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Journalism of Courage
Excellent wishes
New Year is the time to exchange greetings. A personal touch and warmth matter a lot in any such gesture of goodwill. But VIPs and VVIPs send out fully printed cards,so much so that even their signatures are printed. Some do sign the card,but do not bother to write the name of the person to whom it is sent. More mechanical are e-greetings and text messages that people send in bulk to everyone in their address book. Then there are messages,which are not even addressed to you,but somehow land in your mailbox. And there are messages which ask you to open a link and see the greetings. What goodwill and warmth such greetings convey is anybodys guess. Amid all this,the New Year greetings from Raj Bhavan came as a whiff of fresh air. It was a standard,official greeting card,carrying the national emblem on the cover and a nice aerial photo of Raj Bhavan inside. A gesture of Governor B L Joshi made it special. On top of the greetings,the Governor graciously wrote the name of the person to whom these were sent,with a proper prefix. At the end of the greetings,he wrote Regards,and then put his signature a shining example in grace and decency. Happy New Year,Excellency!
No lessons learnt
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is worried over the future of his son Akhilesh Yadav. Ever since the three-term MP took over as state party chief in June,the party has been on a downhill slide. It failed to retain a single Assembly seat and Akhileshs wife lost the Lok Sabha by-election from Firozabad. But that has hardly changed his style of functioning. Recently,Akhilesh went abroad to celebrate New Year with his family far away from the hustle bustle of Legislative Council elections where the party has much at stake. On January 19,the party is scheduled to launch a jail bharo agitation. His absence in these circumstances has become a talking point in the party.
When Chief Minister Mayawati decided to assign the responsibility of law and order to a single police officer,she undid a decision,which she had taken five months ago. Then the posts of Additional Director General,Law and Order (West) and Additional Director General,Law and Order (East) were created for better policing. Now,the two posts have been merged,and the logic cited is better policing. The charge of this merged post has been handed over to Brij Lal,who was the sole ADG,Law and Order,before the failed experiment. Now,Lal also heads the Anti-Terror Squad. The loser has been A K Jain,who headed ATS and was also ADG,Law and Order (West). He is now ADG,Railways. So the subject of much speculation is clipping of Jains wings and increase in Lals clout. The young IPS officers are,however,waiting for the Chief Minister to undo another of her experiments for better policing that of appointing DIG rank officers as SPs in some districts and abolishing the posts of zonal IGs.
Politically fit
Panchayati Raj Minister Swami Prasad Maurya can these days be seen playing badminton on the front lawn of his house. Maurya was never known as a sports lover. So why this love for badminton? The BSP grapevine has it that some well-wisher told Maurya that he had started putting on weight which was not good for him both healthwise and politically. Apparently,BSP chief and Chief Minister Mayawati attaches a great importance to physical fitness of party leaders so that they do full justice to their assigned responsibility. That is why Health Minister Anant Mishra pumps iron in a gym while Tourism Minister Vinod Singh has set up his own little gymnasium at home. Since Maurya is a minister and also state president of the BSP,he has to doubly ensure his fitness.
Door darshan
For many Congressmen,the partys membership drive is more important than the Legislative Council elections. Since December 31 was the last date of the membership drive,they were busy persuading people from their areas to join the party last week,and even crosschecking their application forms so that they were free from flaws. A district Congress president explained this by saying: No matter how hard we work,the ruling party will have an advantage in the council elections. Then there is the SP. On the other hand,the membership drive is a step towards Rahul Gandhis 2012 mission of winning the next Assembly elections. So better do what may bring rewards tomorrow than waste time and effort on something where not much is expected any way?
A birthday gift for Maya
While SPs Amar Singh is keeping himself out of the power play in Uttar Pradesh where Legislative Council elections are due later this week,the ruling BSP is leaving no stone unturned. To effect a resounding victory,BSP chief Mayawati has not only fielded relatives of party strongmen but also got several bitter rivals to join forces. So,if Mukhtar Ansari is in charge of eastern UP,where BSP has fielded don Brijesh Singhs wife,another ex-MP,Rajnarain Budholia,is busy canvassing for the brother of his political rival and Rajya Sabha MP,Ganga Charan Rajput,in Bundelkhand. But clearly,they are all finding it difficult to forget their past rivalries,even as Mayawati has asked party workers to ensure the victory of the BSP candidates as the ideal gift for her birthday later this month.
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