It’s friends over foes in Kerala
Amid the high-voltage campaign for the Nilambur by-election, which took place on 19 June, a warm moment of friendship beyond political differences won hearts this week in Kerala.
Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate M. Swaraj was in the middle of his campaign when he spotted Congress leader and former Thrissur MP T. N. Prathapan, waving at him from a moving car. Without missing a beat, Swaraj walked over to him.
What followed was both leaders exchanging a cheerful conversation while holding hands tightly. When cameras and onlookers swarmed the scene, Prathapan, with a laugh, said, “I can not wish for Swaraj’s victory. I can only say that Aryadan Shoukath (Congress candidate) will win!” He left after telling Swaraj, “We will catch up after the election.”
Battle lines drawn over IAS transfers
In Uttar Pradesh, the abrupt removal of two high-ranking IAS officers, Director (Administration) of Medical and Health Services Bhawani Singh Khangarot and Inspector-General (Registration) Sameer Verma, has sent ripples through the state bureaucracy.
Their ouster was not just another bureaucratic shuffle. It has kicked off a power struggle between ministers and department heads over employee transfers. Over the last two weeks, murmurs have been echoing through various departments, from health and basic education to transport and public works, over irregularities and favouritism in transfers. After allegations of corruption against top officials, the Yogi government has frozen all transfers across several key departments. Behind the scenes, the battle lines were drawn.
Ministers were at odds with their department heads over cases where transfer lists got issued without their knowledge. The tension reached a boiling point in the stamp and registration department, where Minister of State (independent charge) Ravindra Jaiswal raised the red flag over the transfers of sub-registrars and junior assistants, appealing directly to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for intervention.
Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak raised objections over dubious transfers of medical officers within the health department. His concerns prompted fresh instructions: all senior officers should strictly adhere to transfer protocols and ensure the routing of any proposed lists through the health minister’s office before making them public.
This tussle has happened before in UP. However, this has sparked dissatisfaction among ministers and their top officials in Yogi’s good books this time.
In Mathura, a star falls as voices rise
BJP MP and actor Hema Malini is facing heat in her constituency from her party cadre over the proposed construction of the Banke Bihari Corridor project in Vrindavan.
The plan is to build it on the lines of the Varanasi temple corridor. The UP government will acquire land and beautify existing roads leading to temples to decongest the area around them and establish a trust to manage the whole corridor.
The state has already issued an ordinance for this purpose.
However, priests and affected shopkeepers have been leading protests against the project for weeks. The protesters have also challenged the ordinance in the Supreme Court. The high point of the protest is that women are leading it.
Trouble started for Mathura BJP MP Hema Malini when her party leaders, including the BJP’s former district president Madhu Sharma, began supporting the protest, criticising Hema Malini for going ahead with the corridor without paying heed to the voices in her constituency. BJP leader Sharma has said: “Hema as woman MP is a disgrace for Mathura … not listening to the voices of affected women.”
Women shopkeepers have taken serious issue with Hema Malini’s letter to CM Yogi Adityanath to expedite the project. Protesters have since come down heavily on the star, believing she is adamant about building the corridor for outsider devotees, not for her constituents.
All within the family: Abhay vs Dushyant
Haryana, where political drama is quite commonplace, is witnessing another within the Chautala clan. It all started with Abhay Singh Chautala, the firebrand chief of Indian National Lok Dal, making a surprising statement: “Give me the CM’s chair for just one day, and I will make every goon in Haryana flee faster than you can say ‘lathi charge’!”
Ajay, Dushyant’s father, broke away to form the JJP in 2018 after falling out with Abhay. Since then, it has been a game of one-upmanship between the two branches of the family, with each side staking claim to Devi Lal’s legacy with verbal volleys.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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