The roller-coaster ride
It was an occasion that was least expected to set off a controversy.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was flabbergasted when he found himself in the line of fire after he took up a good cause like promoting road safety by launching a helmet rally in Raipur recently.
Mr Singh led a two-wheeler rally on a scooter, with the protective headgear in the state capital on June 20. The “helmet march”, in which around 500 security persons, state government officers and commoners participated, covered 24 km, crisscrossing the busy thoroughfares of Raipur.
Mr Singh became nostalgic when he ended the rally. “The journey reminded me of my college days and the time I used to ride a two-wheeler in the 1990s when I was an MLA”, Mr Singh told reporters.
“I feel really sad to see youngsters on roads without helmet, often facing painful consequences of injuries caused in accidents. I urge bike riders, particularly the youngsters, to pay attention to safety and use headgear”.
The euphoria over his bike rally, however, lasted barely a few hours as his critics spoilt the fun by pointing to violation of traffic rules by him during the rally.
Mr Singh had sped past despite a red light during the rally. And shockingly, several bike riders, including a few security personnel, participating in the event did not bother to wear helmets.
“The Chief Minister acted as a promotional agent of helmet manufacturing companies. He demonstrated how to break laws while enforcing a law”, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) president Bhupesh Baghel quipped. Uneasy lies the head that wears branded protection!
Birthday blues
Rahul Gandhi cannot enthuse the Bharatiya Janata Party, but his birthday and his absence gave enough fodder for the BJP to rebuke the Congress. So when Congress workers in Delhi were busy celebrating their vice-president’s birthday on June 19, some BJP leaders were quick to link it with the outcome of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. “The Congress will remember these elections forever. The party got only 44 seats and it was the BJP’s special gift to Mr Gan-dhi, who too has turned 44,” a saffron leader commented.
Mr Gandhi was not in Delhi. He was travelling abroad. Although his absence did not deter his supporters from marking his birthday celebrations with a lot of fanfare, the BJP jibe did act as a dampener.
No happy days for scribes
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav seems to have lost his smile along with the Lok Sabha elections and it is the media that has to bear the brunt.
The Chief Minister apparently believes that the media is responsible for the bad publicity his government got, that led to the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.
The furor over the Badaun double rape and murder case has strengthened his belief and Mr Yadav has stopped meeting journalists, giving interviews or even answering any of their questions.
The state government has also ordered a 300 per cent hike in the rents of government houses allotted to scribes.
This week, three scribes were blacklisted from covering the Vidhan Sabha proceedings because one of them was seen taking photographs on his mobile phone. Journalists have also been banned from carrying their mobile phones to the state Assembly even though the legislators happily flaunt their smartphones during the proceedings.
Apparently, “achchhe din” are not for journalists in Uttar Pradesh.
A crisis of your own making
If whispers in the corridor of power are any indicator, the satrap of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in Assam is under threat by none other than his health minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Mr Gogoi promoted Mr Sarma against all odds. He not only ignored his old loyalists but also took the media head on to defend Mr Sarma’s alleged involvement in various controversial decisions. Mr Gogoi also assigned Mr Sarma the task of keeping senior Congress leaders in good humour by taking special care of their respective constituencies.
This suited Mr Gogoi for the past 13 years, as he was able to undertake frequent foreign trips. But gradually his trusted legislators — both young and old — switched their loyalty and started supporting Mr Sarma. And all the while Mr Gogoi was oblivious of the shifting loyalties.
Though Mr Sarma is carrying on with his anti-Gogoi crusade for the past two years, the crisis escalated after the Congress’ Lok Sabha election debacle.
So when All-India Congress Committee observer Mallikarjun Kharge was in Assam — to gauge the mood of Congress legislators on leadership change in Assam since the discussions in the Congress on the possibility of a change of guard in Assam appear to be reaching a final stage — Mr Sarma loyalists chose to go abroad on that very day.
This deeply embarrassed Mr Gogoi, but since it was his own doing, he maintained a stoic silence. Seeing this, a senior legislator was quick to rebuke, “As you sow so shall you reap.”
THE PERFECT OPPOSITION
The Bharatiya Janata Party doesn’t need to do much to embarrass the Congress government in Karnataka. Trust the Congress to be its own worst enemy! In a party, where the lines between who’s in the Opposition and who’s in government are becoming increasingly blurred, the schism between the sitting chief minister Siddaramaiah and his detractors within the Congress has seen in-house critics take on the role of the Opposition!
During the ongoing monsoon session of the legislature, Congressman Ramesh Kumar, a former speaker, tore into the Congress’ development agenda. Participating in a debate on the agriculture department, he asked why a department that is supposed to work under the guidance of the chief minister, to help farmers tide over the farm crisis needed to even exist, given its complete lack of interest in helping farmers!
After the day’s session was over on Friday, one of the BJP members was heard referring to Mr Kumar’s attack on the government, saying, “Why break our heads over appointing an Opposition spokesperson. We don’t even need one, we already have the perfect candidate in Ramesh Kumar.”
Last heard, Mr Kumar was preparing to take on the Siddaramaiah government on other acts of omission — its abysmal track record in governance. The BJP can sit back and watch the Congress prey on each other!
Pehle AAP
While the Aam Aadmi Party is busy reinventing itself, its name is still giving headaches to its rivals in Delhi. With political parties in the capital gearing up for the Assembly elections, party bosses are busy cautioning their prospective candidates — that when they go for door-to-door campaigning, they should ensure that they have clarity about whether the electorate is going to vote for them or the newbie AAP. The reason is simple — during the last Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress candidates were confused with the voters’ response during their campaigning. “Many told me that, sir Aap ko hi vote denge. Only when the results were out did I find they had voted for my rival candidate from the AAP,” a senior Congress leader said.
While voters always find ways to outwit candidates, politicians are leaving no stone unturned to get a little clarity this time round.
