Poll preparations
A controversial IPS officer is rolling up his sleeves to contest the ensuing assembly election. He is making trips to a constituency in the Chambal division and interacting with the people there. The officer’s purpose is to bring the members of his community together, and get a ticket from the Congress for the upcoming assembly election. Sahib has already met a senior Congress leader and intended to toss his hat into the ring. The politician has made it clear to the officer that if his name figures on the list of party candidates to be picked from the area, he will mull over giving him tickets. Afterwards, the officer has become active in the constituency, and now, he is ready to quit his job to take a plunge into politics. Once, he wished to become the Director General of Police, but the controversies he courted, and the change of government in the state, dashed his hopes. Now, he wants to become a legislator. Let’s see what happens.
For Rs 40 lakh
A list, received after the ouster of the Congress government in the state, may cause trouble to a senior IAS officer. It contains the name of a few officers who had given money to the Congress during its rule. The senior IAS officer is one of them. According to records, the officer gave Rs 40 lakh. When the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power by toppling the Congress government, he had to struggle for a few months, but now, he is back in the mainstream of administration, looking after an important project. The list, containing the name of the officer, is set to put him in a fluster. The Centre has also received a volley of complaints against him. Ergo, the list may raise a storm in the state before the assembly election. He hopes to become the chief secretary if the Congress forms the next government. This is the reason that he is in touch with a former chief minister.
Counting on Lady Bountiful
It is not known if the present Chief Secretary (CS) will get an extension for another six months. So, the government is weighing all options for finding a suitable person for that coveted post. The name of an officer, who is posted in Delhi, is doing the rounds for the post if the current CS does not get another extension. Many people are lobbying for this Sahib. A few BJP leaders are also working for him. About this officer, it is said that if the state government wants to appoint him CS, the Centre will have no objections. Now, everything counts on Lady Bountiful. Although he was not on good terms with the Chief Minister during his stay in the state, those lobbying for the Sahib are trying to convince the Chief Minister that there cannot be a better alternative than this officer. He is also keeping an eye on the happenings in the state. Now, it is to be seen whether Lady Luck smiles on him.
All eyes on Goa episode
An episode in Goa has been in discussion in Madhya Pradesh for the past few days. The series of events that took place in Goa also drew the attention of a few people, holding top positions in Delhi, who inquired into those events on their own. The probe made it clear that the seeds of the story lie in a former minister’s trip to Goa with a call girl. It is not a cock and bull story. The day the issue came to light the location of a former minister of the ruling party had been found in Goa. The information about the flight that the former minister had taken reached the higher-ups. To get rid of the blame, the politician initially called the incident a fish story, but when nobody believed his yarn, he pointed the finger at a congress MLA. The politician is hopeful of getting a berth in the ministry during cabinet expansion, but the higher-ups in Delhi may throw cold water on his excitement.
MLA-collector partnership
A legislator and a collector rarely sail on the same boat. Yet there is an exception to this custom. The friendship between legislator and the collector in a district in the Bundelkhand region has flowered into a business partnership. The collector gives all the projects to the legislator and his supporters. Accordingly, the collector, instead of amassing dough from different sources, gets the desirable amount of brass from the MLA who, too, gives him the dues without whinges and cringes. Both of them have set up a hotel in the district. All the government functions are held there. Because of his friendship with the law-maker, the collector does not give importance to any other BJP politicians. Such politicians are angry with the collector, since he is working in partnership with the MLA. A few BJP members recently visited the party office in the state capital, and narrated the stories about the legislator-collector partnership to the leaders of the organisation. Now, it is to be seen what impact the complaints have on the party leaders.
Advance scam
At a time when many scams are discussed in Madhya Pradesh, two bureaucrats have committed a major rip-off by taking advance money for doing some work in a department. The person, whose work they had to do, became friends with the minister of the department. One of the bureaucrats was transferred. Now that only one officer is still working there, the supplier who has given money is after the life of the bureaucrat, asking him to get his work done. As a new officer has been posted to the department, the bureaucrat does not know how to deal with the supplier from whom he has taken money in advance. The supplier is also worried because of the ensuing election. Another officer who has retired also took a huge amount of money from the supplier. As he has given money to several officers, the supplier is relating his story to people and shedding tears.
