JOIN USFreudian slips?
The campaign for the Madhya Pradesh bypolls is getting shriller with each passing day. First, it was former Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s ‘item’ remark (in reference to a lady politician) and later the Congress’ ‘dog’ jibe at turncoat Jyotiraditya Scindia. While Nath tried to ride out the furore over his remarks, Scindia, the head of the Gwalior royal family, took pride in being called a dog. “Yes, I am a dog and the people of the state are my masters. Yes, I am a dog, because a dog protects its master,” the Congressman-turned BJP ‘karyakarta’ said. Elsewhere, a slip of tongue proved costly for Scindia. Addressing a public meeting, he urged the voters to exercise their franchise by voting for the ‘hand symbol’, instead of the ‘lotus’ of the BJP. The Congress social media team had a field day trolling Scindia. ‘Old habits die hard,’ was the refrain of the Congress.
Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi
Quiet transfer
Last week, the Gujarat government quietly transferred a case involving two officers of Enforcement Directorate (ED) from the Surat police to the CID. According to allegations, earlier, efforts were undertaken to stop the local police from lodging an FIR in the first place. However, a police officer in Surat did not agree with the buzz. The Surat police had already arrested three private individuals but before they could trace the ED officers, one of whom was an IRS officer, the case was transferred. The case involves theft and selling of commercial vehicles seized by the ED itself.
Satish Jha, Ahmedabad
A miracle
A two-page printed statement in Rajinikanth’s letterhead made its way into several WhatsApp groups on October 26 night. The letter indicated that Rajinikanth was reconsidering his plunge into politics due to health issues. The truth is the letter was leaked and Rajinikanth’s office did not have any answers when media persons sought their reaction. With the letter in the public domain, the superstar’s office was forced to come out in the open on its authenticity. When he released a terse statement, he acknowledged that half of the contents in the “fake letter” was true. How can half of content be true and the rest be false? Maybe, it is the athisayam (miracle) that Rajinikanth keeps talking often.
E T B Sivapriyan, Chennai
Act of evasion
On Thursday evening, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was addressing the media for the first time after the arrest of his former principal secretary M Sivasankar and CPM Kerala secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri. The main agenda of the routine press conference was Covid-19 updates. Vijayan seemed to be in the mood to be elaborate on the Covid-19 scenario in the state. As soon as the floor was opened for questions, the first question asked was with regard to the arrest of Sivasankar and Bineesh. Vijayan managed to buy time by maintaining that he would initially answer questions pertaining to Covid-19. After putting it off, he asked journalists to ask all questions pertaining to Sivasankar and Bineesh together. He then delivered a reply, that seemed like a prepared speech, but did not touch upon Bineesh’s arrest.
Arjun Raghunath, Thiruvananthapuram
Man-animal conflict
Forest officials in Assam have stumbled on an unusual reason that has led to the increase in man-animal conflicts--CCTVs. As people living on the hills around the capital city Guwahati are installing CCTVs for security reasons, they press the panic button as soon as they see visuals of wild animals on the CCTV screens. “As people raise hue and cry and chase the leopards, the animals go berserk and often attack residents. Hills in Guwahati are the natural homes of the leopards and other wild animals and so they frequent the roads and houses constructed on the hills,” said a forest officer. Guwahati city has witnessed several leopard conflicts and several people have been killed or injured. In many cases, leopards too have fallen victims and have been killed or captured by angry mobs. “Many people are now installing CCTVs to keep watch on leopard movement and thereby take steps to prevent conflict. But in some cases, people panic leading to a conflict,” said the official.
Sumir Karmakar,
Guwahati