Political faux pas
With responsibility comes wisdom and maturity. But the ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from state do not seem to agree with this adage. “They think otherwise and therefore, the state’s Law Minister does not hesitate in committing faux pas and even go to the extent of assaulting a government official without considering about its repercussions,” says the Opposition Congress. The incident drew flak from all corners. The Congress promptly derived political mileage from the incident and lashed out at the government for failing to teach discipline to its ministers. The victim official also got support from his Dewangan community that demanded sacking of the cabinet minister.
The tribal populated state that has witnessed less development and more controversies during the past ten years is utterly stunned by this new episode.
The Chief Minister Raman Singh led BJP government in the state that has won the people’s mandate for the second consecutive time, too, startled by the inexpedient approach of its mellow minister.
The alleged slapping incident occurred in the state’s Bilaspur city during the high profile visit of Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan, arrived to attend a lecture programme organized by former Advocate General Ravindra Shrivastava in memory of his late father at High Court (HC) premises on March 20, 2010.
Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, CM Raman Singh, state Law Minister Ramvichar Netam, Chief Justice of state HC Rajeev Gupta, all the HC judges and three judges from Supreme Court of India besides CJI KG Balakrishnan were among the invited guests for the programme.
The Bilaspur district administration had made different stay arrangements for all the invited guests. Chhattisgarh Bhawan was reserved for CJI Balakrishnan while Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily was supposed to stay at Circuit House, however his itinerary changed a day before and he could not turn up. The stay arrangements for the CM Raman Singh and state Law Minister Ramvichar Netam was at the guest house of South Eastern Coalfields limited (SECL).
To ensure adequate arrangements in all the three locations, the Deputy Collectors and Nayab Tehsildars were entrusted with separate responsibilities. Protocol Officer and Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Santosh Dewangan who became victim of Netam’s ire was responsible for the arrangements at the programme spot on the High Court premises. While the charge of SECL guest house was given to Deputy Collector D K Agrawal and Nayab Tehsildar G K Tiwari.
The lecture programme was followed by lunch in the same place that commenced at about 1.30 pm. Dewangan was busy in the arrangement when he received message from District Collector Sonmani Borah at 2 p.m. that Netam wanted to meet him at SECL guest house.
Dewangan reached SECL guest house along with one Nayab Tehsildar. There, he learnt from one of Netam’s staffers that the minister was severely upset for some reason.
He inquired from Netam’s assistant Ramesh about the reasons of the minister’s wrath. Ramesh informed that the guest house caretaker delayed in opening the reserved room for Netam, as he could not identify him. Dewangan confirmed that the caretaker opened the room after speaking to him over a phone.
Unaware about the upcoming circumstances, Dewangan entered into Netam’s room in bewilderment where the minister was accompanied by one of his assistants and one personal security officer (PSO).
Netam fumed when he saw Dewangan and asked why the room was not booked for him in advance. He said, “The minister asked me about the reasons for failing to maintain the protocol and while expressing his displeasure over the arrangements, he suddenly slapped me.”
In the next moment, Dewangan was out of Netam’s room where he first informed about the incident to Nayab Tehsildar and then to the minister’s assistant Ramesh. Then he narrated about the incident to Collector Sonmani Borah, Bilaspur Divisional Commissioner RP Jain, Zila Panchayat CEO Mukesh Bansal and ADM DK Verma.
The issue snowballed and the Dewangan community took out protest rallies against Netam and demanded of the Chief Minister to sack the minister for his misconduct. The community alleged that the minister deliberately targeted the honest official. The Association of State Administrative Service Officers (ASASO) also came into action and expressed its concern to the government over the episode.
On the other side, Netam said he had not done anything wrong and the allegations of slapping to the official leveled against him were completely false. He, however, accepted that he had sought explanation from Dewangan for not reserving a room for him in the SECL guest house. Considering Netam’s situation, the tribal community came to his rescue and alleged that a section of people had conspired to tarnish the minister’s image.
While, the officials engaged in the arrangement on March 20 on anonymity informed that mismanagement at the guest house was certainly not the reason for the minister’s outrage, but instead he got annoyed when he found that there was no sitting arrangement for him at the stage during programme.
They further informed that the sitting arrangement for the invited guests and the audience was done by the organizers and that the officials were unaware about it.
On March 22, 2010, Chief Minister called Dewangan to know his version on the incident. Dewangan was accompanied by a delegation of SAS officers. After heedfully listening to the official, the CM, too, agreed that neither Dewangan nor any other official was in the position to alter the sitting arrangements. The CM assured the delegation that he would conduct probe into the matter. Later, SAS delegation also met Chief Secretary P Joy Oommen and briefed him on the incident.
