The new broom in Chhattisgarh is expected to sweep around quite a bit, and starting, perhaps, with bureaucrats considered close to former chief minister Ajit Jogi.A clutch of officials, described as ‘‘Jogi’s jewels’’, now face charges of being ‘‘biased and partisan’’. The Election Commission (EC) has already had a few sacked but a few others still in their position, are being accused of helping Jogi in the polls.Even as the BJP government has just drawn up its checklist, allegedly including district collectors and SPs, some are already on the run. Bilaspur SP S.R.S. Kalluri, who was removed by the EC, was seen around till last week but there are others, senior BJP leader Brij Mohan Aggarwal said, who are ready to apologise for ‘‘their past mistakes’’. Kalluri, even after being removed from Bilaspur, was posted in the CM’s security and it was only after the EC’s objections that he was attached to police headquarters. Apparently, he was always in touch with Jogi’s son, Amit, who was camping at Marwahi. Kalluri isn’t alone, several of his seniors are suspected of spending even duty hours as guests at Jogi’s residence. A DGP-rank officer was conspicuous by his frequent visits to see Amit in Jogi’s absence. The BJP’s list names seven senior police officers, including three SPs who had been taking orders from Jogi Junior.In the bureaucracy, first under the scanner is Bilaspur Collector R.P. Mandal who is considered Jogi’s blue-eyed boy. For nearly a year, Mandal was in the CM’s secretariat and later posted in Jogi’s home district. He was among four district collectors, who were removed after being charged with ‘‘partisan and biased’’ behaviour by the EC before Assembly polls. Collectors B.S. Anant (Jashpur) and L.N. Suryavanhi (Bastar) did not abide by EC orders and have filed cases with the Central Administrative Tribunal. While Anant joined Jogi in the helicopter during the campaign, others distributed school bags and organised eye camps inviting Jogi’s wife, Renu. Sarguja Collector S.Raju got himself into trouble after he addressed Jogi and his wife as ‘‘Daddy and Mummy’’.The BJP also has its sight on a few other district officials, including some collectors: Durg (I.C.P.Kesari), Rajnandgaon (Dinesh Srivastava), Jangir-Champa (M.R. Sarthi), Damtari (Manoj Pingua) and Raipur (C.K. Khaitan). Sarthi even faces charges of molesting a tribal woman. Besides serving officials, Jogi is said to have built a team of retired officials to handle his work, ranging from working out defections to filing criminal cases against opponents. Retired DGP R.L.S. Yadav, who was minister of state, is said to have worked for Jogi to reorganise OBCs comprising 51 per cent of the state population. Just a day before the results, Yadav sat with Jogi to plan the formation of the government, even if the Congress falls short of five or six MLAs.
