Himachal Diary: Early poll indicators

The manner in which Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is extensively travelling to every nook and corner of the state has given rise to speculation of early Assembly poll. Though he has gone on record saying that there is no reason that the poll should be advanced but political analysts do not rule out the possibility. “Except when there is a Cabinet meeting, he is always out of Shimla, indicating that the BJP could surprise the Opposition by choosing to hold an early Assembly poll.

Officers allege maltreatment

Himachal cadre officers posted as liaison officers to the visiting senior bureaucrats during the national conference of chief secretaries held here last week complained of maltreatment. Many officers complained that during the conference, they had experienced how Indian officers would have felt serving British officers during the Colonial era.

Cinema vs literature

From the sessions conducted by eminent film personalities during the International Film Festival, one got a sense that cinema was trying to catch up with literature. “Writing for cinema should be considered literature or a form of literature, and it should not be undermined,” said Gulzar. But the literature vs cinema relationship appeared the other way round in the session featuring big literary names like Mridula Garg and Geetanjali Shree. “My award won’t remain the talking point for long, it would have stayed in collective memory for much longer if the recipient had happened to be from the cinematic world,” said Geetanjali Shree. 

Simmering discontent, indecisive govt

The simmering discontent among the employees raising slogans against the government for fulfillment of their demands is not going in favour of the BJP government as the elections are round the corner. Employee unions, including teachers, the HRTC, electricity and NHM staff as well as those demanding revival of old pension schemes, have separate demands but one thing in unison is that meetings do not yield results as the government is indecisive.

Inputs from Lalit Mohan, Pratibha Chauhan, Subhash Rajta and Bhanu P Lohumi

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