gaddi to go to son
If you want to learn how to put up such a fight against your rivals that their petty games are nipped in the bud, take a leaf out of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s book. In the past 11 years, she has become a master at this, and not only consistently retained her seat but also systematically finished stalwarts like Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.
Now, when she doesn’t really face any threat, to speak of, why is she so insistent on cutting down her opponents? Sources say Dixit and her cronies want to establish her son and MP, Sandeep Dixit, as her heir apparent. The Akali (Badal) politicians in Delhi constitute a non-entity but, for the last 15 years, they have been given a job to do in every election. And they are doing it well. The Dixit camp plans to install Sandeep as the next Chief Minister of Delhi during the third year of his mother’s current rule. To this end, Ma Dixit is cultivating the right people. She reputedly never misses any function organized by Manmohan Singh or Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
However, one threat still lingers – in the form of Ajay Maken, the State Minister for Home Affairs. It is yet to be seen when the tigress will spring upon him in the style befitting her training by her father-in-law, Congressman Uma Shanker Dixit.
Grassroot graft
auction of panchayat polls
The bees will naturally flock to wherever there is nectar and, in contemporary governance, there are dollops of it in the panchayats. The Centre’s fund, percolating to the villages, has generated quite a buzz among the village mafia politicians. In Madhya Pradesh, panchayat elections are being auctioned with the connivance of the mafia ruling the villages so that the candidates can get elected unopposed. In a village near Sagar with as little as 900 voters, it is estimated that the auction price will be as high as Rs 12-15 lakh. In another village, the budget of Rs 1.2 crore sanctioned to a sarpanch is yet to be accounted for. And, in the bigger villages the price goes up to Rs 50 lakh.
It only goes to show how true Rajiv Gandhi’s words rang when he said that not more than 15 per cent of allocation by the Central government reaches the people it is meant for.
A house for Harsimrat
badal wife retains bungalow
So what if the Parliament Housing Committee rules stipulate that a first-time elected MP will be allotted a flat, not a bungalow? If you are the wife of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, how can you possibly be expected to live in a flat? Harsimrat Kaur, first-time MP from Bathinda, is living in the bungalow at 12, Safdarjung Road where husband Sukhbir used to live before he became an MLA. Badal did not vacate the bungalow when he became an MLA and the reason was obvious. Harsimrat Kaur got elected to Parliament and moved into it.
Jai Prakash Aggarwal, Congress MP from Delhi, is the Chairman of the Housing Committee who has been asking all the first-time MPs to vacate the bungalows to which they are clinging on some pretext or other. But Harsimrat is being left in peace. Naturally, many of the other first-time MPs are questioning why different standards are being applied. Who will enlighten them?
Defence Ministry on guard
army fracas spreads gloom
A sense of unease pervades the corridors of power in the Ministry of Defence. Army chief Deepak Kapoor is a wise man who has weathered many storms. His Military Secretary, Lt-Gen. Avdesh Prakash, has been recommended for dismissal by a court of inquiry into a land scam by the Eastern Command chief, Lt-Gen. VK Singh. Gen. Kapoor believes Gen. Singh has exceeded his brief because, as Army chief it is he who has the prerogative to decide what action has to be taken and against whom. Gen. Prakash retires on January 31, so the decision on the dismissal is being delayed. Now, all this is intolerable to Defence Minister AK Antony, who is a stickler for rules.
Another reason for the wariness in the Defence Ministry is the launch of a vicious campaign against Gen. Singh – unprecendented in the Army. An upright officer, Gen. Singh may be the next Chief of Army Staff. Antony has reacted to this cold war by instructing Gen Kapoor to clear the Prakash issue before tackling any others.
