Chandigarh Confidential

Go Goa Gone

The forthcoming bollywood flick Go Goa Gone could have had Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal playing the lead. There is no sign of him in the state ever since his party’s Goan chintan shivir. While the chief minister and his cabinet have returned,Sukhbir has been conspicuous by his absence. Close aides say he is staying put in Delhi to sort out the Devender Pal Singh Bhullar issue but after meeting the President,the Prime Minister and the Union home minister,there is little left for him to do.

Chintan affect?

The recent transfers in the Punjab bureaucracy is being seen as an outcome of the Goa chintan shivir. With the state shuffling its babus,BJP and SAD leaders are congratulating themselves for shunting officials who refuse to do their bidding. The common refrain has been: Goa Chintan da Asar Ho hi Gaya (Chintan’s effect has come out). Ever since the SAD-BJP leaders returned from the shivir,opposition leaders have been curious to what went on the there. According to a senior BJP leader,the majority of the sessions in Goa revolved around the state’s official machinery with leaders venting their anger on officials who don’t listen to them and others demanding that officers of their choice be posted in their respective areas.

Bajwa’s Balanced diet

While shedding weight is one thing,maintaining it is a whole different ball-game. PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa is realising that the hard way and has been sticking to a predominantly liquid diet. It is sticking to it while on official duty that is proving tough. On a recent visit to Ludhiana,Bajwa refused to accept oily snacks offered by party workers at a press conference and then was spotted sipping water on stage a few minutes later. On Friday,during Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s surprise visit to Khanna,Bajwa couldn’t offend party workers and hence accepted their invitation for lunch. He,however,stuck to just one roti and consumed a lot of curd. Now that’s determination!!

Jinxed expansion

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s cabinet expansion plans seem to be jinxed; they have been put off again after one of Hooda’s close confidante expressed displeasure at being left out. While the chief minister has received a green signal from the party High Command for the exercise,trouble began after a few of his buddies and a former Speaker found their names missing from the list of those who are to be inducted. Peeved at being neglected,a close Hooda aide was conspicuous by his absence at a Chief Minister’s rally in his area. Noticing this,Hooda asked his men to locate the aide. A phone call was made,to which the aggrieved leader curtly replied: “It is more important to attend a funeral than a rally.” He has also been openly criticising the government for rewarding defectors rather than party loyalists. “Athe wafadari ki keemat ko na. Athe to dal badloo ki pau barah hai,” this leader,known for his rustic Haryanvi,told another who was convincing the former to remain in the party fold.

What an idea sirji

It isn’t surprising when a Punjab bureaucrat comes up with an ‘excellent’ idea. During an informal discussion on the chief minister and his deputy’s Delhi visit on the Bhullar issue,a bureaucrat said the Centre should have told the chief minister that the Khalistani terrorist can only be saved if a Punjab politician is allowed to go to the gallows in his place. This,he reasoned,would end all talk regarding clemency for Bhullar. Any takers ?

Samunder de Kande

Following in the footsteps of his predecessor Captain Amarinder Singh,PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa appears to be firing on all cylinders,particularly when it comes to shooting salvos at the Badals. In Amritsar recently,Bajwa listed the unfulfilled poll promises of the SAD and slammed the state government for buying chopper worth Rs 38 crore and spending Rs 5 to Rs 7 crore on the chintan shivir in Goa,all the while lamenting that “not a single promise of 47 made in the manifesto has been fulfilled”. “From (Teja Singh) Samundari Hall (Amritsar) to beaches (Samundar de kande) in Goa,the venues of SAD chintan shivirs have come a long way,” Bajwa said.

Kaur and Singh

BJP Chief Parliamentary Secretary Navjot Kaur Sidhu and Punjab Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal,who have been at loggerheads in the past,seem to have patched up and are now listening to the problems of party workers together. They recently held one such session in Chandigarh and a BJP leader said it would be a weekly feature with a few other part leaders joining in. Notably,the doctor-turned-politician wife of Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu recently stirred a hornet’s nest when she went public alleging that her husband was feeling “suffocated” after being “sidelined” by party and that he would not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. As the news hit national headlines,BJP national president Rajnath Singh had a word with MP Sidhu,who is yet to make any statement on the issue. Kaur,on the other hand,is making her presence felt not only in Punjab but at the national level as well.

What a Guzarish

Surrounded by lawyers and backed by Congress leaders,PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa reached the Punjab and Haryana High Court on time to argue the case of delimitation of wards. Wasting no time,after he parked himself in one of the corners of the Court room,Bajwa jogged through the public interest litigation (PIL). Soon,he was signalled by one his lawyers that it was time. Seemingly well rehearsed,Bajwa stood up to present the case himself with his team of lawyers sitting behind. Alas,even before Bajwa could begin,he was stopped in his tracks by the division bench and was made to sit behind. Later,when questioned by the media on why he was “not allowed” to argue,Bajwa responded: “I was not rejected,in fact the Bench ne guzarish kitti (the Bench requested) that since I did not have the party resolution to argue,I should let the lawyers do it.” Really!!

Caught off-guard

A surprise visit by acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh to the Patiala district Courts startled everyone with a few judicial officers caught “relaxing” in their chambers during working hours. While it was a stern message to the subordinate courts,the lower court judges are now wary of each litigant; the senior High Court judge had conducted his inspection in casuals landing up like any other litigant. The Court officials even misconstrued him for a litigant before realising that the gentleman was their administrative Judge.

Keeping a check

While he is friendly with party workers,Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa keeps an eye (or ear) on them,particularly on what they discuss. This was exemplified in Khanna recently where an organisation building workshop was organised for MPs,MLAs,block and district Congress presidents. While a few of them were chatting and having lunch,Bajwa,who was in the same pandal,kept eavesdropping on their conversation and even ran into one block president who was standing near a journalist. “What have you briefed the media till now?” a laughing Bajwa remarked.

A worried badal

At the Talwandi Sabo Baisakhi Mela,unemployed linemen had been manhandled and had even faced arrest for protesting at the SAD conference venue when the chief minister was addressing the gathering. Speaking to the media after the conference,Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal seemed more worried about the the content of news reports: “ The linemen were protesting for wrong demands and hence they had to be taken out of the venue. But now all of you will not publish news of our conference but will focus on the linemen.” Obviously he was speaking from experience !

Love for cows

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has suddenly turned his focus on the state’s cattle. After announcing special cash incentives for the ‘elite breed’ Murrah buffaloes,Hooda announced that in case members belonging to the scheduled castes seek insurance for their cattle,then the state government would pay the entire premium. He added that for the insurance of milk yielding cows in gaushalas,the state would pay the premium. While making these announcements at Bissar Akbarpur village in Mewat,Hooda also fed a cow. The habit it seems is a daily one as the chief minister claimed that he feeds cows before heading to office every day.

Nightmare state

Haryana has been a headache for various national commissions. The deteriorating law and order situation has forced bodies like the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights,to make periodic visits to the state for all the wrong reasons. In some instances,the Commission members would not have even reached their national headquarters in Delhi when they would be summoned back to investigate another atrocity in the state. Recently,a team from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes visited Kaithal’s Pabnawa village where over 200 Dalit families were forced to leave their homes when upper caste members of the Ror community attacked them. The commission slammed the Haryana Police for poor governance and went back to Delhi. Little did they know that they would have to make the trip to another part of Haryana after a Dalit youth was allegedly tied to a tree and had a car rammed into him in Bhiwani district.