Himachal diary: Patients await services at Shimla hospital

When will the super-speciality hospital, inaugurated by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur a few days back on the outskirts of Shimla, start treating patients? If the services will not start shortly, then why has it been inaugurated? Doesn’t the inauguration of any public utility send out a message that it is ready to roll out the services it has been built for? These were the queries of a Shimla resident post inauguration of the hospital. Clearly, she is not aware of the publicity/credit campaigns the government and competing political parties embark on when the elections are round the corner!

Everything is fair…

Everything is fair in love and war but in Himachal, another word “elections” has been added to this phrase. Senior leaders of major parties are switching loyalties as the elections are round the corner. Political parties are on tenterhooks as poaching is going on and operation defection is “sudden and secret” and even unsuspecting leaders are defecting. Whether the seasoned leaders are quitting the party for greener pastures or the threat of the ED is difficult to say but it has made a mockery of political ideology and deserting a party after staying in it for 30 to 40 years is no taboo, said a veteran politician, who has quit electoral politics.

Politics over Dasehra

In Haripur of Dehra, there was a row over the celebration of Dasehra. The organising committee was under pressure from various political leaders to invite them as chief guest for the function. The row reached such a level that there was a split in the committee. People say even the religious events get mired in controversy due to politics and elections.

Contributed by Bhanu P Lohumi, Lalit Mohan and Subhash Rajta