Lucknownama

Issues ‘Rai’sing in BJP
The recent Congress dharna against the BSP misrule in Varanasi made it clear why the party needs Independent MLA Ajay Rai — who recently became associate member of the Congress Legislature Party — notwithstanding his controversial past. It was after a long time that about 10,000 people gathered for a Congress programme in the city. Most of them were Rai supporters,yet he was not seated on the dais,simply because former MP Rajesh Mishra and some others don’t like him. Realising the gravity of the situation,AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh left the dais and sat in the crowd with Rai’s supporters. Promptly,Mishra’s supporters made space for Rai on the dais.

Thunder Down Under
Among IPS officers of the 2000,2001 and 2002 batches,the most important topic of discussion these days is the forthcoming training programme in Australia in April. From among a total of 45 officers in three batches,22 will be selected for the programme. In bureaucratese,it is called Phase 3 training and its purpose is development of leadership skills,motivation and delivery system. While Phase 1 programme takes place during the initial training,Phase 2 is held during probation. In the past,only IAS officers were sent for Phase 3 training. For IPS officers,this is a first. Naturally,everybody is excited. The officers will first spend six weeks in the National Police Academy and the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad and then go to Australia for a two-week programme at Charles Stuart University. “The idea behind the training is to make IPS officers aware about the realities of the world,” an officer said.

In ‘principal’ approval
A month after Nirmal Singh Saini retired as principal of the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College,there is not even an officiating principal,let alone a regular one. The bureaucratic grapevine has it that the Chief Minister’s Office has approved giving additional charge of the office to a deputy director,but somebody who had been lobbying for another person is sitting over the file. But who can stall a decision taken by the CMO? Well,make your guess. Here is a clue: the man has been in the news often for all the wrong reasons. The talk is that he will use the Holi holiday to make a last-ditch attempt to have the decision changed.

Die hard Amar
WHILE Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav made the most of the price rise debate to make his presence felt,Amar Singh,who finds himself away from the media arclights now,was at work trying to resurrect his political fortunes. He has been touring the Uttar Pradesh heartland as part of his mass contact programme,even as he has acquired an office on the 13th floor of Naurang House at Connaught Place for his new political outfit. Every now and then,supporters can be seen at the office.

The Behenji broadcast
THE Bahujan Samaj Party is all set to join the ranks of other political parties in having its own party mouthpiece. While top leaders refused to confirm the move,the buzz is that the BSP plans to first launch a fortnightly in Punjab,which has a high concentration of Dalits,and later turn the fortnightly into a daily that would be sold in the stands. There are also indications that the Mayawati-led party,which has always complained of step-motherly treatment at the hands of the “Brahminical” media,plans to launch its own TV channel.