This Week Madhya Pradesh: Clicked with the wrong people

Old and not-so-old images of its leaders with people who were either always on the wrong side of the law,or who have allegedly crossed the line recently

Clicked with the wrong people

Old and not-so-old images of its leaders with people who were either always on the wrong side of the law,or who have allegedly crossed the line recently,have the ruling BJP red in the face in its ninth year in office. The latest leader to be at the receiving end is Vidhan Sabha Speaker Ishwardas Rohani. The Jabalpur leaders photograph with a local anti-social was preceded by a series of such embarrassments. Before Rohani,photographs of Shakib Ali alias Danger,an accused in the Shehla Masood murder case,with state BJP chief Prabhat Jha and other leaders had the Opposition Congress citing them as proof of a nexus between the ruling party and criminals. Just before that,it was Jhas photograph with a man facing criminal charges in Damoh that had the party embarrassed. The party chief recently issued guidelines asking district chiefs to exercise utmost caution in choosing those who are allowed to share the stage with leaders.

Atal at schools

After state government buildings and Panchayat Bhavans,it will be the turn of primary and secondary schools in MP to display photographs of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,the only political leader of the Sangh Parivar to get that distinction. A sum of about Rs 6 crore will be spent on the moderate leaders photograph that will be displayed in each of these 1.20 lakh schools. Only Rs 500 can be spent on each photograph; the schools will have to make a provision from their contingency funds. For smaller schools,the amount would be equal to a months contingency expenses.

Odd one out in Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha now has the lowest representation of the Congress from MP. Ten of the states 11 members belong to the BJP,its highest tally ever. The solitary Congress member,Satyavrat Chaturvedi,is known not to be close to former chief minister Digvijaya Singh,who was reportedly pushing for a former chairman of the State Minority Commission but the party chose to nominate Chaturvedi instead. The latter had no reason to complain but the BJPs outgoing member Meghraj Jain had. He wondered publicly why he was not nominated again. His stint lasted only about a year.

Word of mouth

Home minister Umashankar Gupta used an expression that was anything but parliamentary after Deputy Leader of the Opposition Chaudhary Rakesh Singh had annoyed him in the Assembly. Both legislators had rolled up their sleeves when others intervened. The Speaker expunged the exchange,then leader of the Opposition Ajay Singh repeated the expression while explaining to the media why his deputy had lost his temper. The same day,minister Gaurishankar Bisen insisted it was not binding on the government to follow the party manifesto; the Speaker corrected him.