Pre-Truth — snappy, witty and significant snippets from the world of politics and government.
Online fraud nets Karnataka politician
The web of online deceit has spread so far, that it has managed to ensnare a politician in Karnataka. Former Mangaluru MLA J.R. Lobo has allegedly fallen prey to a scammer, who identified himself as an employee of the State Bank of India. Urged to update his bank account, the MLA reportedly gave away crucial details such as his bank account number and ATM PIN. The scammer made off with Rs 49,000, forcing the former Karnataka administrative services (KAS) officer, known to have a squeaky-clean image, to head to the nearest police station.
Unmindful of the ‘Noida jinx’
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seems to have decided to brazen out the infamous ‘Noida jinx’ — the belief in the state’s power circles that any chief minister who visits Noida will lose elections. The superstition began in the late ’80s, when Veer Bahadur Singh was the chief minister, and has seen his successors either avoiding Noida or co-incidentally losing the next elections if they do visit. Adityanath was lauded by many, including his own party colleagues after he chose to defy the jinx last December when he welcomed PM Narendra Modi, who was visiting Noida to inaugurate a metro line.
But the series of bypoll defeats in the state earlier this year, including in Adityanath’s pocket borough of Gorakhpur, and more recently at Kairana in May, had set off murmurs in the party over whether the CM would now avoid the ‘jinxed’ city. After all, Lok Sabha polls are due next year and the BJP’s fortunes hinge on UP to a great extent.
On Monday, however, Adityanath was in Noida yet again, this time accompanying PM Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in to inaugurate Samsung’s new factory; it was the UP CM’s first visit to the city after the Kairana loss. With this, Adityanath has now visited Noida multiple times, with many in the party attributing it to the chief minister trying to prove that while he may be religious, he is shunning superstition. The shunning of the city, incidentally, was followed even by Adityanath’s party senior, Rajnath Singh, when he was the UP CM.
A wary Congressman
Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil, who is now the party in-charge of Bihar, is not one to take security lightly. Gohil is known to take precautions while speaking on the phone and avoids lifts in buildings. The Congress leader is always wary that his phone conversations are being recorded and fears that he may be trapped inside a lift. As a result, he always uses the stairs in a building and gets a new number if he has to discuss something important. Apart from this, his house in Ahmedabad has CCTV cameras but the DVR of the camera has been kept in another location. This is to ensure that no one can damage the recordings in case something happens at the house.
A senior push
Last week, on 4 July, when the government announced a significant hike in the MSP of Kharif crop, the media was briefed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Everyone was surprised as despite being in the press conference, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh didn’t say a word on an issue that was related to his ministry. It has now emerged that this was pre-decided in the Cabinet meeting, that a senior minister would present the hike as it would give the move a big push. Rajnath Singh was preferred because, apart from being one of the senior-most ministers in the Modi cabinet, he is also a former agriculture minister.
Contributors: Rohini Swamy, Ruhi Tewari, Kumar Anshuman
Many Indians would struggle to name the country’s Krishi Mantri.