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Journalism of Courage
The Congress is slowly tightening the screws on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. Former cabinet secretary B.K. Chaturvedi, who is now a member of the Planning Commission, has been asked to look into the functioning of three major welfare schemes 8212; the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Jawahar Rozgar Yojna and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Preliminary investigations suggest that thousands of crores have been diverted from these schemes to other accounts over the last five years, and the matter might be referred to the CBI. Of course, it is not just Mayawati, her predecessor Mulayam Singh too is likely to be in the dock if this line of inquiry is persisted with.
Rank outsider
Between the lines
Poor Ambika Soni. First she got into trouble for not scrutinising carefully the controversial Ram Sethu affidavit that was submitted last year by her ministry in the Supreme Court. Now, her enemies in the Congress accuse her of not reading the fine print carefully on the citation for the Order of Leopold award. Soni accompanied Sonia Gandhi to Belgium in 2006 when she received the award. A complaint to the Election Commission charges that by accepting the award, Gandhi automatically swore allegiance to Belgium.
CM8217;s clout
Some two months back, Ajay Maken, who is in charge of Congress affairs in Jharkhand, warned Chief Minister Madhu Koda that the Congress would have to withdraw support to his government, which has earned the reputation of being a cash-and-carry regime. The Congress, which came third in a recent by-election, is unnecessarily getting a bad name because of Koda8217;s misdeeds, Maken claimed. If the chief minister is unperturbed by the threat, it is because he is confident of powerful backers in the Congress protecting him. Koda boasts that he has raised more funds for Congress election campaigns than some of the party8217;s own chief ministers. And he was even called to campaign in tribal regions of Gujarat. Lalu Prasad Yadav is also opposed to Koda8217;s removal. Lalu is banking on Koda8217;s support in getting his lieutenant, Union Company Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta, re-elected to the Rajya Sabha next month.
Generating trouble
Recently Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda removed the chairperson of the state electricity board, B.N. Pandey, and appointed B.N. Verma, former chief of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation, in his place. Pandey has gone to court protesting his removal. Verma is the eighth chairperson in the eight years of the notoriously inefficient and corrupt state electricity board and his credentials hardly inspire confidence. As Uttarakhand Power Corporation chief, he had numerous vigilance cases against him, including a major scandal involving electricity meters. It is not just the chief minister, but also a powerful MLA from Maharashtra close to decision-makers in Delhi, and the personal assistant of an influential minister of state who pushed for his appointment.
Most suitable
An insider has it that an item last week in this column, which listed a number of probables in the race to succeed Ronen Sen as ambassador to the US, omitted an obvious suspect. Karan Singh, who has all the right qualifications, is a favourite of the US. He also has experience, standing, scholarship and blood lines. Besides, he deserves to be compensated for being unfairly denied the president8217;s post.
