Lucknownama

The Election Commission might have removed Kunwar Fateh Bahadur as Principal Secretary (Home),but he continues to occupy the same office.

Office office in Lucknow
The Election Commission might have removed Kunwar Fateh Bahadur as Principal Secretary (Home),but he continues to occupy the same office. As a result,his successor Manjit Singh operates from the office of Principal Secretary (Appointment),which was the other post held by Kunwar Fateh Bahadur. Hamare boss to kirayedar hain Appointment Department ke. Unke office par to kabja chal raha hai, remarked an officer of the state Home Department.
The message being clear: Singh may be PS (Home),but the real power is still with Bahadur,who is now Principal Secretary to Chief Minister in charge of Home.
In the words of an officer,one is Sarakar ka Sachiv (governments secretary) and another Ayog ka Sachiv (commissions secretary). The dichotomy,however,will not continue for long as it will be over once the elections get over.

Maya strike on EC cheers up babus
The pro-BSP babus are happy with the way Chief Minister Mayawati attacked the Election Commission when the latter directed the state government to remove three junior police officers in Jaunpur after the murder of Indian Justice Party candidate Bahadur Lal Sonkar. They believe this was necessary to pre-empt similar action from the Commission against senior officers close to the regime.
The talk in the bureaucracy was that the EC had collected the feedback on all officers against whom the Opposition parties had complained. It had already removed Kunwar Fateh Bahadur as Principal Secretary (Home) and the fear was that it may strike at others.
But will Behanjis tantrums really cow down the Commission?

Behenjis gang of messiahs
Mayawatis description of gangster Mukhtar Ansari as Garibon ka Messiah was the topic of discussion among a group of government officials.
Going by Mayawatis logic,every gangster the BSP has fielded in the elections is Garibon ka Messiah,said an officer. Another provided the justification for the BSP fielding so many criminals: Since UP has a large number of poor people,there is a need to send a large number of Garibon ke Messiah to the Lok Sabha!

Das beats a retreat on Nafisa
A few days ago,BSP candidate from Lucknow Akhilesh Das had made offensive remarks against his Samajwadi Party rival Nafisa Ali. As Das came under attack from other candidates and also womens organisations,he got onto the backfoot and at a public meeting tried to contain the damage,Nafisaji is my sister and I will not say anything against her. He then added,She is not from Lucknow,she is our guest here. We should offer her Chaat-Batashe and Kabab-Biryani. She should enjoy the visit,see the historical places and go back. Nafisa Ali isnt indeed from Lucknow and she will also go back,but who knows the women of Lucknow have quietly made up their mind to teach Das a lesson?

The Batla House card
Samajwadi Party has used the Batla House encounter to slam the Congress and win over Muslims. Since the area falls in Delhis Okhla Assembly seat held by the Congress,the party has roped in MLA Parvez Hashmi to counter the rivals. At a public meeting of Rita Bahuguna Joshi in Lucknow on Saturday,Hashmi was introduced as Parvez Hashmi from the constituency where Batla House encounter took place last year. Hashmi took the mike and spoke on achievements of the Congress. Not a word about the Batla House encounter in which a police officer and two suspected Indian Mujahideen men were killed.

Va-ruined BJP sulks in Pilibhit
For the BJP central leadership,Varun Gandhi may be a big asset and star campaigner,but he is a nightmare for the local leadersin Pilibhit who are not happy over the larger-than-life status being given to a political upstart. Some had hoped Varun would lose and they could then stake their claim to Pilibhit. Now they are disappointed. A former MLA who lost the 2007 Assembly polls has left the district to campaign for Lalji Tandon in Lucknow. Asked why,he said it is for the central leadership to take care of Varun.

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