Off the record: January 11, 2021

Another memoir

After former President Pranab Mukherjee’s fourth and final volume of his autobiography hit the stands this month, one more memoir is slated for release soon. This time, former Vice President Hamid Ansari is coming up with an account of his life. The title is ‘By Many a Happy Accident: Recollection of a Life’. While Mukherjee’s fourth volume, published on January 5, dealt with his presidential years between 2012 and 2017, Ansari is also likely to talk about his stint as Vice President for the two terms. Incidentally, Congress leadership had toyed with the idea, for a brief period, of elevating Ansari in 2012 to the post of First Citizen but Mukherjee had finally made the cut. Ansari was a surprise choice for the post of Vice President in 2007. The book will be an account of a life of “unplanned happenings” that took Ansari away from academia to diplomacy and then to public life. Ansari was catapulted to the second-highest office in the land for two consecutive terms, a feat achieved previously only by Dr S Radhakrishnan.

Shemin Joy, New Delhi

Rough weather

Over the years Sonum Lotus, the director of the local meteorological department in J&K, has become a household name in the Valley owing to his precise weather predictions. From marriages dates to travelling outside, people make plans as per Lotus’s weather predictions; he is also known as “Saint Lotus”. He had predicted last week’s heavy snowfall in the Valley in advance but he couldn’t predict fresh snowfall on Friday as he had forecast that the weather will remain dry until January 17. Soon people on social media started to deliberate why Lotus’s predictions went wrong. Some people were of the opinion that his weather forecast system could have been hacked by ‘Raantass’ (witch) whose fake voices played on loudspeaker in many parts of Kashmir, a few nights back which created panic in the Valley.

Zulfikar Majid, Srinagar

A study in contrast

The farmers’ cells of the BJP and Congress are a study of contrasts as the Modi government tackles the farmers’ protests over agricultural reform laws. While the BJP’s farmers’ cell has taken the lead in organising ‘kisan melas’ across the country to put the farm reforms in perspective, the Congress which is demanding a repeal of farm laws does not even have a full-time President to head the Kisan Congress. The post has been lying vacant for more than a year after Nana Patole, the President of the All India Kisan Congress was elected Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly. Surender Solanki, the Vice President of the Kisan Congress, has been officiating as the President, but seen ploughing a lonely furrow, with a handful of is supporters. Solanki has been frequenting the protest sites and sharing photographs with the media.

Sagar Kulkarni, New Delhi

Advantageous development

One of the key reasons for the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front’s upper hand in the recent local body election in Kerala, despite many allegations pertaining to gold smuggling case, is the welfare initiatives of the Pinarayi Vijayan government, many say. Distribution of free ration kits to all ration card holders during the Covid-lockdown was considered to be a key initiative in this regard. The government has now decided to take more such steps as the Assembly polls draw closer. Hence, it is widely considered that the pandemic indeed helped the left-front in Kerala in terms of electoral politics.

Arjun Raghunath, Thiruvananthapuram

A BMC tour

Even as Mumbai is scheduled to have its civic polls in 2022, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters will soon be open for guided tours. “The historic BMC will soon be open to everyone. There are many things to learn while touring this rich history,” state tourism minister Aditya Thackeray said. In fact, the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, earlier known as Victoria Terminus – which houses the headquarters of Central Railway and the BMC Building is designed by British architectural engineer Frederick William Stevens. The MCGM was created in 1865 and Arthur Crawford was its first Municipal Commissioner. The Municipality was initially housed in a modest building at the terminus of Girgaum Road. In 1870, it was shifted to a building on the Esplanade. On 9 December 1884, the foundation stone for the new building was laid by Viceroy of the time, Lord Ripon.

Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai