Corridors of Power: The Chief Secretary’s havan, Congress rulebook on meeting Amit Shah and AAPs bulk message to all
(Express Photo)
Punjab Chief Secretary KAP Sinha recently organised a havan at his official residence and invited fellow IAS officers. The gathering, however, failed to attract the expected crowd. Despite several reminders, only a limited number of officers turned up. Those who skipped the event had ready explanations. Some said the long weekend had already been planned with family commitments, while others claimed they were out of station. But in Punjab’s bureaucracy, official reasons often come with unofficial whispers. An officer remarked, with a smirk, that many colleagues were in no mood for socialising. Frequent transfers and suspensions under the current dispensation, he said, had left officers feeling uncertain. “Then why bother trying to please the bosses?” he quipped. Whether it was holiday plans or quiet discontent, the thin attendance became the talking point. Sometimes even a havan can end up revealing more about the mood in the bureaucracy than any official meeting.The Congress rulebook on meeting Amit Shah Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa set political tongues wagging after he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a time when he was reportedly unhappy over being overlooked for a key post in the party. The timing of the meeting ensured that speculation spread much faster than any official clarification. Randhawa was quick to explain that the meeting was only about law and order issues in Punjab’s border districts. Fair enough. But not everyone seemed convinced. The bigger question doing the rounds was whether he had informed the Congress high command beforehand.
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