STONE-LAYING SPREE
Punjab public works department (PWD) minister
Sharanjit Singh Dhillon appears to be extremely fond of laying foundation stones. Known for his “brisk walking”, the minister is willing to walk miles for inaugurations and foundation stone-laying ceremonies. In no mood to let go of such an opportunity, the minister has unveiled dozens of such stones in every nook and corner of the state in the past one year. Aiming to set a new record, he laid the foundation stones of seven schools at Dhandari Khurd, Mangat, Mundian Kalan, Bhagpur, Ramgarh and Katani Kalan in Ludhiana district on April 22. His fascination for the golden inscription on black stones is apparent from the stone-laying ceremonies held for a “new block” at Government High School, Kohara, and for the widening and strengthening of the link road from the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road to Bhaironmunna village.
Cruellest for SGPC ‘April is the cruellest month’ — reads the opening stanza of TS Eliot’s poem ‘The Wasteland’. Yes, indeed, it has been so for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). It faced embarrassment when the Parkash Singh Badal government banned the screening of the controversial film on terrorism, ‘Sadda Haq’, after a five-member SGPC panel formed by its president
Avtar Singh Makkar had cleared it for release. A couple of days later, Makkar went ahead to release an English book, ‘A Spiritual Journey — The Harmandir Sahib, The Golden Temple’, only to have it withdrawn by the evening after some Sikh scholars pointed to historical errors in its text. The SGPC also drew flak after it cancelled the jatha of pilgrims to Pakistan on the occasion of Baisakhi as the Pakistan High Commission only gave visas to a handful of pilgrims from the list sent by the SGPC. The pilgrims blamed the religious body.
Mrs Jaitley’s visit With Amritsar MP Navjot
Singh Sidhu staying away from his constituency for the past couple of months, rumours are doing the rounds that the cricketerturned-politician may not enter the electoral arena in the next Lok Sabha polls. Adding fuel to the fire was the visit of Sangeeta Jaitley, wife of BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley. The person who played host to the lady was Sidhu’s bête noire, state BJP vice-president Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina. The Amritsar MP had got him removed from the post of chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust in 2009. Though she described it as a private visit, her presence at Khalsa College and Baba Thakar Singh Art Gallery sent tongues wagging. Chhina is the honorary secretary of the college and chairman of the art gallery governing council. Last year, Arun Jaitley was the chief guest at the college convocation.
Pickpockets at funeral Pickpockets had a field day at the funeral of former Congress minister Ramesh
Chander Dogra, who died last week in Hoshiarpur. As the leaders were praying for peace of the departed soul, crooks were preying on their pockets. A number of pockets were picked at the crematorium. And most of the victims were netas in kurtapyjamas. Probably, it was easy for the miscreants to dig into gaping kurta pockets. The loss was quite significant, but given the sombre occasion, no one raised any hue and cry. Surprisingly, it all happened despite heavy police bandobast. The local police station house officer (SHO) said he had not received any written complaint so far. Perhaps the netas didn’t want to disclose how heavy their pockets were.
‘Hardcore’ expression The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the opposition Congress seem to be fond of words from the Punjab Police’s abridged lexicon. The SAD has become fond of the word “hardcore”, an expression used frequently by cops during the days of terrorism. A press release issued recently by the ruling party claimed that a number of Congressmen, including many ‘hardcore’ party leaders, joined the SAD. The cops were in the habit of using the word after capturing or killing terrorists. Interestingly, the Congress, while reacting to these defections, accused the Akalis of going from village to village to “capture” Congressmen in the same manner as the cops did in the times of terrorism.
Congress spectre Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep
Bishnoi has tried everything, but the spectre of the Congress does not seem to leave him. Every time the Hisar MP exchanges a few words or shakes hand with a Congress leader, there are rumours of his cozying up to the ruling party. His presence at a dinner hosted by Congress general secretary
Birender Singh was no exception. “He is fighting the Congress in the field and the courts and has never shied away from criticising the Congress top leadership, including Sonia Gandhi, on their flawed priorities and policies. Perhaps it helps the Congress to fan such speculations,” one of his close aides said. But, then, it is not just the Congress. The rumours may also be helping the HJC keep its partner, the BJP, where a section favours the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) as an ally, on its toes.
Unruly meetings
Haryana Congress president
Phool Chand Mullana’s ongoing district-level meetings are giving anxious moments to those running the state government. Though aimed at spreading Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s message of strengthening organisation- al democracy, these meetings have been marred by clashes, allegations and counter-allegations between party workers. Unruly scenes in Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal and Sonepat districts have got the leadership worried. Party leaders and workers are complaining about corruption and unbridled bureaucracy. In Karnal, one MLA accused the HPCC chief of visiting the district after two years and then making no effort to hear grievances of party workers. A Panipat leader, who was in the Indian Youth Congress, raked up the issue of party-hoppers getting precedence over “dedicated” workers.
Foot in mouth Haryana Congress MLA
Anand Singh Dangi loves to take potshots at others. When former ministers
Subhash Batra and Krishan Murti Hooda were pleading their case for the party ticket in the next assembly polls at a districtlevel meeting held by HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana the other day, the MLA commented that they were already “outdated”, taking a dig at their diminished political clout. The two leaders, who had dumped the Congress to join Bhajan Lal’s Haryana Janhit Congress at one point, were rattled and objected to the remark a few hours later. However, Dangi claimed that he did not mean to offend them.
Wrong message?
The candidness of a Haryana bureaucrat left several of his colleagues red-faced at a recent meeting of administrative secretaries held by chief minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The officer told Hooda that according to one perception, the “Sabseaage Haryana” ( Haryana ahead of all) propaganda jingles on radio, which also spoke on selected loans waivers, had been sending a wrong message regarding the recovery of several other loans. “Iskaultaasarbhi parrrahahai,” the official said frankly. According to him, people apparently read too much into it and were delaying payment of loans. The CM immediately asked an officer to examine the matter without further loss of time.
Ministers’ slugfest Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh and his cabinet colleagues faced an embarrassing situation when two of the seniormost ministers slugged it out on the issue of bids for the 960-MW JhangiThopan hydroelectric power project in Kinnaur district. The argument got so heated that the CM had to intervene. Irked by the conduct of the ministers, Singh decided to cancel the bids. The corridors of power are agog with speculation about the possible interest of the two ministers that led them to take on each other. Incidentally, the two leaders were seen as contenders for the top job before the elections.
Rajvir who? Himachal Congress president Sukhvinder Singh
Sukhu has become inaccessible to journalists and his supporters after taking over reins of the party in the state. But what appears to have really irked Sukhu’s supporters is the deceptive caller message on his mobile phone, which welcomes the callers with “Thank you for calling Rajvir Singh”. The callers are left wondering whether Sukhu has changed his name or his mobile number. “It is easier to contact Birender Singh, Congress general secretary incharge of party affairs in HP, than the state unit chief over the phone,” one of his close friends said.
On home turf Even as the BJP is bracing up for the parliamentary polls, former chief minister
Prem Kumar Dhumal has not been seen in the state capital after the budget session of the assembly. He is just sticking to his home turf, Hamirpur, represented by his son, Anurag Thakur, in the Lok Sabha, attending social functions. Though the party high command has not yet decided the party candidate, it’s obvious that the choice will be between Dhumal and his son. The ex-CM wants to win the seat and is already working hard for it.