Himachal confidential: Truck tale

A day after senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar went public about former BJP MLA Mohinder Sofat -now a Himachal Lokhit Party leader - having sold his truck and shut his business at Solan to work for the partys victory in 1990,under fire Health Minister Rajeev Bindal,it seems,could not digest the story.

A day after senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar went public about former BJP MLA Mohinder Sofat -now a Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) leader – having sold his truck and shut his business at Solan to work for the partys victory in 1990,under fire Health Minister Rajeev Bindal,it seems,could not digest the story. He went back to his home town to ‘verify the facts and came back with an interesting tale about the truck. He informally shared the story with the media wherein,he claimed,that the truck was not actually sold off but had been abandoned. The vehicle,Bindal says,had developed a major mechanical snag soon after it was bought and,he adds,that it was so complicated that even its manufacturer could not make it road worthy,eventually resulting in Sofat abandoning the vehicle.

Cemented

Politicians at helm of affairs-both in the previous regimes or now are undoubtedly at fault in the Jaypee affair. The High Courts 94-page judgement against the two million tonne capacity cement plant of Jaypee group last week,however, has suddenly exposed officers,who allegedly acted as agents of the company by facilitating land acquisitions,clearances and environmental violations. As a reward,a few have got post-retirement jobs with the company while others have bought luxury vehicles,built bungalows and have their kin employed with the company. Had the Lokayukta Bill been passed in Himachal some years back,some of them would definitely be cooling their heels in jails, says one of the petitioners in the High Court Jagjit Singh Dukhiya.

Change in the air

With Sudripto Roy taking over as the states chief secretary,there is a change in the air at the secretariat. Roy has made changes to the working environment by giving greater working freedom to secretaries,cutting down on daily and weekly meetings and by opening his doors to visiting guests,officials and journalists. Secretariat babus can also meet him on a weekly basis. His pre-occupations,Roy says,will not stop him from personally overseeing the implementation of a few flagship projects on environment and climate change. He has chosen to retain the departments of environment,science and technology. Last week,he added another portfolio by taking charge of tourism as well. What next on agenda is likely on social front – a ‘house-warming ceremony at the newly constructed Chief Secretarys residence,in which,he will be the first occupant.

The other Shimla

In the Shimla Municipal Corporation elections,one thing that always polarises voters is the issue of whether a candidate is a pahari or non-pahari. Such is the intensity,that even the selection of candidates and campaigning is overshadowed by such considerations. Since families from the apple-blowing upper Shimla belt dominate some of the city wards,a block almost crucial to win the polls,political parties also try to strike a balance between paharis – those belonging to Upper Shimla areas – and non-paharis – those who hail from the lower areas,mainly the Kangra region. Now when Shimla goes to polls on May 27 to form a new civic body,one hopes that at least now its Shimlas welfare and not such inconsequential considerations that weigh on voters minds.

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