Political hop-scotchUlhasnagar Municipal Corporation independent corporator Naryan Punjabi seems to be an expert at playing hop-scotch of the political variety. After announcing his decision to join the BJP in a public meeting held at Bhiwandi (where Rajaram Salvi, former state president of the Samajwadi Party, made his first public appearance after hopping over to the BJP), he immediately developed cold feet the next day, perhaps realising that such a move could cost him his corporatorship.Kya scene hai!Any one unfortunate enough to require the services of the police at both Kalyan-Dombivli and Ulhasnagar will have to endure a stock refrain: ``The phone is busy.'' The cops blame it on ``some technical problem''. An insider, though, claimed that the idiot boxes installed in the stations are the culprit, for even as the phone is ringing, cops waste time debating who will answer it instead of attending to the call. Wonder what that does for the crime rate.Cup of woesoverflows.The creases of worry on the forehead of Kaka Hardas, chairperson of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Transport, seem to be in no hurry of being ironed out. The much-hyped city bus service has proved to be a no show. And now, a speeding truck has damaged and totally uprooted the concrete base of the road dividers opposite his residence. As Hardas may have discovered much to his discomfiture, the authorities have done nothing so far, and the rubble is still lying around, adding to motorists' woes.Colour chameleonIf the Congress equals white and the Left red, then the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena definitely equal fluorescent orange, saffron and the occasional ochre. But green is the current flavour of the month at `secular' BJP state Vice President Ram Kapse's house, down to the night lamp adorning the wall. Of course, the upholstery may go back to its original bhagwa avataar after the Lok Sabha polls.Home is where VIP isSainiks never tire of singing paeans toKDMC Mayor Sharayu Pradhan for refusing to shift to the official mayoral residence (``Why do I need to be given a house when I have one of my own?, she says''). Her relatives, though, do not lose any opportunity of exploiting the VIP connection, as a ward officer in Dombivli (E) recently discovered. When he fined some labourers who were repairing a building tank for allowing sewage to flow into the open and causing a stink, he was threatened with a `dekh lenge'. It turned out that they were employed by Pradhan's son-in-law, Rajan Tamhane, a private contractor. He even asked the official ``Why are you harassing them?'' To his credit, the officer did not budge from his decision. Is vaini listening?
