Regional Journal: Untold stories from the states
Rahul’s reluctance
Six months after he was appointed Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, a post equivalent to Cabinet Minister, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is yet to choose his personal staff. Though he has been using the chamber allotted to him in the new Parliament building, he seems in no hurry to appoint the official secretarial staff. He is entitled to a staff of 14 persons, but he continues to function with party staffers who have been with him for years. Speculation is that his reluctance is due to LoP rules which require him to appoint a government official as his private secretary, but he prefers to have his own.
Why Modi not going to COP
PM Modi will not be attending the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, beginning on Monday — he has been for three summits in the past decade in Paris, Glasgow and Dubai, where he embraced key world leaders — nor will Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav. Last year’s COP 28 summit in Dubai, both Modi and Yadav were in attendance. Yadav, it is said, is busy with the Maharashtra polls; besides the PM, neither Joe Biden, nor Emmanuel Macron, King Charles III nor Ursula von Der Leyen are attending. India, which along with China, is always in the cross-hairs of the developed world regarding its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, will be represented by a lowly Minister of State for Environment and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh.
Punjab Congress buzz
Amid the bypoll campaign for four Assembly segments, Punjab Congress circles are agog with buzz of change of guard. Congressmen say that the one-man-one-post principle in party politics implies that sitting Ludhiana MP Amrinder Raja Warring should give up his state party post. It seems a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi could be handed over the reins of the state unit. Names like former CM Charanjit Channi, former ministers Rana Gurjit Singh and Pargat Singh are being speculated about.
Sukhna’s walkers
Rajbir Singh, the hi-flying OSD to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, draws several eyeballs when he occasionally comes to the Sukhna Lake for a morning walk. It’s not for the position he holds, but for brazenly walking with four armed commandos, carrying assault rifles, who accompany him. Sukhna Lake regulars compare him with another occasional morning walker — former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who walks with a group of friends and one or two security personnel in civvies. The latter certainly do not display any weapons that cause unease amongst regular walkers.
Anil Vij misses ‘home’ again
Haryana’s vocal minister Anil Vij seems to have missed the ‘home’ run again. After losing out on the coveted Home portfolio, Vij has reportedly lost the race for moving into the palatial House No 32 in Chandigarh’s upscale Sector 3. Vij, who had not taken up any official accommodation as minister in the last 10 years and preferred to commute from Ambala, wanted this house, usually allotted to the seniormost minister, in his capacity as No. 2 in the Nayab Singh Saini government. But it is the No. 3 man in the Saini Cabinet, Krishan Lal Panwar, who has been allotted this house; Vij seems to have missed the bus again.
Punjab DCs breathe easy
With the “threat” of “disciplinary proceedings” against Punjab field officers being dropped for the raging farm fires by the new Chief Secretary, KAP Sinha, several DCs in Punjab are breathing easy again. The change of guard in the civil administration has come as a relief to several officials, especially since previous Chief Secretary Anurag Verma threatened to take severe action against several DCs in an effort to check burning of paddy stubble in the fields. KAP Sinha’s more relaxed approach is contributing significantly to officers’ relief.
Contributed by Animesh Singh, Aksheev Thakur, Rajmeet Singh, Ruchika M Khanna and Pradeep Sharma
