New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) power-packed rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow earlier this month not only brought praise for party supremo Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand but for another young face: Kapil Mishra, son of senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra.
During her speech, after praising Akash, Mayawati lauded Kapil for his efforts, bringing a sense of relief to his father who has been keen on establishing his son’s position within the party.
Kapil, 38, a law graduate who also manages the family’s business and an NGO, has been active in the BSP since 2021. He made his first public appearance during the BSP’s 2022 election campaign but now Mayawati’s public appreciation is seen as a boost to his prospects for a bigger role in the party.
Both father and son played key roles in managing and organising the 9 October BSP rally, where Mayawati delivered a strong message of unity to party workers. Following her remarks, many in the party have started seeking more information about Kapil, eager to connect with him.
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Struggle to get officials moving in AP
“Getting government officials to work is the hardest work in the government,” says a now “wised-up” senior Telugu Desam party (TDP) leader and chairman of an important corporation in the Chandrababu Naidu-led government in Andhra Pradesh
The society was incorporated after Naidu took over as CM last year, with a mandate to fulfil one of the ‘super-six’ promises related to the youth. The above-mentioned chairman is apparently unable to get the IAS officer concerned to convene an important meeting for months now.
The disenchanted leader is now spending some of the time in Hyderabad “as his efforts and involvement are not bearing much result, given the official apathy,” say insiders. This chairman is not a lone case, as a few other such corporations and board heads—all political appointees from the TDP and allies Jana Sena Party and Bharatiya Janata Party—are apparently miffed with the respective IAS, IFS or other such senior officers entrusted to their bodies as member secretaries or managing directors. The chairman of another board has been telling whoever cares to listen: “Sometimes I feel our member secretary does not even acknowledge my presence. We chairmen feel we have become ceremonial figures much like the Governors, in the absence of cheque powers and authority to issue orders.”
In one such case earlier this year that even troubled Naidu, the chairman of Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited, G.V. Reddy, resigned from his position after a fallout with K. Dinesh Kumar, IAS and managing director of the corporation.
Days before his exit, Reddy held press conferences levelling serious allegations against Kumar, stating that officials were refusing to implement decisions taken by the managing committee, like removal of employees not recruited properly earlier.
Even after Naidu warning Reddy to desist from going public over such matters, Reddy, a vocal leader, resigned from his post and TDP membership. Following this, Kumar was also transferred out from FiberNet.
In another instance of “humiliation”, a senior TDP leader and vice-chairman of an authority “was not allowed to speak” at a conference attended by the CM on the very subject of the body he heads.
Milma ad lands in trouble
As the Congress unit in Kerala is stepping up its offensive against the state police for allegedly attacking its Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil during a scuffle between activists of the ruling LDF and opposition UDF, an ad by Kerala government’s Milma cooperative society has raised eyebrows for featuring a “caricature of the MP’s injured face”.
Milma ice creams published an ad poster Thursday featuring the character Thorappan Kochunni, a thief from the 2003 Malayalam comedy movie C.I.D. Moosa, essayed by actor Harisree Ashokan. It portrayed the character with bandages on his nose, holding an ice cream with the caption ‘Enik Kazhikanalle ariyu, Vangan ariyillallo (I only know how to eat, don’t know how to buy–Thorappan Kochunni)’.
The ad triggered a backlash due to the character’s apparent similarity to Parambil and the plastered nose. Shafi had suffered injuries on his nose after the clash in Kozhikode’s Perambra following a college union election.
The Congress is alleging that the police attacked the MP deliberately. The party has also said it would approach the parliamentary committee on privilege in the Lok Sabha to seek action against the police personnel. Milma has now withdrawn its ad.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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