‘Vehicle of Discord’
In a queer state of things, a senior political leader who was given an official vehicle and a laptop by his party for the political works he was entrusted with is singularly reluctant to part with them despite the fact that another leader has been entrusted with the same work. The leader who replaced the veteran is in a pitiable plight, as all his efforts to make his predecessor to part with the vehicle have failed. Forced by the situation, he has been using his private vehicle for the political works. Frustrated, he has decided to take the matter up with the party high command. This is because, as everybody knows, that his predecessor is pretty close to the party’s top brass based in Delhi. However, he is wary of taking his grudge in the public domain, as in that case his party’s detractors would get a chance to slam his party, citing their incurable inclination to cling to things which they are supposed to leave gracefully once relieved of the posts. The battle-hardened leader knows that the matter coming out in the open would cast a negative shadow on the image of the party.
‘Merciful’ Haste
The Chief Minister’s office has sprung a surprise by hastily promoting five officers, kept in service on the ground of mercy by a court order when Uttar Pradesh remained undivided. What happened is that 25 employees, kept on reserve against the vacancy of section officers during the time of undivided UP, managed to continue with their service after they got a relief from the court. The court asked then UP government to recruit them on mercy ground and subsequently, they were appointed as officers of junior most ranks. However, after Uttarakhand came up, five of them came to the new state. By happy chance, they found their ways into the CMO. While working in the CMO, they started wielding influence. In due course, they have got themselves merged in the state’s secretariat as senior most officers. Not just that. Their absorption in the secretariat as senior most officers have been effected in conspicuous haste with the section officers- who were appointed following the inception of Uttarakhand- being given a day’s notice instead of the customary 15 day’s notice to raise their objection to the proposed move. Now, in the changed scenario, these officers would have to adapt themselves to work as subordinates of those who are to remain junior officers, courtesy the order of the judiciary.