Lucknownama

The CMO has become a jumbo pack of principal secretary-rank officers under Maya Raj. On Saturday,one principal secretary...

Mayas jumbo CMO
The CMO has become a jumbo pack of principal secretary-rank officers under Maya Raj. On Saturday,one principal secretary,Shailesh Krishna,was removed and two Durga Shankar Mishra and Raj Pratap Singh were inducted,taking the number of principal secretaries to five. In addition,there are four secretary-rank officers. Senior officers say that the current CMO is perhaps the largest,and also heaviest at the top. When Ram Prakash Gupta was the chief minister,the CMO had eight officers but only one was principal secretary and seven were secretaries, recalled a senior officer. After Gupta,rarely did the CMO have more than two principal secretaries. A top heavy system,said the officer,is anti-thesis of good administration. Too many senior officers in one office also leads to ego clashes and rivalries,some overt others not so overt,said the officer. Incidentally,the exit of Shailesh Krishna is being blamed on a rivalry between two camps at the CMO.

Khursheeds OSD
The state government finally relieved IPS officer Alok Singh to join as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Salman Khursheed. Singh was selected in early November,but some influential IAS officers reportedly did not relish the idea of an IPS officer getting a prestigious assignment. It was argued that,already,two IPS officers from the state held such postings at the Centre while Daljit Choudhari is Private Secretary to Minister of State for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal,S A Rizwi is OSD in the Ministry of Home Affairs. This delayed the matter,and Singh had to keep waiting. But then,how can any babu overrule a Union ministers prerogative to choose his OSD?

Mall Avenue facelift
The Congress headquarters on the Mall Avenue is getting a facelift these days. The building is being renovated and painted,and the open space in front is being paved with tiles. It was just about one-and-a-half year ago that it had undergone renovation. So,why another facelift so soon? The party is changing on the ground it has got fresh faces and a new energy. The revival should be reflected in the office too, said a leader. Besides,the tiling of the open space will make the place dust-free. Like our neighbour,we also like a dust-free environment, the leader added with a smile. For those who do not know,the neighbour is Mayawati who also lives on the Mall Avenue. When she drives out,municipal tankers often sprinkle water on the roads to make these dust-free.

Maya hits pause button
For ministerial aspirants in the BSP,the wait seems to be endless. Before the Lok Sabha elections,held in April-May last year,it was believed that Mayawati would reward those who did good work in the elections. But the election results punctured Mayawatis prime ministerial dream. How could anyone think of rewards in such circumstances? Next,the aspirants thought Mayawati would reward good work in the Legislative Council elections. When the BSP almost made a clean sweep in the council elections,their hopes soared. But no expansion. Now,the aspirants think Mayawati would reward them after the Budget Session of the Assembly. What they do not know is that after the session,it may be time for another mobilisation. March 15 is Kanshirams birthday and Mayawati is said to be planning a national convention and big rally to mark the occasion. Maybe,the expansion will take place after that.

Wedding bells
Its time for VIP weddings. Jitin Prasada,the youthful Union Minister of State for Petroleum,is marrying city girl Neha Seth on February 16. The wedding will take place in Delhi,but Prasadas family is hosting a reception for the newly-weds in their hometown Shahjahanpur on February 19. The brides parents are hosting another reception in Lucknows M B Club on February 20. Neha did her schooling in Lucknow,studied journalism in Mumbai and later worked for a television channel in Delhi for some time. Her parents Poonam and Adesh Seth live in Lucknow. Also on February 16,Mayor Dinesh Sharma will tie the knot with Jai Laxmi Mishra,a lecturer at IIM-Ahmedabad. On February 14,BJP leader Kalraj Mishras son Amit Mishra married Shikha. Top BJP leaders,including Nitin Gadkari and L K Advani,were on the guest list,but had to cancel at the last minute.

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