like to able use services of this minister in the 2012 Assembly polls. So why Khera should be allowed to become a stumbling block for Mohinder Singh to rule the roost.

Fingers crossed

With an administrative reshuffle on the cards after the winter session of the Assembly,some young IAS officers are eager to swap places with deputy commissioners after having almost completed their terms but a few are reluctant to take-up the district jobs due to the Assembly elections slated for next year.

Reports say a few are lobbying to stay put in Shimla despite being hot favourites for the DC’s posts. Nearly half of the state’s districts will definitely have new DCs by early next year.