Raipur, October 22
It takes years to build an image and just seconds to damage it. Though, the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh was well conversant with this fact when it came to power for the first time back in 2003, it made little efforts in preaching its public representatives to practice fair politics. Consequently, loads of BJP public representatives are struggling to prove that they are clean-imaged in the backdrop of allegations including grafts, irregularities, misconduct against them.
Strangely, despite knowing the fact that anti-incumbency factor would be high after ten years of its regime, the party did not do image-makeover exercise by replacing the tainted faces with fair-imaged ones ahead of polls. In fact, the party seems least bothered about image factor and is rather pinning extra hope on these tainted figures to beckon voters and make a hat trick in state.
In two terms, the party obliged its stalwart leaders by giving them baton of boards and corporations. Many of the BJPians became members of these organizations. Exercising its discretionary power, the party also placed BJPians in civic bodies, janpads, panchayats, mandis and cooperative societies as office-bearers.
After getting posts, the BJPians were expected to serve people. For this, the government sanctioned massive budgets at regular intervals for their organizations. Unfortunately, majority of these public representatives turned into contractors, suppliers and mediators and started consolidating their own financial condition instead of working for masses.
In doing so, these representatives distanced themselves from the party workers. In the organizational meetings, CM Raman Singh did express his concern over the attitude of these representatives, but neither the party nor his government succeeded in taming them.
The ruling party faced embarrassment due to its ministers too as they frequently hogged the limelight for wrong reasons.
Recently, PWD and school education minister Brijmohan Agrawal had launched offensive against chief secretary Sunil Kumar and even sought his removal from the CM. Kumar became victim of Agrawal’s ire because he had urged CM to handover inquiry of furniture scam, surfaced in school education department, to CBI. Kumar did this because during the scam he was looking after school education department as an additional chief secretary.
The WRD minister Ramvichar Netam has also given intermittent jolts to the government through his queer activities. He is alleged to have opened covert campaign against the CM by uniting tribal MLAs. In the recent past, he had slapped one government official in Bilaspur.
He is also alleged to have accepted kickbacks to the tune of Rs two crore from manager of Indira Priyadarshini Bank to cover an embezzlement case wroth Rs 56 crore. The bank manager alleges that the CM and other ministers Brijmohan Agrawal, Rajesh Munat and Amar Agrawal had also received kickbacks in this case. Netam is the sole minister in Raman Singh cabinet whose portfolios were changed continuously due to his controversial activities and poor performance.
The tribal welfare minister Kedar Kashyap too failed to meet party’s expectations as the infamous gangrape incident in an ashram (resident) school in Jhaliyamari under Kanker district had put the government on defensive. The principal opposition Congress raised the matter prominently in Vidhan Sabha as well as in streets. The ashram schools are being operated under tribal welfare department. Ironically, despite knowing about the incident, Kashyap went on foreign tour. His reckless attitude showed his as well as the government’s impassive face.
Industries and housing and environment minister Rajesh Munat, though enjoys proximity with the CM, keeps on putting the government on backfoot either for thrashing an industrialist, misbehaving with the partymen and common people or for being allegedly involved in different scams.
Agriculture minister Chandrashekhar Sahu is charged of harassing an employee of krishi mandi committee. The employee later committed suicide leaving a note in which he blamed Sahu for his death.
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