Curious case

While Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has targeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on the issue of corruption in NREGS in the state

Written by Express News Service

November 22, 2011 02:40 AM IST

4 min read

While Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has targeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on the issue of corruption in NREGS in the state,one of Mayawatis officers looking after NREGS in UP seems to have surprisingly gained Ramesh confidence. Last seen,he was in an audience with Ramesh separately. Earlier,Ramesh had once offered him a lift at India International Centre. Mayawatis officer had taken up that opportunity despite being aware of the fact that Ramesh has engaged Maya in a letter attack.

Fashion First

Of all the issues getting attention ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls is pending demand for a permanent campus for a National Institute of Fashion Technology in Rae Bareilly. Suddenly,it seems to have come to light that the NIFT is still a temporary affair there and the file on granting a permanent campus has been gathering dust for a while. With UP-cadre IAS officers now at the helm,orders have come from the top to push matters before the Election Commission gets into the act. Needless to say,officials down the line have been taken by surprise as several other pressing issues had to be set aside to process this subject on an urgent footing.

Chief Target

Just to keep matters on the boil,BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Prakash Javadekar has given a calling attention motion in the Upper House demanding to know why the Prime Ministers Office has failed to refer all the findings of the Shunglu Committee report on the CWG scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation as had been promised. His target is Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who,he says,was indicted by Shunglu and the government has taken no action despite PMs commitment to act on the findings. The PM,in fact,has set up a GoM headed by Defence Minister A K Antony to go into the committees findings but the BJP member says that the exercise is only aimed at shielding the Delhi Chief Minister. The government,meanwhile,plans to argue that the matter is now before the PAC and hence cannot be a subject of such a motion.

Lessons Learnt

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is wiser after the Congress defeat in the Hisar Lok Sabha by-election. Leading the party campaign from the front,he worked tirelessly for a fortnight,toured the constituency intensively,but still did not succeed in reversing the public mood. Now,when the state is witnessing two Assembly by-elections,in Mandi Adampur and Ratia,the Chief Minister has changed his strategy. In Mandi Adampur,he has left it to PWD Minister Randip Singh Surjewala to oversee the party campaign,while in Ratia,it is PCC chief Phool Chand Mullana who is in charge of the campaign. As for himself,Hooda has plans to only address a few village-level meetings and one big rally in each constituency. Only goes to prove that you never cease learning in politics.

Being Trinamool

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi forced the government to change a Cabinet decision after he realised that he had overlooked a proposal on jute packaging,an industry close to his party boss Mamata Banerjees heart. In fact,a press release had been put out stating that in pursuance of the Jute Packaging Material JPM Act,the CCEA approved the packaging of 90 per cent of the production of foodgrains and sugar in the jute packaging material for the Jute Year 2011-12. This had to be changed within hours as Trivedi realised the oversight and raised the matter at the highest levels. The government yielded and revised its decision saying that the CCEA approved the packaging of 100 of the production of foodgrains sugar in the jute packaging material. Banerjee had once earlier objected to the reduction in jute packaging material.

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