Political party spokespersons are there to give the viewpoints of their respective parties to the people through the media, right? Well, scribes on the Congress beat are sometimes forced to think otherwise, as on many a crucial occasion, there is not a single spokesperson available at the AICC headquarters even though there are six official spokespersons of the party.
For instance, on December 11, when the first phase of Gujarat elections were held, it was also the day when party president Sonia Gandhi sent her reply to the notice from Election Commission on the use of the term maut ka saudagar during campaign in the state. But exasperated journos found that there was no spokesperson available to comment on both the issues, even though selective information sent particularly to the electronic media that spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi would be available at his residence, which is quite a distance from the party headquarters, to give “bytes”.
Even when AICC treasurer and septuagenarian leader Motilal Vora requested him to come to the AICC — at the bidding of the media persons — he refused to do so, citing important work at home. This forced some in the media to wonder if his work as a lawyer was more important than his role as a party spokesperson on a crucial day, particularly when Congress has a lot at stake in Gujarat. And it happened despite promises made more than once that every day, without fail, a spokesperson would be available at the AICC in the afternoon. But then, it is nothing surprising in Congress, when general secretary Mukul Wasnik, who was given the task of a spokesperson nearly two years ago, has never addressed the media till date.
Utpal Borpujari
Chaotic snarls in the air
Bizarre things are happening at the Delhi airport. No week passes without some incident or the other happening on the airport tarmac, not to speak of the nightmare the passengers face because of fog-related delays and lack of proper amenities due to the renovation work going on inside the terminal.
Consider these incidents in the last couple of weeks: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi sustained a fracture as the coach, he was travelling in from the airport to the aircraft, suddenly screeched to a halt. Modi, who was standing, fell and hurt his spinal cord.
Next, even as the Civil Aviation Ministry’s ‘Air Safety Week’ was on, a jackal was found dead on the main runway which forced the authorities to suspend operations on it for 30 minutes during the peak hour. A pilot, who spotted a static object on the runway, informed the air traffic control [ATC] following which action was initiated to clean up the runway. The jackal was obviously run over by an aircraft. Fortunately, the incident did not turn out to be a major safety issue.
A couple of days later there was a real safety hazard. One of the three radars of the ATC started malfunctioning.
It took 45 minutes to fix it, but that was enough to throw the entire air traffic to and from IGI airport off gear.
About 40 flights were delayed, creating a backlog that led to acute congestion in the air and serious safety concerns.
Minister Praful Patel and officials had to offer explanation for this incident at the inaugural function of the safety week. So, next time when you want to board a flight to or from Delhi, be prepared for any kind of eventuality so that you are not taken by surprise!
