Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Mayawati8217;s chief lieutenant Satish Chandra Mishra was present when Ambeth Rajan was sworn in as an MP in the chambers of the Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari. Mishra noticed an ornamental elephant in a glass case and quipped that the elephant, the BSP8217;s election symbol, would come out of its glass cage and make its presence felt in Delhi. It was his way of saying that his party had ambitious plans for the next general elections 8212; and not just in Uttar Pradesh.
Rajan, who was once PA to Kanshi Ram and is now party treasurer, has been chosen to fill the vacancy created by Mayawati8217;s resignation of her parliamentary seat. Rajan, who is from Tamil Nadu, has been entrusted with the task of taking the BSP down south. Rajan noted that, to begin with, the BSP would be fielding candidates for all 39 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu.
Migration problems
Arun Jaitley stymied the exit of former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel by using the offices of an NRI businessman who is a close confidant of Patel. The motel owner and retailer flew from London to Delhi to persuade Patel to at least remain neutral and not go along with the Congress. While Patel would have been a prize catch, the Congress has reservations about admitting several other BJP rebels because of their known Hindutva background. Ahmed Patel avoided taking Gordhan Zadaphia8217;s calls, since he was state home minister during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots. The rebels now plan to fight under a separate Patel forum, but they hope that the Congress will reserve at least 15 seats for them in an informal understanding. However, there is one former BJP MLA whom the Congress will find it difficult to turn down. He is Dhirubhai Gajeria, whose brother Vasant is a big name in the diamond industry. Workers in Surat from the Gajeria diamond polishing units reportedly influence over a dozen seats in their home districts in Mehsana and the Kathiawad region.
Sticking to the Q
Former Jammu 038; Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was seen recently at Heathrow airport waiting patiently in a queue of some 250 people without insisting on VIP treatment. The long line, comprising mostly of Indians, was queuing up to get a refund of the VAT deductions charged on their purchases in British stores. A curious passenger who assumed that Abdullah would be pocketing a sizable VAT refund, found that it was in fact a very modest sum. Abdullah had simply bought a country squire8217;s walking stick, which can be used as both a walking aid and a perch.
No backtrack channel
The Delhi government was so secretive about the exact location of the Commonwealth Games that it was only this year that Delhi citizens discovered that over 100 acres of the Yamuna bed will be the site of a sports complex which will include eight structures housing some 8,000 sportspersons and officials. Environmentalists warn that pouring concrete over the sand on the riverbed will further deplete the city8217;s ground water, besides wreaking havoc whenever the river is in spate.
The authorities, while acknowledging potential problems, now claim it is too late to backtrack because of the 2010 deadline for the games. But the government is also unwilling to accept the alternative suggestion that temporary structures be constructed on the riverbed only for the games and later removed.
Womanly concern
In response to all the governors8217; monthly reports on law and order and development in their respective states, President Pratibha Patil wrote back that she found the progress in development projects for women and children unsatisfactory. Patil wanted the governors to put special emphasis on schemes for women and children. A governor recalled that when K.R. Narayanan was president, he had focused on SC and ST programmes and requested governors to ensure that the reservation quota for SCs and STs was filled up.
