Friday, 03 November 2023 | Gajendra Singh Negi | DEHRADUN
Escaping embarrassment
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami narrowly escaped a major embarrassment recently when he paid a visit to the former CM Harish Rawat in the hospital he was admitted after sustaining minor injuries in an accident. Incidentally, a CBI team had paid a visit to the former CM in the hospital to serve a notice to him in the infamous 2016 sting CD case. On his return to Dehradun airport after hosting a successful roadshow to woo the investors down south in Chennai, the CM decided to inquire about the health of injured Rawat. It is learnt that the CM arrived in the hospital minutes after the premier investigating agency sleuths had left the hospital after doing their duty prodded by the higher ups. Though the CM’s team was spared the embarrassment of arriving in the hospital together with the CBI team, the battle-hardened Rawat lost no time in hitting out at the elite probe agency for serving the notice in the hospital at the bidding of the high and the mighty.
Elitism jolted
In yet another jolt to the elite officers of IAS cadre, especially the direct recruits- who consider themselves more privileged than others- the government of the Himalayan State recently appointed a senior IPS officer Amit Sinha as the special principal secretary (SPS) in the State administration. Sinha replaced his senior Abhinav Kumar who is among the contenders for the post of director general of police (DGP) once the incumbent Ashok Kumar superannates later this month. Interestingly, the IAS lobby had reservations when Abhinav Kumar was handpicked by the CM for an assignment in the State administration following which a post of SPS was created for him. Now, with the appointment of Sinha as the SPS, Youth Welfare and Sports, the Dhami government has clearly given a message to the elite lobby that the heyday of its hegemony is over. In the past too, Dhami censured the mighty blue- blooded babus by bestowing plum assignments in the State administration on the promotee officers.
Caught snooping
A greenhorn of the system created an uncomfortable situation for the intelligence unit of the State police when he attended the press conference of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Karan Mahara on Thursday and started taking pictures of the documents shown by Mahara to the media. In his over- enthusiasm, he also allegedly recorded the proceedings of the PC while sitting with the journalists. When a leader on the stage questioned his credentials, he promptly disclosed his identity, leaving the PCC president fuming. Mahara asked the uninvited guest in the PC to leave which he did promptly. The PCC chief charged the intelligence unit of police for trying to breach his privacy and create unnecessary hindrance in the functioning of the party. The Congress is said to be planning to take up the issue with the State police brass.
