Full marks to CM,
what about ministry?
By Deepal Trevedie
Chief
minister Keshubhai Patel is doing well, but what about his ministry?
In the last few months, the impression that is going to the public is
that Keshubhai is doing commendably but the same cannot be said about
his ministry. The BJP, in its characteristic style, may be putting up
a brave face to proclaim that everything that it does is admirable,
but the reality seems to be different. Whenever there is a problem,
chief minister Keshubhai Patel and BJP state head Rajendrasinh Rana
try to underplay it terming it as a "family problem." But the family
problem seems to be now going out of hand. Many of his ministers are
showing signs that they have tasted power and want more of it. Keshubhai’s
attempt to "slow down" these ministers is a good attempt but an unsuccessful
one.
Look at Vajubhai Vala,
the way he went beserk obliging family and friends by giving away valuable
government land at throwaway token prices to parties that cater his
personal interest, has put the chief minister in an embarrassing position
several times.
The chief minister has
been smart enough to tactfully sidelined the land-lover Vala who is
the state’s finance and revenue minister. His number two rank has been
tactfully sidelined and Suresh Mehta, till now the ignored one, is being
steadfastly "promoted." At least Mehta has a clean image and the people
of Gujarat still epitomize the BJP with a clean image.
But the clean image has
been getting a serious beating and this beating is has now become a
regular feature. BJP minister Purshottam Solanki’s brother has been
arrested for an attempt to murder. The cable war has become a dirty
business with musclemen with political patronage from the BJP calling
the shots with help from businessmen whose motive is just money, and
ethics figure no where in their list of values. Whether the minister’s
brother is innocent or not is a different matter altogether but the
issue has further spoiled the BJP image. Last year in August, another
minister Bharat Barot’s brother Atul Barot, a policeman had been caught
in a fake passport and visa racket.
Sure the BJP is getting
the taste of power and the ills that come along with power. So even
as Keshubhai tries his best for a bhaymukta, bhrastachar mukta, salamat
Gujarat, his ministers are tarnishing the image of Garvi Gujarat.
Questions
one should not ask
Some questions can be embarrassing.
Here are a few such questions you should never ask. For an easy reference,
we are telling you the people who should not be confronted with these
questions.
- Never ask governor Sundarsingh Bhandari,
Who do you think will be the next BJP national president?
- Never ask chief minister Keshubhai Patel,
When did you last visit a RSS shakha?
- Never ask revenue minister Vajubhai
Vala, Can you advise me as to how to take government land at a cheap
rate and then sell it at a whopping profit margin in the open market.
- Never ask Gujarat Congress president,
C.D. Patel, What’s up with Madhavsinh Solanki these days?
- Never ask Congress leader Shankarsinh
Vaghela, Who should be made the Gujarat Congress president?
- Never ask Ahmedabad Mayor Malini Atit,
What do you think about people in public office claiming money for
private and personal occasions from the tax payer’s money’?
- Never ask BJP minister Jaspal Singh,
who is the most publicity crazy minister in the BJP?
- Never ask BJP minister Mahendra Trivedi,
in case Keshubhai plans to reshuffle his cabinet, who do you think
should be made the minister of state for home’?
- Never ask Ahmedabad police commissioner
P.C. Pandey "What are your views on killing criminals in police encounters?"
- Never ask additional chief secretary
Mr P.G. Ramrakhiani of what he feels at his new posting. He gets transferred,
quite regularly, but the man who could be the chief secretary keep
on being shunted ruthlessly by the BJP.
- Never ask the state water supplies department
of how they manage to organise extremely boring functions and try
to compensate for the boredom with sumptuous meals.
- Never ask Congress MP Savshi Makwana
to tell you the address of Fab India, the up market shop in Delhi
where all politicians ranging from Congress’s Shankarsinh Vaghela
and Shaktisinh Gohil to BJP’s Kashiram Rana and Vallabh Kathiriya
buy their trendy looking kurtas. For Savshibhai is a true representative
of the masses and is one of the few men in Gujarat Congress who seem
to be concerned about his voters and their problems instead of indulging
in press note journalism or making politically correct fashion statements.
The Question of the Week that you should NEVER ask is, Never ask the
minister of state for home Mr Haren Pandya, Who is your cable operator?
Birds
of same feather flock...
Politics sure makes strange
bed fellows. The latest rapport is between chief minister Keshubhai
Patel and former deputy chief minister and Congress leader Narhari Amin.
Other than being Patels, both Keshubhai and Narhari Amin have nothing
in common. However, recently Narhari Amin’s school complex was inaugurated
by the chief minister. One group in BJP is not happy with this growing
rapport between the two. A function in Dholka and along with transport
minister Bimal Shah and BJP leaders Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Ratilal
Verma, the one whose name was on the invitation card was that of Narhari
Amin. Keshubhai's presence at a Congress organised programme in Amreli
too has not been received well by a particular group in BJP who feel
that Keshubhai should stick to BJP and Amin with his Congress. Well,
this politics sounds to be different.
Tell
us what do you think about this article?
