Deep Throat

Delhi
Cracks In The Mirror

The revelation that Nobel winner Aung San Syu Kyi mumbled “No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim” during her interview with the BBC’s Mishal Husain has been just another crack on her perfect glaze. Mishal was picked because of her Muslim background. But a while earlier, a prominent diplomat based in Delhi did something similar, yet different. When he arrived for an interview at Dilli Haat and realised he was not going to be interviewed by Husain as he expected, he kicked up a fuss and threatened to leave. He was upset to be interviewed by another anchor, with whom he didn’t have as much in common.

Gujarat
Shadow-Lined Plea

Eyebrows have shot up over Gujarat cadre IPS officer Satish Verma’s application for a copy of the CBI’s second affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan case being turned down by a court. Reason: Verma, who is now on deputation in Meghalaya, was not only a part of the three-member SIT but also on the CBI’s team that looked into the case. Verma had filed the application after TV channels worked up a frenzy over the 2014 affidavit against IB officers. Verma obviously smelt a rat and people who know claim that the chargesheet eventually filed by the CBI is not the one written and vetted by Verma.

Madhya Pradesh
Double Tragedy

Many a senior IAS officer is saddened by the death of five young men in a boat capsize in the Lower Lake of Bhopal—but the babus aren’t grieving for their families. They are upset because the Bhopal Municipal Corporation has banned boating after dark in all the ten lakes of the city. Senior bureaucrats used to enjoy a sundowner while sailing in the placid waters of Bhopal’s Upper Lake, one of the biggest manmade lakes in the country. But with the CM directing that not a single boat should sail in the lakes after sunset, these parties may become a thing of the past. “If a few irresponsible young lads commit a foolish act, why should everybody be penalised?” one babu asked.

Uttar Pradesh
All She Surveys

Assembly elections are 11 months away, but the pre-poll games have begun. Taking the lead this time is BSP supremo Mayawati. An opinion poll, rumoured to be masterminded by her, shows her party way ahead of the others, with the BJP in second place, followed by the ruling Samajwadi Party. Analysts say this is part of a skillful political design—knowing that Mulayam Singh Yadav is fast losing his grip over what used to be his exclusive Muslim votebank has lent BSP the oppo­r­tunity to bait the minority com­­­m­unity. What could be a subtler way of doing so than that?

Heard Infighting over cabinet formation in J&K has begun following MoS Jitender Singh’s fallout with Congressman-turned-BJP-leader Ch. Lal Singh, who was health minister in Mufti’s team

Overheard At the BJP’s national executive, general secretary Ram Lal, an RSS nominee, droned on, eulogising Modi. A Union minister who called Modi ‘God’s gift to India’ might have been inspired by Lal.

Contributed by Anoo Bhuyan, K.S. Shaini, Uttam Sengupta, Sharad Pradhan and Bula Devi