On the same day, the CM asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brijmohan Agrawal to announce in the State Assembly that the government would constitute a committee headed by Commissioner to conduct inquiry into the matter. But when Agrawal informed the House about the government’s decision during discussions on budgetary provisions, Leader of the Opposition Ravindra Choubey objected and said such high-profile matter should be investigated through some committee formed by State Assembly and sought the Speaker’s intervention.
Expressing his concern over entire issue Choubey said, “I have also received a fax in which it is mentioned that the Law Minister not only slapped the officer but also pushed him.” He demanded for a check on ministers. At this, Speaker Dharamlal Kaushik asked the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brijmohan Agrawal to get an inquiry into the incident conducted by Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha Suvidha Avum Samman Samiti (CVSASS).
Now, since the probe is on, both the SAS lobby and the ruling party are refraining to officially comment on this sensitive issue. However, the episode had drawn an impalpable line of impasse between the government and the bureaucrats.
Controversies are closely linked to SDM Dewangan
Everything is not fair with SDM Santosh Dewangan. He has been entangled in controversies a number of times in the past. During the last term of BJP government Rajesh Munat was holding Public Works Department. Two years back, Munat went to Paththalgaon (Dharamjaigarh) to attend a programme. Dewangan was posted as SDM in Paththalgaon. Munat was not satisfied with the arrangements at programme spot, but when he inquired about it from Dewangan, he reportedly got crass reply from the official. Angry Munat would have hit Dewangan but he quickly controlled himself, informed sources close to the minister. According to information, Dewangan had locked in heated exchanges with the public representatives, a host of times.
Minister’s conduct was unfair: Choubey
The Leader of the Opposition state Assembly Ravindra Choubey says that the Law Minister’s conduct was unfair. “Any public representative or the responsible person in the government should not take such action against the government official or employee,” Choubey said. He said the government should control both its ministers and officials. Although, this time a minister had misbehaved with officials, there are various incidents in which the latter disregarded public representatives; Choubey said adding that Congress had raised this issue several times. Now the situation would improve after the Assembly Committee completed its probe, Choubey added. He alleged that anarchy prevailed in the system and there was no synchronization between the government and the officials. Consequently, the CM himself has to move around in rural areas even for the petty purpose of distributing bicycles among a handful of girl students, Choubey said.
I have no grudge: Dewangan
SDM Santosh Dewangan says that he had no grudge against the Law Minister Ramvichar Netam and that he believed in discharging his duty honestly.
The 39-year-old unmarried official became part of the government machinery after passing State Administrative Services (SAS) examinations in the year 2000. He is a follower of Gayatri Pariwar and believes in absolution. When contacted, he informed that the incident had taken place during Chaitra Navratri and that he was on fast on the occasion. He admitted that the guest house caretaker called him immediately when minister reached. “The caretaker could not recognize the minister and therefore he hesitated to open the room instantly. But in a fraction of seconds, he called me up and the opened the room for the minister. Everything was done considering tight security arrangement for the Chief Minister, also staying in the same guest house,” said Dewangan.
He informed that since he had not held charge of guest house arrangement, he could not understand why the minister victimised him.
Dewangan further informed that after arriving in the guest house, Netam stayed for a couple of hours and looked satisfied with the arrangements, but suddenly his mood changed. He said even the minister’s assistant Ramesh sympathised with him after learning about the incident. “Since, I had known Ramesh for a long time, I told him about the incident and he, too, was apologetic over it,” he said.
I am innocent: Netam
The Law Minister Ramvichar Netam says he was innocent and had not slapped the official. He said, “I am a person from grassroot and hails a humble family.” He adds he would not mind even if the arrangements for him were made under a tree. ‘‘Even an ordinary man cannot give up his self-respect, and I think being a minister, if I point out that the protocol has not been maintained, am I wrong?” he asks. The minister said the allegations leveled were only intended to sully his reputation. Denying the allegation leveled by Congress that bureaucrats do not coordinate with the ministers, Netam saod: “I am fully satisfied with the officers of my department, with whom I interact and I have good rapport,” he said.
When asked whether the party hinted him to avoid entangling in such incidents or controversies, he said the party trusts its ministers and never did it take cognizance of such trivial matters.
When asked whether the incident would affect the party’s image at state or national level, Netam said the party was strong enough to deal such situations.
