Rajpal Yadav... kaun

INSPECTION OR INTROSPECTION

With barely a few months left for Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is busy inspecting and monitoring his dream projects to ensure that they get completed and inaugurated before the model code of conduct gets imposed.

The CM’s adviser, Alok Ranjan, and chief secretary Deepak Singhal are also spending their working hours inspecting these projects before and after the CM finishes the inspection trip.

Other senior officials are also inspecting projects like the Agra-Lucknow Expressway and ensure that their inspection trips get sufficient publicity in the media.

Not to be left behind, even scribes are inspecting the under-construction media centre in new secretariat building that is nearing completion. Senior ministers, including Shivpal Singh Yadav are busy inspecting roads and canals in the state.

But, despite numerous inspections flyovers, overrides and roads continue to cave in after every spell of rainfall in the Lucknow.

“It would be better if the ministers and bureaucrats tried to do some inspection and introspection about the quality of construction in these dream projects or else our hopes will also cave in during the elections,” a SP leader remarked.

Why go easy on Didi BJP leaders and workers in West Bengal were left disappointed by party president Amit Shah during his Kolkata visit on August 3, because in his 40-minute speech at a party workers’ convention, Mr Shah kept harping on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s achievements while remaining silent on the state government’s lapses.

But state BJP leaders expected a stronger response from Mr Shah to Didi’s repeated attacks on the NDA government and the BJP.

After chairing administrative meetings in South 24 Parganas and Nadia districts last week, Didi accused Mr Modi of either stopping the release of funds in Central projects or slashing their volume.

Then at the annual Martyrs’ Day rally, Didi launched a scathing attack on the right-wing saying, “If I consume goat meat, there is no problem, but if someone else eats cow meat, it is a problem. I wear saris, which is not a problem, but if someone else wears salwar-kameez... Who are you to decide what people will wear and eat ” amidst thunderous applause.

But Mr Shah was silent since the BJP needed Didi’s support for the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha. In any case, Mr Modi and Mr Shah know Didi is more pragmatic than the Congress and the CPI(M).

Rajpal’s starry tantrums Recently, a spiritual event organised in Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, threatened to get out of hand and spoil spiritual guru Prabhakar Shastri alias Dadaji’s programme.

Comedian Rajpal Yadav was in a hurry to attend the programme when Sagar police station in-charge P. Srivastav, who was assigned the task of supervising security at the venue, waved his hand to signal him to stop for a security check.

The actor mistakenly took the gesture to be a greeting and reciprocated it by waving back with a smile.

But when the police officer advanced towards him to stop him from entering the venue, there was a heated exchange of words. Thankfully, the organisers and the actor’s followers intervened.

Mr Srivastav apologised to the actor to pacify him. An annoyed constable remarked, “We cannot help if every Bollywood actor considers himself to be Salman Khan.”

Fearing that the situation might get out of control, Mr Srivastav asked the constable to shut up.

JUAL, THE LOUD SPEAKER He speaks less, but certainly not low. When he speaks, he ensures that the message is conveyed loud and clear to the targeted audience. Union tribal affairs minister, Jual Oram, who remained silent on many important issues on which his party was recently targeted by the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal, finally opened his mouth on Friday and blasted the rivals saying the BJD would get washed away in the Mahanadi river. Mr Oram’s statement came minutes after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected the breach of privilege notice given by BJD MPs of Orissa against Union minister of state for water resources Sanjeev Balyan on the Mahanadi water dispute.

BJD MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab, Nagendra Pradhan and Prabhas Singh had served breach of privilege notice against Mr Balyan alleging that he had mislead the House by providing incorrect information on the Mahanadi water issue between Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

“Now that the privilege notice has been rejected, it proves that the BJD itself misled the people as well as the Parliament only to hide its own mishandling of the Mahanadi water issue,” Mr Oram said.

Knowing well that countering Mr Oram is a difficult task, none of the 12 BJD spokespersons, who always try to demolish the rival camps by “absurd arguments”, were forthcoming to take on the minister.

Khaira hit on social media The TV was the trusted medium for the political debates, however, now social media is also turning an important tool for political messages. Recently Zee TV in Chandigarh invited panelists from different political parties to discuss and debate on the extent of drug menace in Punjab.

The prominent amongst panelists were media advisers to Punjab CM Harcharan Bains and AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira. As per the schedule, panelists reached the studio and were about to start the debate, but Mr Khaira was told that he was not a part of the debate at the last minute.

Sitting in the studio, Mr Khaira made a video where he was sitting with panelists and saying that the management of the channel had told the local producers he should not be a part of the debate. He later posted the video on social media and received many hits. At the end he received more publicity than he would have got in that debate.