Punjab Diary: Leaders & their stars

Pathankot: For him, astrology reveals God’s will. Pathankot MLA and former state BJP chief Ashwani Sharma has a fascination for the subject. He has a dedicated team of astrologers, who guide him in moments of indecisiveness. When AAP came up with a ministerial offer recently, he had almost made up his mind to shift base. However, his palmists told him that the stars were not in the right place, following which he abandoned the move. Somebody should tell him about the quote of Shakespeare: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Commuters bear the brunt

Gurdaspur: Commuters travelling on the busy Amritsar-Pathankot highway on Saturday were highly infuriated. For four hours, certain Christian organisations had blocked the road over Manipur violence until Gurdaspur SDM Amandeep Kaur Ghuman convinced leaders of the futility of their action. Irate travellers want the administration to form a committee to look into the lapse. Who will tell them that “a committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing and who collectively decide that nothing can be done”?

Wings clipped

Patiala: A first time MLA, who was in the news for stating that his community deserves to get the Deputy CM post and that he was also an eligible candidate, has faced the music. The government has clipped his wings and the district administration has been reportedly directed not to entertain him. In a recent meeting held to undertake the progress of development works, this legislator was not invited. All efforts to contact the MLA turned futile and those close to him also remained tight-lipped about the developments.

A step ahead of predecessors

Amritsar: Politicians love inaugurating projects and laying foundation stones. The MLAs of AAP, who claimed to end this culture, are no different. In fact, they seem to have gone a step ahead of their predecessors, as they are even flagging off teams carrying out fogging to check mosquito breeding. MLA Jeevan Jyot Kaur and Jasbir Singh Sandhu held functions to flag off fogging teams in their Assembly segments.

AAP workers confront MLA

Abohar: While Balluana AAP MLA Amandeep Singh “Goldy” Musafir lashed out at Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar for checking the quality of development works in his constituency, the former faced a protest from the supporters of Abohar AAP “halqa in-charge” Kuldeep Kumar, alias Deep Kamboj, during his visit to Khuiyansarwer village. Musafir addressed a meeting organised by Khuiyansarwer block chief Ranjeet Singh Sandhu, who urged the party high command to probe “serious allegations” levelled by partymen against Kamboj. Later, local AAP workers raised slogans against Musafir.