When asked what exactly happened on March 20, 2010, Netam said since the matter was being inquired into by none other than the august office the State Assembly privilege committee, he could not comment on it.
Notably, Netam has emerged as one of the most powerful tribal leaders of his party in Chhattisgarh. He has also earned a reputation of firebrand minister in the party. In the previous tenure of BJP government, Netam held Home Ministry that was taken away from Brijmohan Agrawal.
Netam has also been appreciated by the Opposition leaders in the past and they also felt that he would be the most suitable tribal candidate from the ruling party to hold the post of Chief Minister.
IN BOX
BJP is tightlipped over the incident
The BJP’s national leadership and the state unit are maintaining a conspicuous silence on the entire episode. Where the party leaders are trying to avoid making official comments on this sensitive issue, the organization’s top brass too seem reluctant to express themselves.
The party’s national President Nitin Gadkari refrained from making any comment saying he had not received any report from the state unit. When Gadkari insisted admitted of a passing reference of this issue made to him. He said state unit of BJP was capable of handling the situation. Chief Minister Raman Singh has preferred to remain tightlipped over the issue so far, is believed to have taken up the issue with the party President Nitin Gadakari and his state counterpart Vishnu Dev Sai. Going by sources, Gadkari directed Singh to ensure that such incident do not happen in future and the ministers avoid reacting in public.
The BJP’s state President Vishnu Deo Sai says that the party had neither called for any meeting of senior leaders over this issue nor did it issue any directives to the Law Minister. “The matter is not that serious as media has made it. The party believes that the CM can handle the issue very well,” Sai said. He, however, agreed that the issue would certainly be brought to the party platform in the forthcoming days and would ensure that the party leaders and ministers should avoid such incidents. When asked whether the party would take any disciplinary action amounting to even suggesting the CM to drop Netam from the cabinet, Sai said such steps were not needed.
Earlier, the CM took stock of the situation from Netam and asked him to maintain decorum of the party by not rebuking any official overtly. The BJP’s tribal leaders are reportedly upset with Singh’s attitude towards Netam. They have communicated to Singh about their discontentment over the way the tribal legislators were treated. Now a tribal minister is being targeted in a planned way, and the party instead of extending its support to the minister, is cautioning him, they believed to have told the Chief Minister adding a warning that tribals would not tolerate this shabby treatment with their leader.
With responsibility comes wisdom and maturity. But the ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from state do not seem to agree with this adage. “They think otherwise and therefore, the state’s Law Minister does not hesitate in committing faux pas and even go to the extent of assaulting a government official without considering about its repercussions,” says the Opposition Congress. The incident drew flak from all corners. The Congress promptly derived political mileage from the incident and lashed out at the government for failing to teach discipline to its ministers. The victim official also got support from his Dewangan community that demanded sacking of the cabinet minister.
The tribal populated state that has witnessed less development and more controversies during the past ten years is utterly stunned by this new episode.
The Chief Minister Raman Singh led BJP government in the state that has won the people’s mandate for the second consecutive time, too, startled by the inexpedient approach of its mellow minister.
The alleged slapping incident occurred in the state’s Bilaspur city during the high profile visit of Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan, arrived to attend a lecture programme organized by former Advocate General Ravindra Shrivastava in memory of his late father at High Court (HC) premises on March 20, 2010.
Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, CM Raman Singh, state Law Minister Ramvichar Netam, Chief Justice of state HC Rajeev Gupta, all the HC judges and three judges from Supreme Court of India besides CJI KG Balakrishnan were among the invited guests for the programme.
The Bilaspur district administration had made different stay arrangements for all the invited guests. Chhattisgarh Bhawan was reserved for CJI Balakrishnan while Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily was supposed to stay at Circuit House, however his itinerary changed a day before and he could not turn up. The stay arrangements for the CM Raman Singh and state Law Minister Ramvichar Netam was at the guest house of South Eastern Coalfields limited (SECL).
To ensure adequate arrangements in all the three locations, the Deputy Collectors and Nayab Tehsildars were entrusted with separate responsibilities. Protocol Officer and Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Santosh Dewangan who became victim of Netam’s ire was responsible for the arrangements at the programme spot on the High Court premises. While the charge of SECL guest house was given to Deputy Collector D K Agrawal and Nayab Tehsildar G K Tiwari.
The lecture programme was followed by lunch in the same place that commenced at about 1.30 pm. Dewangan was busy in the arrangement when he received message from District Collector Sonmani Borah at 2 p.m. that Netam wanted to meet him at SECL guest house.
