Soldiering on

Sacked from the Cabinet, former minister Major Vijai Singh Mankotia was conspicuously absent all through Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh8217;s winter sojourn in Dharamsala. No sooner did the CM return to Shimla on January 26, and Mankotia too got back to Dharamsala. And while Virbhadra trained his guns on his former Cabinet colleague, the usually boisterous ex-soldier chose to remain quiet. His supporters say it is the lull before the storm. Meanwhile, former Himachal PCC president Vidya Stokes, one of Mankotia8217;s strong supporters, has also chosen to maintain a studied silence.

Keystone cops

Himachal now has a new Director General of Police. But in the run-up to the DGP8217;s appointment, the State8217;s top police brass exposed their ugly side. The Indian Police Service IPS were divided into two groups, both of which indulged in mud-slinging and a slander campaign against the other. Some even tried to use the media, supplying it with all sorts of documents 8212; both genuine and forged 8212; to tarnish each other8217;s image.