PWD officials and the concerned contractor constructing an additional room in a Saheb’s bungalow in the state capital were surprised to hear of the demand that in the foundation of a new room a pair of ‘Nag-Nagin’ made of gold be placed in view of Vastu requirements. Jewellery showrooms do have such objects, though very small in size, on sale. However, the problem was not that such a demand came for the first time for a government accommodation or how to adjust the expenses but the officials and the contractor are supposed to get it done through a Pandit ji on some auspicious time and this may be just a beginning of such demands.
OUT OF GOOD BOOKS?
During his visit to the state capital ahead of 2018 legislative assembly elections union Home minister Amit Shah decided to accept the invitation of state's Home minister Narottam Mishra to visit his bungalow and have lunch over there. It turned out to be a big show as media persons too were invited to have a talk with the union Home minister. But this time, there is no whiff regarding Shah visiting any minister’s bungalow so far. Questions are being asked in BJP circles if it is a result of Bengal assembly elections that Shah is disappointed with the leaders of Madhya Pradesh.
THAILAND
The lone Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh in Lok Sabha Nakul Nath is yet to make it clear, much to the amusement of Congress leaders, that why he demanded apology from union minister Giriraj Singh who likened Chhindwara with Thailand during his visit to the district. The minister has been tasked with the responsibility to get the Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat which is a traditional seat of Nakul Nath’s father Kamal Nath, for the BJP in the next election. Singh said Chhindawara’s ‘chiraunji’ had an international market so much as it would leave behind Thailand. But people know why this amusement and giggling in Congress and why Nakul Nath can't elaborate.
ABRACADABRA
We have not forgotten the image of a Mantri ji who held a coconut in his hand and was moving around in a field to locate the source of underground water with this 'Totaka' that he believes in. Now, we have another Mantri ji who held a coconut in his hand and prayed for Narmada water to recede in Harda district, which was flowing close to the danger mark. There is a talk in the power corridors that the government was unnecessarily panicky on Karam dam breach in Dhar and there was no need for evacuation of 18 villages as Mantri ji’s visit with a coconut to the site would have resulted in repair of the dam.
DON’T TALK ON LION
An official from the forest department was so enthusiastic about the cheetah project that he gave a piece of advice to his senior that why not there should be further talks on Lion translocation too from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh. His idea was if MP had lions too it would be a rare territory in the world to have all four wild animals like Tiger, Leopard, Cheetah and Lion. The senior stared at the officer and asked him if he didn’t know why there should be no talk on lions. The senior’s advice to the junior officer was – Concentrate on the cheetah project.
ARROGANCE OF POWER
Most collectors don’t want to see negative news in the media but this collector saheb in Gwalior-Chambal region went one step ahead. He got FIRs lodged against three journalists- two from reputed news channels and remaining from a reputed newspaper as they ‘mustered courage’ to file stories on a man taking a dead body on a handcart. In ‘Sarkari’ inquiry the news was bound to be found without facts, hence the FIR. It would have been better had the collector made efforts to improve the system. As journalists are planning agitation, let's see how collector saheb responds to the development.
