Not letting the cat out of the bag

Despite being a strong chief ministerial contender, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda was at his articulate and diplomatic best in not letting his political aspirations out when he evaded umpteen queries about being in the race. Nadda, an eloquent orator, was prepared for such obvious queries from the media at a “Press the Meet” here in the state capital. “There can be any amount of speculation but what keeps me busy is my work in which I am fully engrossed,” he replied, not letting the cat out of the bag.

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Nadda’s proximity to PM Narendra Modi, party chief Amit Shah and other BJP bigwigs is no secret even as he tactfully evades queries of being a CM aspirant along with PK Dhumal. However, his frequent visits to the state in the recent past has not left anyone in doubt that he is very much in the race to don the mantle in case the BJP returns to power in the 2017 Assembly polls. The number of BJP leaders, vying to make their presence felt during Nadda’s visit to the state capital, also makes it all too obvious. Besides Shimla Lok Sabha MP Virender Kashyap, local MLA Suresh Bhardwaj, others who were accompanying him included former ministers Jai Ram Thakur, Narender Bragta, Rajiv Bindal, Ram Lal Markandey, MLA Govind Ram Sharma.

Warding off unwanted gift givers

Receiving gifts from industrialists in this festive season is a much sought after activity by the officials and their subordinate staff. However, an officer set an example by deploying a security guard to ward off unwanted gift givers at Baddi this Diwali. A few others also put up boards signalling the visitors to desist from offering gifts while a majority of the other officers were agog to entertain all and sundry as they asserted Diwali was an occasion to celebrate. What began as a symbolic gesture to greet officials more than a decade ago has transformed into a major officer-appeasing activity by the investors. Not only is an elaborate budget set aside by each industry to plan gift purchase and distribution activity but a whole team is deputed at least a month in advance, disclosed a senior HR executive of a key industry. The gifts range from electronic items to silver wares to kitchen appliances with sweet boxes and dry fruits too being part of the extravagant endowment package. Interestingly, the gifts were not only bifurcated on the basis of significance and seniority of an officer but selective items were chosen for departments having high value. Teams are dispatched to various destinations to ensure staff of all key departments was obliged so that the year ahead was smooth with lesser hurdles and more productivity.

Getting nostalgic

Having come a long way since his early days as a student leader at Himachal Pradesh University, it was a walk down memory lane for JP Nadda. “Being here with you all is like homecoming for me as it is with the guidance and help from you all that I rose to this position from being a student leader,” he said. “Having been made the All India President of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) I gave my first interview and then sough inputs and guidance of you all when I became Leader of Opposition as a first-time MLA,” said an emotional Nadda, highlighting the contribution of media persons in his rise to national politics. He was candid enough to acknowledge the inputs he took from media persons before making his first budget speech in the Assembly as Leader of Opposition.