Dewangan reached SECL guest house along with one Nayab Tehsildar. There, he learnt from one of Netam’s staffers that the minister was severely upset for some reason.
He inquired from Netam’s assistant Ramesh about the reasons of the minister’s wrath. Ramesh informed that the guest house caretaker delayed in opening the reserved room for Netam, as he could not identify him. Dewangan confirmed that the caretaker opened the room after speaking to him over a phone.
Unaware about the upcoming circumstances, Dewangan entered into Netam’s room in bewilderment where the minister was accompanied by one of his assistants and one personal security officer (PSO).
Netam fumed when he saw Dewangan and asked why the room was not booked for him in advance. He said, “The minister asked me about the reasons for failing to maintain the protocol and while expressing his displeasure over the arrangements, he suddenly slapped me.”
In the next moment, Dewangan was out of Netam’s room where he first informed about the incident to Nayab Tehsildar and then to the minister’s assistant Ramesh. Then he narrated about the incident to Collector Sonmani Borah, Bilaspur Divisional Commissioner RP Jain, Zila Panchayat CEO Mukesh Bansal and ADM DK Verma.
The issue snowballed and the Dewangan community took out protest rallies against Netam and demanded of the Chief Minister to sack the minister for his misconduct. The community alleged that the minister deliberately targeted the honest official. The Association of State Administrative Service Officers (ASASO) also came into action and expressed its concern to the government over the episode.
On the other side, Netam said he had not done anything wrong and the allegations of slapping to the official leveled against him were completely false. He, however, accepted that he had sought explanation from Dewangan for not reserving a room for him in the SECL guest house. Considering Netam’s situation, the tribal community came to his rescue and alleged that a section of people had conspired to tarnish the minister’s image.
While, the officials engaged in the arrangement on March 20 on anonymity informed that mismanagement at the guest house was certainly not the reason for the minister’s outrage, but instead he got annoyed when he found that there was no sitting arrangement for him at the stage during programme.
They further informed that the sitting arrangement for the invited guests and the audience was done by the organizers and that the officials were unaware about it.
On March 22, 2010, Chief Minister called Dewangan to know his version on the incident. Dewangan was accompanied by a delegation of SAS officers. After heedfully listening to the official, the CM, too, agreed that neither Dewangan nor any other official was in the position to alter the sitting arrangements. The CM assured the delegation that he would conduct probe into the matter. Later, SAS delegation also met Chief Secretary P Joy Oommen and briefed him on the incident.
On the same day, the CM asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brijmohan Agrawal to announce in the State Assembly that the government would constitute a committee headed by Commissioner to conduct inquiry into the matter. But when Agrawal informed the House about the government’s decision during discussions on budgetary provisions, Leader of the Opposition Ravindra Choubey objected and said such high-profile matter should be investigated through some committee formed by State Assembly and sought the Speaker’s intervention.
Expressing his concern over entire issue Choubey said, “I have also received a fax in which it is mentioned that the Law Minister not only slapped the officer but also pushed him.” He demanded for a check on ministers. At this, Speaker Dharamlal Kaushik asked the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brijmohan Agrawal to get an inquiry into the incident conducted by Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha Suvidha Avum Samman Samiti (CVSASS).
Now, since the probe is on, both the SAS lobby and the ruling party are refraining to officially comment on this sensitive issue. However, the episode had drawn an impalpable line of impasse between the government and the bureaucrats.
Controversies are closely linked to SDM Dewangan
Everything is not fair with SDM Santosh Dewangan. He has been entangled in controversies a number of times in the past. During the last term of BJP government Rajesh Munat was holding Public Works Department. Two years back, Munat went to Paththalgaon (Dharamjaigarh) to attend a programme. Dewangan was posted as SDM in Paththalgaon. Munat was not satisfied with the arrangements at programme spot, but when he inquired about it from Dewangan, he reportedly got crass reply from the official. Angry Munat would have hit Dewangan but he quickly controlled himself, informed sources close to the minister. According to information, Dewangan had locked in heated exchanges with the public representatives, a host of times.
Minister’s conduct was unfair: Choubey
The Leader of the Opposition state Assembly Ravindra Choubey says that the Law Minister’s conduct was unfair. “Any public representative or the responsible person in the government should not take such action against the government official or employee,” Choubey said. He said the government should control both its ministers and officials. Although, this time a minister had misbehaved with officials, there are various incidents in which the latter disregarded public representatives; Choubey said adding that Congress had raised this issue several times. Now the situation would improve after the Assembly Committee completed its probe, Choubey added. He alleged that anarchy prevailed in the system and there was no synchronization between the government and the officials. Consequently, the CM himself has to move around in rural areas even for the petty purpose of distributing bicycles among a handful of girl students, Choubey said.
