Off the record
Jaya’s tryst with destiny
A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. The cynosure of all eyes now is Tamil Nadu information department’s redone gallery at Fort St George, the seat of power in the state, with its amazing set of rare photographs of the AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha.
These black-and-white pictures of the early and mid-1960s’, much before ‘amma’ entered active politics are unique for their historicity. They also bring out how early in her career, as a classical dance artiste and actor, she won the appreciation of several top political leaders of the day.
Jayalalitha’s rare pix with late President Dr S Radhakrishnan at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, she giving away her jewels to late prime pinister Lal Bahadur Shastri for the Defence Relief Fund during the 1965 Indo-Pak War, and her other pictures including with Indira Gandhi, besides Dravidian movement leaders, Periyar, Annadurai and MGR, are all classy.
Symbolically, these pictures from the pages of history also bear testimony to how Jayalalitha has from the beginning been part of a contemporary pan-Indian tradition that unwittingly seems to presage her tryst with a larger political destiny!
M R Venkatesh, Chennai
Lengthening shadow
Reams of newsprint have gone into describing how the residences of corrupt IAS and IPS officers have been confiscated in Bihar. But that’s now an old and stale news.
What’s new is the information that the Vigilance sleuths are giving final touches to seize the property of a ruling party MLA belonging to the saffron camp.
Sone Lal Hembrom, member of the Bihar legislative assembly from Katoria constituency in Bhagalpur, represents the BJP, which is an alliance partner in the Nitish-led coalition. But the high-profile connection has not dissuaded the Vigilance men from seeking permission from the special court to attach the property of the BJP legislator, who has been accused of amassing property disproportionate to his known source of income. Actually, before becoming an MLA, Hembrom was deputy commissioner in the excise department when he was trapped in the vigilance net. In the run-up to the Bihar assembly elections in November 2010, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made a promise to the people that if re-elected, he would set up government schools after confiscating buildings of corrupt officers in the state.
Within a year, the promise was fulfilled. “When I first proposed such action (confiscation of property), the doubting Thomases mocked at me. Some said it was a poll promise, never to be fulfilled. But now the truth is there for everyone to see,” said Nitish when the court ordered to confiscate the house of an IPS officer last week.
“Let me remind everyone that this is just a beginning. Many other corrupt people, who are in the vigilance net, will face the same music,” Nitish added. The message was loud and clear for the vigilance sleuths, who are now giving a damn to political affiliations.
Abhay Kumar, Patna
Trivedi’s secret desire
Contrary to general expectations that he would be West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s unquestioning loyalist, Railways minister Dinesh Trivedi has started laying his owen tracks. A shrewd politician that he is, Trivedi never forgets to mention Didi’s name, but one can notice a gradual reduction in the number of references he makes of her name. His repeated assertion on “depoliticising the railways” too has sparked speculation over his desire of freedom from Banerjee’s command.
It is wellknown that the Trinmool Congress supremo has never been very keen in placing an independent person at the helm of the railways. Trivedi was given charge with the hope that he would not violate this unwritten agreement. But Rail Bhavan is buzzing with gossips about this sudden change in him. Some say this transformation has been caused by the Congress because he is completely toeing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s line on privatising the Railways. His assertion on depoliticising the Railways only echoes his eagerness to obey them.
Others, however, say that the minister is doing what Mamata wants him to do. She has herself been a strong supporter of privatisation of the Railways and now wants him to execute her plans. They say that desire to serve his mentor is the only force of inspiration. However, no one is sure whether Trivedi would be happy with freedom or servitude.
Anil Sinha, NewDelhi
