Lucknownama

After retirement,IAS officer Anis Ansari has become a favourite of both the BSP and the Congress.

The favourite
After retirement,IAS officer Anis Ansari has become a favourite of both the BSP and the Congress. First,the Mayawati government appointed him interim vice-chancellor of the nascent Arabic,Urdu,Persian University,which is coming up on the Lucknow-Hardoi Road. Now,the UPA government at the Centre has appointed him a director of the Coal India Limited. Ansari had made headlines two years ago when he was removed as Agriculture Production Commissioner and then kept waiting for a posting after his wife Asma Hussain hosted a fashion show at his official residence. People close to Ansari had then alleged that it was part of a plot to prevent him from becoming the chief secretary. Look at the turn of events now. But if the BSP and the Congress both want him,the reasons are obvious. Ansari has been associated with AMU Old Boys Association for long,which is spread all over the country. As a retired IAS officer,he is a prominent Muslim face whose presence helps politicians embellish their secular credentials. On top,he is the president of the All India Momin Conference an organisation of the weaver community.

No more controversies
Babu Singh Kushwaha is the Minister of Family Welfare,which is responsible for vaccination programmes. But the government has fielded Health Minister Anant Mishra to take up cudgels against the Centre over the death of four children after the measles vaccination drive in Mohanlalganj. He wrote to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad,seeking a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the four families. His simple argument was that the Centre had supplied the vaccines,therefore it is responsible for the deaths. A committee constituted by the government has even stated that the deaths took place because of some problem in the vaccines,the diluent or the disposables. On the other hand,a team sent by the Centre to Mohanlalganj said that the deaths took place due to problems in the way the vaccination drive was conducted. Maybe,the test reports of the samples sent to the labs in Kolkata and Kasauli will settle the issue. But why did the government field Mishra? The talk in the BSP is that Chief Minister Mayawati wanted to keep Kushwaha who is regarded as her shadow away from controversy. Who knows what the test reports will throw up?

Failed attempt
State BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi has shot himself in the feet. The party had decided to organise dharnas and demonstrations on August 25 in favour of the farmers of Aligarh and Agra,who are angry over the price the government is paying for their land acquired for the Yamuna Expressway project. The farmers had called for a UP bandh the same day. At the last minute,however,the BJP changed its plan and decided to support the bandh call. But there was little impact,except in some parts of western UP. In Lucknow,hardly a hundred partymen were present when Shahi courted arrest in front of the BJP office. This,when only a few weeks ago,Shahi had constituted a 500-strong state executive.

Split widens
Samajwadi Party is happy over the growing chasm between the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Congress. And it is not only because an understanding between the two parties will be bad for SP in the 2012 elections. When the RLD decided to organise a farmers demonstration in Delhi to press the Centre to bring a new land acquisition law,the SP came out with its own programme of demonstrations against the Mayawati governments handling of the farmers issue. An SP leader said the idea was to send a clear message to the Congress that,unlike RLD,they are not part of any grand anti-Congress alliance. The SP had first tried to befriend the Congress when it supported Satish Sharma in the Rajya Sabha election in June. But the RLD had also supported Satish Sharma. There was then talk that the Congress may reciprocate by making Ajit Singh a minister at the Centre. More than two months have passed,but Ajit Singh is still waiting. His action in organising the demonstration in Delhi in spite of the fact that the grievances of the farmers were basically against the state government shows his desperation. To take the sting out of Ajit Singhs move,Rahul Gandhi arranged a meeting of farmers leaders with the Prime Minister a day before the demonstration. The SP believes that the breach between Ajit Singh and Congress is complete.

Loyalists vs newcomers
Finalisation of the list of UPCC delegates has become a headache for the Congress. It was released a week ago,only to be withdrawn after protests by leaders who alleged that they had been unfairly left out to accommodate favourites of the big guns. Since then,the list has undergone several revisions about 100 changes have been made but there seems to be no end. As soon as a name is removed,the person gets to know,and he and his supporters start lobbying,offering arguments how it is unjust and unfair. Look at one example. Maroof Khan,chairman of the minority cell in the state Congress,was made a delegate from Lucknow on the recommendation of certain leaders in Delhi. Congress MLA from Lucknow West,Shyam Kishore Shukla who is also the city president protested,alleging that Khan had tried to sabotage his election and was,therefore,unacceptable as a delegate from the city. As a way out,Khan was made a delegate from Kakori in place of Vijay Pratap Singh. Immediately,Singhs supporters launched a campaign,saying it was unfair to drop a loyal,active,local Congressmen to accommodate an outsider. In UP,the Congress had existed on the margins for long. Now,when it is back in the reckoning,those who had stood by the party all these years expect rewards. The problem arose because newcomers were included,ignoring the loyalists and also the party constitution,said a senior leader.

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