Impossible to bend!
The head of state’s physical fitness and his ability to perform yogic exercises figured in the discussions at the BJP’s Prashikshan Shivir in Pachmarhi, besides other activities. When he was performing yogic exercises and doing meditation, he challenged four or five legislators to try together to bend his hand. A few legislators tried to do so, but their efforts came to naught. Displaying the art of maintaining physical fitness, the head of state has made it clear it is not easy to bend him. Afterwards, he balanced his whole body on two hands and performed a yogic exercise. His ministerial colleagues and legislators praised the head of state’s physical fitness. He previously performed various physical exercises in public. After hitting the bull’s-eye in political turf, leaving behind many stalwarts, he has displayed that he has few equals in terms of physical fitness.
Eye on Raj Bhawan
Two senior leaders of the BJP have set their eyes on the governor's chair. Both of them want to become governor. One of the leaders is trying to get the position on his own. The tenure of a leader from MP holding the position of governor in a state is on the verge of completion. He is also ailing these days. In the coming days, there will be appointments of governors for some states. Both are trying to become governors in one of the states. One of them has held several important positions. These days, the political atmosphere of the state is in his favour. So, he is trying to get the position of governor through a senior leader. In the same way, a leader associated with the RSS is trying to become governor. He has a close association with the top RSS functionaries. It is because of the RSS that he was previously given important assignments. Moreover, he was not given a ticket for the Lok Sabha election. Against this backdrop, he wants to go to any state as governor.
Rahul’s lame horses
Congress MP and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s remark on horses during his trip to the state capital has occasioned a lot of chinwags. After Rahul’s visit, the way a Congress leader has been expelled from the party has elated many leaders of the organisation. The leader was issuing statements against the party. The leader, who was often taking the party to task, made a faux pas by tearing apart the party high command. The leader did not expect criticism of anyone in the party, which was pardonable, but not of the high command. The politician’s expulsion from the party has saddened his elder brother, an important leader of the Congress. The incident has politically damaged him. Nevertheless, the high command expelling the leader from the party has barely had any impact on its leaders. A legislator of the party has said he is associated with the RSS. Two other leaders had attended an event organised by the Sangh. Now, the Congress leaders are saying there is no dearth of lame horses, and how many of them will the party expel?
Ailing minister
A minister of the state cabinet has fallen ill talking about his honesty. During the transfer-posting season, the minister had a heated exchange with his own party legislators. He told the legislators that there would not be any offstage deals in the transfer of employees in his presence. But the minister did not even know when the transfer list was issued. The minister’s complaint against the officers has failed to have any impact. There are reports that as the minister came in the way of releasing the transfer list, the officials took permission from the higher-ups and issued it. Now, the employees, whose names the minister had recommended for transfer, are disappointed. Whenever an employee met the minister for transfer, he used to say he would not do anything wrong. The minister often says there is hardly any politician in the state as honest as he is. The officers of his department and politicians are fed up with the minister’s stories about his honesty. The dispute between the minister and the officers may snowball into a major issue in the coming days.
Transfer of OSD
The transfer list indicates how weak the minister’s position in the state is. The OSD of a minister has been recently transferred, but the minister had no inkling of it. The minister’s OSD is also an officer of another department. The transfer list contained the name of the minister’s OSD. What has happened has disappointed the minister as well as angered him. Now, he is pulling out all the stops to cancel his OSD’s transfer. In any case, the minister had little say in the transfer of employees of his department. The secretary of the department, who had sifted through the minister’s recommendations for transfer, agreed to shift only those employees who were eligible for it. For the rest of the names recommended by the minister for transfer, the officer’s response was negative. The minister failed to transfer any employee from the district under his charge. Whenever someone came to the minister for transfer, he evaded the issue, citing the name of another leader. The minister is unable to get any work done. Now, he is trying to find ways to become politically strong.
Out of humour
During the organisational election of any political party, its workers demand key positions from senior leaders. The senior leaders also support the candidature of the partymen for suitable posts, because it is the party workers who they count on to win an election or to exert pressure on the organisation’s top leadership. The Congress’s organisational elections are underway. When some party workers demanded a former chief minister give them some key positions, he said he would not recommend anybody’s name. Rather than asking for a favour from him, they should treat him as a poppycock in the party. The former chief minister has stopped attending public meetings organised by the party these days. Some partymen are trying to twig the reasons behind the former chief minister’s anger. It is not known whether he is unhappy about the goings-on in the party or he is averse to youngsters being in the forefront of the organisation. Whatever be the reason, the caustic remarks he often pours out indicate he is out of humour.
