Delhi underground

At a time ripe for any political leader to get mileage from an issue as big as retrenchment of 1,900 employees something Raj Thackeray did effectively in Mumbai, Jet Airways employees protesting at the Delhi airport were left leaderless.

Missing political backing
At a time ripe for any political leader to get mileage from an issue as big as retrenchment of 1,900 employees something Raj Thackeray did effectively in Mumbai, Jet Airways employees protesting at the Delhi airport were left leaderless. As a result, when Agra MP Raj Babbar happened to reach the airport to catch a flight to Chandigarh, he ran into an unexpected reception. While he was blissfully unaware of the situation, over 300 employees accosted him and quickly apprised him of the entire situation. They also told him about Raj Thackeray8217;s involvement and the fact that a lack of political backing in Delhi made them feel left out. 8220;No political leader is coming out to support us in Delhi, like Raj Thackeray is doing in Mumbai, please help us sir,8221; said a desperate voice. 8220;If there is a problem with your company, the HR department must talk to you,8221; Babbar said initially. But, with the employees relentlessly urging him to address the media in their support, Babbar finally gave in and got some mileage on TV for himself too, as a result.

No delimitation worries
Even as a number of MLAs in the Congress are fretting over changed Assembly constituencies after delimitation, the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP does not appear to be at much of a loss. There are just two MLAs who have lost their traditional seats under the new geographical constituency mapping 8212; Vijay Jolly from Saket and Motilal Sodhi from Rajapura. BJP8217;s chief whip Sahib Singh Chauhan has also lost some areas from his constituency but these losses aren8217;t a major worry for the leader, say party sources. It8217;s only Jolly 8212; he has so far had an upmarket Saket as his vote bank 8212; who has been lobbying for a seat in an area that is similar to Saket. While he has been offered Sangam Vihar, an unauthorised colony, Jolly is now lobbying for Malviya Nagar because the colony 8220;fits his urban image8221;, say party workers.

Keeping ticket hope alive
The BJP8217;s decision to not give tickets to any municipal councillor to contest the Assembly elections may have been a major blow to veteran players in the corporation, but councillors like Standing Committee chairman Vijender Gupta and Mayor Arti Mehra, who have been lobbying since April last year, are still hopeful about a last-minute 8216;adjustment8217;. Each one has adopted a different strategy, it seems. Gupta has decided to keep a low profile after a month-long hectic activity of inaugurations and laying foundations, though he continues to lobby with senior party leaders and pay brief visits to the party office. On the other hand, Mehra continues to be her usual vocal self and uses the MCD forum to make speeches against the Congress government. Reacting to the 8216;jacket8217; incident when Opposition leaders made snide remarks about her attire, she attacked Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in her speech recently for making 8220;irresponsible8221; comments. She even listed the changes set to be brought in if the V K Malhotra-led BJP comes to power in the Capital.

Last-minute publicity stunt
With a whopping 70 inaugurations and foundation stones under her belt in just two months, party sources say Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit ran around the city attending functions till the very last moment before the Election Commission came out with the Assembly poll date and announced the code of conduct. Minutes before announcement on October 14, Dikshit had rushed to give compensation cheques to the families of people who had drowned in the Yamuna during the immersion of a Durga idol. Under normal circumstances, these cheques are simply handed out by the SDMs concerned, but it seems Dikshit wanted to utilise the last opportunity to deliver a sound-bite and make a statement.

Coveted post up for grabs
NEARLY a year after taking over as the Vice-Chairman of the Delhi Development Authority DDA, Ashok Kumar Nigam is about to get his next posting. The government grapevine, however, says Nigam is unlikely to be released from his present post very soon 8212; not because of the onerous task of getting everything prepared for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, but because of the switch in parties in Delhi that everyone is anticipating. According to the grapevine, Nigam was to be succeeded by former Delhi Jal Board8217;s chief executive officer and now Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister P K Tripathi, who is also known to be very close to Dikshit. But the lobbying has come to a halt now with the state going to polls and, therefore, this coveted post is up for grabs once more. DDA has seen senior bureaucrats like Anil Baijal, P K Hota and Madhukar Gupta serving in the post in the past.

Storm over pay hike
The Delhi government has recently implemented the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission 8212; a seemingly routine event. In the medical fraternity, however, this has created a storm. According to the recommendations, the salaries of resident doctors have been increased, which has landed the government in trouble. For, resident doctors in Delhi are now earning more than assistant professor-level doctors 8212; those who are at least six years senior to the former. Assistant professors are now up in arms and are planning to approach the authorities concerned for a bigger pay hike.

Trouble within DUSU
The Delhi University Students Union DUSU is set to prove right cynics who had predicted that having office-bearers from two different parties would lead to conflicts. And when the topic is money, it just helps open a can of worms. Barely two months into the office, DUSU president Nupur Sharma, member of ABVP, has got the annual budget of Rs 3.5 lakh from the university without consulting the other union members, who happen to be from the NSUI. Unhappy at being so unceremoniously kept out of crucial budget decisions, Ashish Gahlot, the joint secretary of DUSU, has declared an agitation against the president so that she does not forget to invite her 8216;team8217; the next time.

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Do good and forget it?
The Delhi Legal Services Authority DLSA recently held its first Lok Adalat to settle matrimonial disputes. The response was encouraging, with over 250 of the 269 listed litigants turning up. The DLSA, however, seemed unprepared to tackle the outcome of the proceedings. When one enquired about the statistics of the day8217;s gathering, the officials were at a loss. Their excuse: the fax machine at their office was out of order and would be fixed only by next week.

Filtered water for south schools
The Directorate of Education, Delhi, has asked the PWD to provide 18 water filters with reverse osmosis technology to be installed at schools in South and Southwest Delhi areas, such as Bijwasan, Sikarpur and Tughlaqabad. A source at the Directorate said the order was passed on October 13, and the filters were expected to be installed by mid-December. The area has been chosen since it has a problem of untreatable, saline groundwater. These filters are to be installed to soften the water. There are, however, 20 schools in the said 8220;triangle of Tughlaqabad-Defence Colony-Bijwasan8221;, and the problem of salinity or unavailability of piped water is there in many more areas of Delhi where schools get no potable water at all, according to sources.