Lucknownama

The employees agitation,now over,caught the government off guard.

Bolt from the blue
The employees agitation,now over,caught the government off guard. Crisis managers on the fifth floor of the secretariat annexe were at their wits end to explain to the Chief Minister why the situation could not be averted. The embarrassment for the government came on the opening day of the budget session of the state Assembly. While Opposition protests inside the legislature were expected,the employees protests outside was entirely avoidable. It paralysed work in offices and traffic on roads. Officers of the district administration were summoned to the fifth floor. While DIG Prem Prakash seems to have earned some points for his firmness newspapers carried photographs of him grappling with women,DM Amit Ghosh reportedly got a dressing down from the governments troubleshooters. The DM vented out his anger on an employee who happened to be unlucky to come in his way at Krishi Bhawan.

Power switches hand?
There was a time when the seating arrangements at the October Day parade in Moscow and the Communist Party Congress in Beijing were seen as indicators of the changing fortunes of leaders. In UP,two events in recent days have led to much speculation among babus over the relative importance of Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh and Additional Cabinet Secretary Vijay Shank-er Pandey. On January 15,at CM Mayawatis birthday celebration,it was Pandey who conducted the proceedings while the cabinet secretary watched. On Saturday evening,it was Pandey again who was active in ending the employees strike. Going by the Sachivalaya grapevine,these incidents show Pandey has now overtaken Singh in power and influence.

The battle within
Of late,Congressmen in UP seem more busy fighting among themselves than the BSP. While they try to score points over each other,state president Rita Bahuguna Joshi looks helpless. Recently Jagdambika Pal,MP from Dormariaganj,brought a group of people from Kushinagar,the constituency of Congress MP R P N Singh,to the state headquarters to join the party in Joshis presence. This reportedly upset the RPN camp. In Jhansi,Pradeep Aditya Jain and the district Congress cant work together. In Barabanki,it is Beni Prasad Verma versus P L Punia. In Varanasi,it is Rajeshpati Tripathi versus Rajesh Mishra. Some Central leaders are reportedly stoking fires by actively backing their protégé.

Best man for the job
With the Raj Bhavan clearing 2001-batch IPS officer Tarun Gauba for appointment as ADC to the Governor,the government has heaved a sigh of relief. The Home department is likely to issue the order soon. Sources said the Raj Bhavan rejected the first panel of names sent by the government. Gauba was picked from the second panel. In all,eight names were sent to the Raj Bhavan and Governor B L Joshi interviewed each one of them. No one knows why the other seven were rejected,but there is general unanimity that Gauba is the best man for the job. He is good looking,smart,sharp,and his image is clean. He is the right choice,said an IPS officer.

Seniors vs juniors
Is Hockey India feeling jittery about its junior players? The senior players who had gone on strike at the Pune camp for the World Cup have been talking with the media all along,but the juniors preparing at Sports Authority of India sub-centre here for the upcoming SAF Games have been kept aloof from the media. On January 15,SAI gates were closed after the trouble at Pune. Officials including Coach Clarence Lobo had then promised that they will let the media interact with the players in a couple of days. On Friday,after the announcement of the 18-member team for SAF Games,Lobo said: Hockey India has not allowed me to let players talk to the media for the time being. With the team leaving for Dhaka on January 27,what for the time being means is anybodys guess.

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Lucknownama

The employees agitation,now over,caught the government off guard.

The employees agitation,now over,caught the government off guard.