Let’s make 2011 about image rebuilding

In 2010, the state’s image has taken a severe beating. Whether by coincidence or design, prominent leaders from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have had to face the flak for corruption and commission. While NCP president and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar found himself battling the spotlight during the Indian Premier League and Lavasa controversies, Union minister for power Sushil Kumar Shinde and Union minister for heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh found their names dragged into the Adarsh scam that led to the sacking of chief minister Ashok Chavan. Congress leader Suresh Kalmadi was under the scanner for graft in the Commonwealth Games.

The low-profile Union minister for social justice Mukul Wasnik took a beating for the electoral disaster in the Bihar assembly elections. It is a different matter that nobody in the Congress dared to question the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who had embarked on a failed mission to conquer Bihar. With 2011 around the corner, one hopes the top leadership will join hands to launch a mission makeover for the state.

Austerity drive pain for ministers
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan’s refusal to sanction a Rs5 crore contract for the renovation of Varsha, his official bungalow, has many in the Congress and the NCP worried. A senior minister said, “Frankly speaking, we will have to consider twice before moving applications for the renovation of office chambers and government residence.” The concept of simple living has not gone down well among a section of workers who always await the golden opportunity to milk the treasury by getting the government to sanction high-cost projects. And to make matters worse, whether in public or private, a lot of contracts are inevitably routed by the middle agents to the ruling party members. In a candid admission, a Congress leader said, “Now I am sure the party leaders who are operating as contractors will have to look for newer avenues to generate income. Nobody can take this CM for granted when it comes to the misuse of money.

Cops take intelligence seriously
There is a saying: once bitten, twice shy. But when it comes to tackling terrorism, the city police appear to be still taking the information provided by the intelligence bureau for granted. Not surprisingly, they have promptly released the sketch of one of four Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, who, they say, have entered Mumbai.

This reminds one of a similar exercise undertaken by the police during Ganeshotsav, when sketches of two terrorists were made public. But each passing day saw the home minister RR Patil searching for answers as nobody could trace the whereabouts of the terrorists. Later, a senior officer in the home department disclosed, “An IB officer posted in Delhi had sent them a dossier complete with information about the terrorists, including the sketches. Without ascertaining the facts, the city police released the documents after seeking the permission of the home ministry. Those of us who knew the individual who sent us the alert dismissed the documents. But some still felt that since it was in written form, it cannot be taken lightly.”