by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Fly on the Wall:
Shah scouting for Talent for Rajya Sabha !
With BJP president Amit Shah calling on prominent personalities across the country, a buzz here is that some of them may be lucky to find a berth in the Rajya Sabha soon. After celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket), Rekha (Film) and Anu Agha (social work) retired, the current dispensation is gearing up to fill these vacancies shortly. The supporters of Kapil Dev are elated and expect that he may be brought to the Rajya Sabha. They say it was Kapil Paji who was responsible in bringing the first Cricket World Cup to India in 1983 and it would be in fitness of things if he becomes the Rajya Sabha MP in the Presidential nominated category. Similarly, noted film actress Madhuri Dixit may also be on the BJP's radar ever since she joined Prime Minister Modi's “Beti Padhao Beti Bachao” movement. The PM expressed his gratitude for the work done by her way back in March 2015. There is also a vacancy in the social workers category and the BJP leadership is scouting for talent who can held the party win 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Lately, BJP leadership's emphasis has been that nominated MP s join the party after being nominated and help it politically. As many as four nominated MP s have joined the BJP so far taking its tally in Rajya Sabha to 69.
Desert Waterloo for Amit Shah
Rajasthan is turning out to be BJP president Amit Shah's first Waterloo within the party. While he is wooing the friends and foes to strengthen the party for the 2019 battle, the mighty party chief is facing an unprecedented situation in the desert land. Amit Shah never witnessed such a situation in any of the 14 BJP-ruled states where Chief Ministers are bending backwards to placate him. But not Vasundhara Raje Scindia who is refusing to budge. Last week, she was called to Delhi to select new state unit chief after Ashok Parnami resigned in the wake of Alwar & Ajmer bye-poll defeats. This was the second meeting after Raje vetoed the name of Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat suggested by Shah. Raje wanted a "caste-neutral" leader and proposed an alternative name of Srichand Kriplani, a Sindhi Punjabi leader whom Shah rejected. It transpires that the name of another Union minister, Arjun Ram Meghwal, a Dalit, emerged. But this was also rejected by Raje for some strange reasons. As part of a compromise, the name of national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav was also discussed. Raje was willing to accept him. But Shah said he needed his services for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi. In fact, the BJP leadership once toyed with the idea of removing Raje herself and install a new Chief Minister. But the tough woman sent a clear signal that she should not be taken for granted and she is not Anandiben Patel who will surrender meekly. The move was abandoned. It transpires that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have to step in to resolve the differences between Shah & Raje. Amit Shah has now decided to camp at Jaipur as part of his strategy to ensure that the BJP wins Rajasthan Assembly polls. He may not hire premises in Bhopal as earlier planned and monitor polls from Jaipur itself.
NHAI Chairman's post, Headache for Gadkari
The premature repatriation of NHAI Chairman Deepak Kumar to Bihar as Chief Secretary has left Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in the lurch. The chairman's tenure is fixed for a period of three years. But the NHAI has seen three Chairmen in a span of 33 months and Gadkari is finding it difficult to cope with the situation. He is racing against time to complete projects before the year is out and show the world that Road Tranport was the only performing sector. He had reconciled to the fact that he had no hand in selecting the chairman of the NHAI and it is done by the PMO. But his worry is that NHAI is destablized in the process. After R K Singh retired in June 2015, Raghav Chandra was given the marching orders within 15 months. His successor, Yudhvir Singh Mallik was was there for a period of 6 months only as he was promoted to the rank of secretary in the Ministry. Then came Deepak Kumar in June 2017 who was also repatriated to Bihar within 11 months. The NHAI Act 1988 (Amended in 2013) says that the post of Chairman should be advertised in at least three national dailies inviting applications and the entire process of selection and appointment takes at least four to six months’ time. Reportedly, the post was not advertised prior to the appointments of Y S Mallik and Deepak Kumar and due process was not followed. Now Y S Malllik has been given the temporary charge and the NHAI is waiting for a permanent Chairman. Why so many frequent changes in a performing NHAI ? No one had a clue.
Cabinet Committees ? Coming soon
For the past one month, the website of the Cabinet Secretariat has been displaying a rather unusual sign. Whenever one wants to clicks on “Cabinet Committees” link, it displays “Coming soon” sign. No one has clue as to why the crucial Cabinet Secretariat directly under the PMO has a dis-functional link. When inquired, it surfaced that the PMO never wanted to make any changes in the composition of Cabinet Committees after Arun Jaitley was temporarily divested of the Finance Ministry portfolio due to ill health. All Cabinet Committees were off the radar; be it Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Security or others. Perhaps, the PMO didn't want to change the composition of these committees for a short period. One should hope that Arun Jaitley may be back in North Block sooner than expected.
Lutyen's razing axe to hit the mighty
The Lutyen's Zone will witness what it never saw before in several decades. The Supreme Court's Monitoring Committee on illegal constructions has prepared a list of 40 mighty encroachers of forest land and government land which includes politicians, corporate czars, judges, and even film personalities. The list is virtually Who's Who of the Lutyen's Zone which includes former Delhi L-G Tejinder Khanna, former Haryana Chief Minister O P Chautala, sitting BJP Minister in Uttarakhand Satpal Maharaj, owners of Ranbaxy Group and other corporate honchos and in-laws of actor Shahid Kapoor. Even a farm house once owned by a top court judge is on the radar. As much as 197 acres of land was encroached worth Rs 20000 crores as per acre cost is Rs 25 crores. The religious bodies such as Radha Soami Satsang Beas and ISCKON will also face demolition action.
