Below the line

All eyes on EC

With allegations surfacing on money power being used yet again to influence voters in Chennai’s RK Nagar Assembly constituency for the December 21 poll, all eyes are now on the Election Commission, to see if the polls are scrapped once again or not.

The going rate, if whispers in the corridors of power are anything to go by, is as high as ₹10,000 in cash for a vote. As one political observer pithily put it, the asking rate has clearly gone up among the TN electorate. Don’t settle for less?

Knight in the lion’s den

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not hold back his punches while questioning the role of industry when banks were disbursing loans that have now turned into non-performing assets. While addressing the 90th annual general meeting of FICCI, Modi not only said that industry bodies should have been vigilant in flagging such spurious loan disbursals, but also went a step ahead and said that the real estate crisis too is an inherited one which could have been averted if the industry had adhered to appropriate checks and balances. Taking a direct hit, Modi said, “I am saying these things while knowing that a fourth of FICCI’s membership is from companies active in the real estate sector.”

Open Secret

Government documents have always been an enigma of sorts. From convoluted sentences to long-winding arguments, there is hardly an order, resolution, or notification that makes sense to a commoner in the first read. The power ministry’s recently released guidelines for Ultra Mega Power Plants is an numbing example.

As a result, industry representatives in general appeared wary of commenting on them. Those that did so insisted on calling these massive projects as urban legends while assessing the tepid power demand in the country. The document uploaded on the Ministry’s website too was marked ‘Secret’, suggesting that even the Government was sceptical of publicly discussing this scheme.

Donning a hat or two

Industrialist Naveen Jindal has been in the eye of the storm since the coal scam case gathered steam. But Jindal, unlike other industrialists, who are generally subdued in a minister’s presence, did not refrain from hitting out at the Government’s position regarding north-eastern States and the Chinese encroachment in Arunachal Pradesh.

Jindal, also a Congress MP, openly flagged corruption involved in getting clearances for hydropower projects in the now BJP-ruled State. It seemed that he dropped the industrialist hat and donned his political one to take a jibe or two.

To mommy’s rescue

Sonia Gandhi’s last speech in her avatar as the Congress President was marred with unpleasant interruptions by over enthusiastic supporters. Such was the excitement among Rahul Gandhi’s supporters outside the party headquarters that Sonia had to stop her speech more than twice for almost three minutes each. Like a diligent son, Rahul rushed in to silence them after evident dismay by the mom.

FICCI still loves him

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra had a warm welcome at FICCI when he went to attend its annual general meeting on November 14. Mitra was earlier the Secretary General of the industry chamber before joining the West Bengal government. His presence at the AGM was seen as a homecoming of sorts by FICCI. Not to be outdone, Mitra at the start of his speech individually greeted many of the members and officials.

Once a Journalist...

The GST session tax at the AGM of FICCI had two former journalists as speakers, J&K Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu and FICCI Secretary General Sanjaya Baru. After West Bengal FM Amit Mitra’s critique of GST, Drabu joked that as a former editor he and Baru could visualise the headlines of newspapers on the following day!

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