Friday, 17 January 2025 | Gajendra Singh Negi
Spilling the beans
Apart from affecting their electoral prospects, large scale rebellion in both the ruling BJP and Congress following the ticket distribution for the positions of mayor and chairpersons in the elections of urban local bodies in the Himalayan State has also started taking a toll on the reputation of some of the political stalwarts of both the parties. Enraged by the double whammy of ticket denial and disciplinary action, some leaders have started a mudslinging exercise to tarnish the image of the senior leaders. In one such instance of washing dirty linen in public, the rebellious MLA of Congress, Mayukh Mahar countered the attack of PCC president Karan Mahara by claiming that he greased the palms of a person who was the right hand of the person heading the government for getting mining licences during the Congress regime. Similarly Lakhpat Bhandari who till recently was the poster boy of BJP’s aggressive Hindutva brand of politics in Pauri is now spitting fire on the local minister after his expulsion from the BJP. In one public meeting, he claimed that the minister solicited money from the local BJP leaders in lieu of transfers of their relatives.
Healthy dialogue
The Dehradun Citizens Forum deserves kudos from organising first ever ‘Mayor Dialogue’ by inviting the candidates who are in the ring for the coveted position of mayor of Municipal Corporation of Dehradun to a public platform. The candidates will use the stage provided by the forum to share their vision and plan for the people of Dehradun and spill out their strategy to implement the green agenda envisioned by the forum. Earlier this month, the DCF, a social organisation of prominent citizens of the city had released its Green Agenda for all the political parties. The agenda includes scientific waste collection and management, proper drainage system, anti-pollution measures, construction of parks, rain water harvesting systems and removal of encroachments from rivulets and drains. It is advisable that in the dialogue, the forum should also point out to the aspiring leaders of the MCD that many subjects which were given over to the municipal bodies under the 74th constitutional amendment are still waiting to be handed over to them by the State government. One hopes that the people of the city will attend the dialogue scheduled on January 18 in good numbers and the practice is also adopted by citizens of other urban local bodies of the State.
Hospital hassles
The recent resignation of the medical superintendent of the Government Doon Medical College hospital, Dr Anurag Aggarwal, has raised a question mark over the functioning of the biggest government hospital of the State. Though Aggarwal has cited his failure to do justice to the work of his own department as the reason for his decision, his resignation coming in after a similar decision taken by deputy medical superintendent Dr Dhananjay Dobhal in December last year is a matter of grave concern for the authorities. It is learnt that Dr Aggarwal was not happy with the interference in decision making and obstinate behaviour of the doctors under him. The hospital insiders are pointing towards intense internal politics and changed equations after reins of the medical college were taken over by Dr Geeta Jain as the reason for Dr Aggarwal known for his hard work and decent behaviour with the patients calling it quits from the plum administrative assignment.
