DILLIGIRI DILIP CHERIAN
Dera does it
All will be known by Tuesday, but the BJP clearly is hoping that the last-minute support it received from the Dera Sacha Sauda will help it leapfrog over the AAP challenge and win the Delhi Assembly elections. The public announcement by Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh sparked rumours of a quid pro quo deal – clearance for his controversial film MSG in exchange for votes of the Dera supporters – and deepened suspicion that the BJP is the struggling one in this fierce contest.
There is reason for the BJP to feel relieved. The Dera has a considerable following in Delhi’s neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab, and claims to have about 20lakh followers in Delhi alone, of which 12lakh are voters. In the Haryana assembly polls last year, the sect had supported BJP candidates and the party stormed to power for the first time on its own. Of course, it is possible that the “alliance” may backfire for the BJP. The Dera is anathema to many Sikh supporters of the party in the capital, who may be tempted to review their support. But will the BJP’s desperate gambit pay off?
Babus and babus
There are clearly no fixed rules, even in a sarkar obsessively focused on propriety and transparency in its dealings with the bureaucracy. Dilli was taken aback when the BJP government sacked home secretary Anil Goswami for his alleged attempt to dissuade the CBI from arresting former Congress MP Matang Sinh in connection with the Saradha scam. Goswami’s removal came barely a week after foreign secretary Sujatha Singh’s removal in a rather graceless fashion. Both positions are fixed two-year tenures, meaning the incumbent enjoys a two-year stay irrespective of age and retirement criteria. There are only a handful of such positions in government – besides these two, the other fixed tenure posts are of the finance and defence secretaries and the CBI chief.
Goswami was shown the door to send a strong message from Modi sarkar that it will not tolerate acts of impropriety and misconduct especially in the upper echelons of the bureaucracy. In Sujatha Singh’s case, she had seven months to go before retirement. Curiously, when it came to former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha, the Modi sarkar abided by the fixed tenure “principle” and allowed Sinha to serve out his rather tumultuous tenure, although he was embroiled in a number of controversies.
Air show
The movers and shakers of the aviation world are soon going to descend on Bangalore for the annual Aero India show but Dilli is still trying to figure out whether it wants to salvage the multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter aircraft deal two years after it was signed or to scrap it and start anew. It’s a high stakes game for both the Indian and French governments. The nervous French are still trying to downplay the trouble being witnessed in negotiations, claiming everything is going about in the “normal path”. Still they thought it prudent to send the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius to talk to the Indian government. In fact, he was preceded by a high-powered delegation which landed in Dilli days before Obama came calling, but still the deadlock continues.
Some optimists believe that the deal is still recoverable, despite defence minister Manohar Parrikar hinting that the deal could be called off. Apparently, he is of the view that the Russian Su-30 is a more economical and sensible alternative. But all this just underlines why India is a key market for global defence aviation companies. The Bangalore air show later this month will see a turnout in full strength to hawk their wares.
Breathless in Dilli
US President Barack Obama reportedly lost six hours of his life during his three-day visit to India last month, thanks to abysmal pollution levels in Dilli. In fact, his team brought 1,800 indoor air purifiers along, so that Obama could breathe healthy air. No such luck for Dilli’s aam aadmi, who has no choice but to breathe the highly toxic air in the national capital.
Dilli already has the dubious reputation of being the most polluted city in the world, according to last year’s report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), but surprisingly that’s not a major election issue this time. In fact, going by the manifestos of the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, it is not an issue at all. Clearly, politics and clean air don’t mix well, even in a city that is in urgent need of some fresh air.
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