Ranking rankle
The memories of green nets must be fresh in the minds of the denizens of Dehradun city which the overzealous Babus of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) used effectively in different parts of the city in a massive cover up exercise early this year.
This effort done to hide the unauthorized garbage sites from the eyes of the visiting central team did the trick for the MCD as the city leapfrogged to respectable 124th position in the ranking released after the Swachchh Survekshan- 2020. In last year's survey Doon was placed at a lowly 384th spot.
Apart from using green nets to their advantage, the mandarins of the MCD had placed billboards along the river bridges to hide the filthy river banks of Rispana and Bindal. It is learnt that the many employees of the MCD were pressed into service to send positive public feedback for the survey.
While the MCD is patting its own back for improving the rank of the city it also knows perfectly well that the city has actually become dirtier in the last few months with return of plastic and cessation of drive against the encroachers.
The garbage piles, stray animals, plastic heaps, choked drains, potholed roads tell the real story of sanitation in the city.
Foot in mouth
It appears that the head of the saffron party in the Himalayan state is having a habit of taking foot into his mouth. In the latest such act the Netaji has pronounced end of the Modi wave and advised his party MLAs to remain prepared to face the electorate in the next assembly elections sans the Namo magic.
It is apparent that the chief was trying to hammer home a point to his flock of MLAs that they should work hard in their respective constituencies, show performance on ground and do not depend solely on the name of Narendra Modi to sail through the hustings but ended up committing a political blunder by stating something which is saffron party’s nightmare.
On an earlier occasion, he had stated that it is high time for cabinet expansion.
Many termed this statement of his as unwarranted since expanding the cabinet is the prerogative of the chief minister.
AAP factor
The announcement of Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal that his outfit would field its candidates in all 70 assembly constituencies of Uttarakhand has made both BJP and Congress to sit up and monitor the manoeuvres of the party which is in power in Delhi.
In recent months, the party of Kejriwal has intensified its activity in the state and has taken up issues which have caught the eyes of the general public.
The party aiming to create a space for itself in a bipolar political spectrum of the Himalayan state outwitted the opposition Congress in holding protest on sex scandal involving a BJP MLA and return of Khanpur MLA into the saffron party’s fold.
The grapevine making rounds in political circles here is that many disgruntled leaders belonging to Congress and BJP can hitchhike the ‘Broom’ of Kejriwal in coming days if the party finds some favour with the people of the state.
However one should remember that AAP had failed in its endeavour to make a dent in the political scene of Uttarakhand in its earlier attempts.