Scant respect for Assembly decorum

Bandaru Dattatreya delivered the Governor’s address on the opening day of the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha which lasted for two hours 20 minutes. The address was no doubt pretty lengthy but what was amazing g to see was the manner in which the ministers and MLAs walked in and out while others remained busy scanning their phone. Some of the bureaucrats spent time on their mobiles, mindless of the sanctity and traditions of the house and that too during Governor’s address. “Gone are the days when Chief Minister, ministers and MLAs took the house so seriously and senior bureaucrats sat through debates,” said an old timer. During the debate on Governor’s address while the Chief Minister was away, the officer’s gallery barring the Chief Secretary was empty. It is not just opposition Congress which pointed it our but even ruling party legislators and some ministers felt the lack of seriousness.

Parmar’s exit from Cabinet

What led to ouster of health minister Vipin Parmar from Cabinet was talk of Kangra district this week. Political circles were abuzz with rumours and different theories regarding the reason for shifting of Parmar from the Cabinet to the post of Speaker. The theories that emerged were that the national president of party JP Nadda, who also held the Ministry of Health initially in the state and later at the Centre, was miffed with Parmar. Another theory was that a strong lobby controlling lucrative medicinal drug business in the state was not happy. However, almost everybody seemed certain over the fact that Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had little say in the decision and it was taken by the party high command.

Uncertainty plagues BJP affairs

Unexpected developments are taking place in Himachal BJP. First it was appointment of former Speaker Rajiv Bindal as state BJP chief and now former Health Minister Vipin Parmar has been elected as Speaker. After the exit of Parmar, three Cabinet berths are now vacant but aspirants whose names are taking rounds are apprehensive and have intensified lobbying. It is difficult to speculate about new entrants in the ministry and anything can happen. So keep hopes alive till the new ministers are inducted, said a senior party leader adding that right now it is not clearly known when the expansion would take place and who could be dropped.

Disenchanted BJP workers

An extravagant show was put up at Solan to welcome BJP national president JP Nadda on his maiden visit to the state after assuming the coveted post. It had all the ingredients of a grand show with senior leaders descending from across the state and the Centre along with the grass root workers. Leaders harped on the significance of the workers in their utterances time and again but the disenchanted workers failed to extend the usual resounding applause throughout the show. While the lackadaisical response left the leaders embarrassed, it is perhaps a wake-up call for the ruling party as its grass root functionaries have clearly exhibited their resentment at the state of affairs. Weather this will be viewed seriously remains to be seen as those in power are often blinded, more so by the coteries around them.