Reporters’ diary: Practise what they preach

Too Many Options

Assam ministers and Congress legislators are passing through the most turbulent time, as they are not sure about the fate of their leader Tarun Gogoi.
The local media is flooded with news — sometime predicting change of leadership one day and then denying it the very next day. Though there are leaders who have taken a stand, but the real problem seems to be more for the fence sitters. While at least three ministers and about 15 legislators have declared their support for Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, majority of ministers and legislators confused.

Every morning they go through various media reports in local and national dailies to make up their mind. But Congress insiders claim they have not been able to take a decision.

As this ongoing political drama was heading towards its flashpoint, and choice was limited to three camps, the media has given a new twist by reporting the names of at least two ministers — Neelmani Sen Deka and Pradyut Bordoloi — who could replace Mr Gogoi.

One doesn’t know whether silence of the Congress high command over the political crisis will create fourth or a fifth camp in Assam Congress, but ministers and legislators sitting on the fence are not happy over increasing options for them

Copycat Congress?

The Congress is in desperate need of not only invigorated leadership, but also fresh ideas. Till then, its workers are busy imitating other parties.
After railway minister Sadananda Gowda presented the Rail Budget in Parliament last week, the Congress workers vandalised his home, pulling down his nameplate. It was the same Congress which had criticised BJP leader Vijay Jolly for blackening the nameplate of former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, after a non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him.

Not only is the Congress following wrongs done by the saffron outfit, it is even copying the mohalla sabha concept of the Aam Aadmi Party in the capital. A senior AAP functionary commented: “There seems to be a dearth of new ideas. That’s precisely why they are copying both good and wrong things of their rivals.”

A bad example?

Congress leaders may be deft in the art of complimenting as evident in the manner they sing paeans to their president and vice-president, but they certainly lack the art of criticising. When the Congress first announced that it was going to gherao Parliament over the price-rise issue, the party leaders reached Jantar Mantar and announced that they have asked the police to arre-st them. Then, a stage-managed drama un-folded with so-me party supporters attempting to break the police barricade.

Amidst such chaos, Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said that the electorate had elected the Bharatiya Jana-ta Party to follow its own vision and not that of the Congress.

Was Mr Lovely trying to suggest that the various policies of the United Progressive Alliance government were not good enough to be followed by the saffron administration? Your guess is as good as ours.

TAILPIECE

As the Congress has been pushing its case for the Leader of the Opposition post, the Indian media has been generally referring to it as “LOP” issue. A senior government official wondered why the term was being referred to as “LOP” while the acronym should read “LOO”. May be term “LOO” does not go well with the sanctity of the august post.

Warring Departments

A proposal by Union culture ministry to set up a tribal museum in Chhattisgarh has apparently triggered a cold war between the culture and the tribal welfare departments of the state government.

When the Union culture ministry recently requested the state government to allot land to set up a tribal museum in the line of Indira Gandhi Manav Sangrahalaya in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, state culture department, in principle, decided to earmark 10 acres at Nimora in Naya Raipur.
Getting a hint of the move, the state tribal welfare department acted swiftly to prepare a proposal seeking '35 crore from Union tribal ministry for the same project.

According to the sources, Chhattisgarh tribal welfare minister Kedar Kashyap has also started lobbying with the Union tribal ministry to get Centre’s nod to the proposal seeking to share the cost of the project by half.

Both the departments are wondering what role the other department would play in the proposed project. Now, the authorities of both the departments are asking one another “Mere angne mein tumhara kya kam hai? (Why encroach my jurisdiction?)”

SULKING CM

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav suddenly seems to have lost all interest in his pet projects. And apparently, the Samajwadi Party’s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha elections has something to do with it.

A close aide of the sulking chief minister disclosed that a senior officer recently wanted some clarifications on the metro project for Lucknow. “Why are you so bothered? Let Rajnath Singh take care of it now — Lucknow is his constituency,” was how the chief minister retorted.
When some scribes wanted to know his reaction to the hike in petrol and diesel prices, Mr Yadav shot back, “Kyon achche din aa gaye na?” and walked away.

Mr Yadav, according to the grapevine, is angry with his own party leadership that forced him to terminate his ambitious laptop scheme because the youth did not vote for his party. This explains why he is so grumpy all the time.

His friends are also concerned about Tipu Bhaiyya’s mood swings and say, “Aap to aise na the.”