Regional Journal: Untold stories from the states
Wildlife for Sambit
The National Board for Wildlife, headed by PM Modi, has not met for the past 10 years, but continues to make appointments to its ‘decision-making’ standing committee. The board recently named Lok Sabha MPs Sambit Patra and Chudasama Rajeshbhai Naranbhai and Rajya Sabha MP Dorjee Tshering Lepcha as members of the standing committee, which is chaired by Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and takes policy calls on whether a project falls in protected/eco-sensitive area. Clearly, Sambit Patra seems to be a party favourite — after ONGC director and ITDC chairman, this is the third major responsibility.
Deepender Hooda diaries
Defeat for the Congress in the recent Haryana elections remains a key talking point. It now transpires that Deepender Hooda was so confident that his party was winning that he was not just “making a Cabinet” on the eve of the vote, but also a list of what top cops to transfer. During the polls too, young Hooda was heard talking of himself in the first person, “When I become CM…” Give him credit, though, for his enthusiasm — when Congressmen were required in Wayanad recently to shore up Priyanka Gandhi’s campaign, Deepender was among the first to land up in Kerala.
Shah’s ‘Manohar’ neighbour
Urban Affairs, Housing & Power Minister ML Khattar is distributing houses these days in Lutyens Delhi — a sanctum so privileged that the house you get denotes who you are. So Haryana Congress leader Kumari Selja has been given 12, Tughlaq Lane, where Rahul Gandhi once lived before he was expelled from Parliament. Khattar has also given himself 3, Krishna Menon Marg, in the vicinity of Home Minister Amit Shah’s home. At the ‘grah pravesh havan’, BJP chief JP Nadda, RSS veteran BL Santosh and Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini and Khattar’s protege were spotted. Khattar’s previous house occupant was Narendra Singh Tomar, who has since returned to Madhya Pradesh as the Assembly Speaker.
‘Ek anar, sau bimar’
The idiom ‘ek anar sau bimar’ perfectly sums up the lobbying for the lone ministerial berth in Himachal. Following the removal of six Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSes), the race for the coveted berth has gained momentum. Ex-CPS Sundar Thakur seems to be the frontrunner as his home district Kullu has no representation in the government. His biggest challenger is Sanjay Rattan, MLA from Jawalamukhi in Kangra district. Meanwhile, Himachal Ayush and Sports Minister Yadvinder Goma’s hopes of getting a coveted ministerial bungalow are revived as six bungalows occupied by ex-CPS are falling vacant.
KAP Sinha files
Punjab’s bureaucrats have been in the eye of the storm lately, not just since one of their own was booked in a corruption case in 2023, but also now when some of them are facing the music because of the raging farm fires. After the former Chief Secretary Anurag Verma swapped places with the new Chief Secretary KAP Sinha — with the former agreeing to become Special Chief Secretary, the hail-fellow-well-met KAP Sinha seems determined to improve the happiness quotient in the Punjab Secretariat and has set aside one hour every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings to hear his colleagues - officers can meet the Boss without an appointment. Sinha even threw a bash for civil servants and certain top cops to bond with them informally.
Panch matters
A day ahead of the polling to four Assembly segments of Gidderbaha, Sangrur, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab is organising the oath-taking ceremony of recently-elected panches, apparently to bolster its
poll prospects. Though the panches in poll-bound districts are not being invited as model code of conduct is in force, AAP spin doctors feel the hype on social media can further its political interests hours before the November 20 polls. The million dollar question, why are election observers watching silently?
