Abhimanyu encircled?
It is not for nothing that beleaguered cabinet minister Harak Singh Rawat evoked Abhimanyu, the legendary character of Mahabharata, while thundering that he is not the young warrior who would get killed at the last circle of the Chakravyuha. The BJP government of Uttarakhand which has tried to project a holier than thou image of itself by time and again raising its catchphrase, ‘ zero tolerance on corruption’ is under pressure to act on the alleged financial and other irregularities in the functioning of the board meant for welfare of construction workers. Harak was unceremoniously removed by TSR from the position of chairman while his protégé was shown the exit door from the powerful post of secretary of this cash rich board which is at the eye of a storm at the moment. A wily leader that he is, Harak knows it pretty well that thing at the moment are not conducive for him in the saffron party and with a politician of stature of Harish Rawat determined to block any chances of his return to Congress party’s fold, he like Abhimanyu has been surrounded by his detractors in a political Chakravyuha. In the coming days it would be interesting to watch the manoeuvres of this seasoned and powerful politician who has a reputation of being a party hopper.
AAP’s colonel?
A retired Colonel, popular in the Himalayan state is said to be in the reckoning for being the chief ministerial candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Himalayan state. The officer who attained fame for his role in Kedarnath reconstruction works and efforts to train youngsters for the armed forces has mysteriously been keeping a low profile for quite some time now. However the entry of the AAP in the state and possibility of it becoming a third alternative for the electorate has set speculation that Arvind Kejriwal (AK) could play a bet on the Colonel. It is learnt that the officer who has developed an excellent team which works overtime to promote him is keen to take an electorate plunge if the AAP keeps him at helms of things in the assembly elections scheduled in the year 2022. AK and his team knows it perfectly well that despite all the hype AAP has generated in recent months it would be very tough for it to carve a niche for itself in Uttarakhand which is a politically bipolar state and people like Colonel could help it in getting a toehold in the state.
Positive Babu
The anti Covid-19 operations and preparation of the state health department for large scale vaccination received a setback of sorts recently when the secretary Amit Singh Negi was found positive for Covid-19. The workaholic officer known for his upright image and going into depths of things assigned to him was asked to head the health department in May this year when the government faced flak for sloppy handling of the pandemic. The responsibility was in addition to the important charge of finance secretary but Negi plunged himself into the work and managed things pretty well. In contrast to hyper activity of the officer who is now Covid- 19 positive, many Babus in the Himalayan state kept themselves under wraps during the lockdown and still their visibility and activity seems to be affected by the pandemic.
Friday, 18 December 2020 | Gajendra Singh Negi|Dehradun