I have no grudge: Dewangan
SDM Santosh Dewangan says that he had no grudge against the Law Minister Ramvichar Netam and that he believed in discharging his duty honestly.
The 39-year-old unmarried official became part of the government machinery after passing State Administrative Services (SAS) examinations in the year 2000. He is a follower of Gayatri Pariwar and believes in absolution. When contacted, he informed that the incident had taken place during Chaitra Navratri and that he was on fast on the occasion. He admitted that the guest house caretaker called him immediately when minister reached. “The caretaker could not recognize the minister and therefore he hesitated to open the room instantly. But in a fraction of seconds, he called me up and the opened the room for the minister. Everything was done considering tight security arrangement for the Chief Minister, also staying in the same guest house,” said Dewangan.
He informed that since he had not held charge of guest house arrangement, he could not understand why the minister victimised him.
Dewangan further informed that after arriving in the guest house, Netam stayed for a couple of hours and looked satisfied with the arrangements, but suddenly his mood changed. He said even the minister’s assistant Ramesh sympathised with him after learning about the incident. “Since, I had known Ramesh for a long time, I told him about the incident and he, too, was apologetic over it,” he said.
I am innocent: Netam
The Law Minister Ramvichar Netam says he was innocent and had not slapped the official. He said, “I am a person from grassroot and hails a humble family.” He adds he would not mind even if the arrangements for him were made under a tree. ‘‘Even an ordinary man cannot give up his self-respect, and I think being a minister, if I point out that the protocol has not been maintained, am I wrong?” he asks. The minister said the allegations leveled were only intended to sully his reputation. Denying the allegation leveled by Congress that bureaucrats do not coordinate with the ministers, Netam saod: “I am fully satisfied with the officers of my department, with whom I interact and I have good rapport,” he said.
When asked whether the party hinted him to avoid entangling in such incidents or controversies, he said the party trusts its ministers and never did it take cognizance of such trivial matters.
When asked whether the incident would affect the party’s image at state or national level, Netam said the party was strong enough to deal such situations.
When asked what exactly happened on March 20, 2010, Netam said since the matter was being inquired into by none other than the august office the State Assembly privilege committee, he could not comment on it.
Notably, Netam has emerged as one of the most powerful tribal leaders of his party in Chhattisgarh. He has also earned a reputation of firebrand minister in the party. In the previous tenure of BJP government, Netam held Home Ministry that was taken away from Brijmohan Agrawal.
Netam has also been appreciated by the Opposition leaders in the past and they also felt that he would be the most suitable tribal candidate from the ruling party to hold the post of Chief Minister.
IN BOX
BJP is tightlipped over the incident
The BJP’s national leadership and the state unit are maintaining a conspicuous silence on the entire episode. Where the party leaders are trying to avoid making official comments on this sensitive issue, the organization’s top brass too seem reluctant to express themselves.
The party’s national President Nitin Gadkari refrained from making any comment saying he had not received any report from the state unit. When Gadkari insisted admitted of a passing reference of this issue made to him. He said state unit of BJP was capable of handling the situation. Chief Minister Raman Singh has preferred to remain tightlipped over the issue so far, is believed to have taken up the issue with the party President Nitin Gadakari and his state counterpart Vishnu Dev Sai. Going by sources, Gadkari directed Singh to ensure that such incident do not happen in future and the ministers avoid reacting in public.
The BJP’s state President Vishnu Deo Sai says that the party had neither called for any meeting of senior leaders over this issue nor did it issue any directives to the Law Minister. “The matter is not that serious as media has made it. The party believes that the CM can handle the issue very well,” Sai said. He, however, agreed that the issue would certainly be brought to the party platform in the forthcoming days and would ensure that the party leaders and ministers should avoid such incidents. When asked whether the party would take any disciplinary action amounting to even suggesting the CM to drop Netam from the cabinet, Sai said such steps were not needed.
Earlier, the CM took stock of the situation from Netam and asked him to maintain decorum of the party by not rebuking any official overtly. The BJP’s tribal leaders are reportedly upset with Singh’s attitude towards Netam. They have communicated to Singh about their discontentment over the way the tribal legislators were treated. Now a tribal minister is being targeted in a planned way, and the party instead of extending its support to the minister, is cautioning him, they believed to have told the Chief Minister adding a warning that tribals would not tolerate this shabby treatment with their leader.
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