Himachal Confedential

The ‘A’ Team

Some of the iconic faces in the state bureaucracy under the BJP regime have almost vanished—either retired or sidelined. The popular ABCD team— Asha Swaroop ,former chief secretary; Bhim Sen,CM’s principal secretary; Chandan (Vijay ),CM’s private secretary; and Dijleet Dogra,Secretary-GAD—are nowhere in sight. It’s now the ‘A’ team—Ajay Mittal,Arun Sharma and Ajay Bhandari—along with “Raj”—Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu—who are calling the shots.

Tikka sahib ‘aage padho’

Union Minister for Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya Singh has become quite active,hosting sports events and travelling to different parts of the state. Having actively campaigned for his father in 2009 Lok Sabha elections,he has again taken to the road,with one of his first stops being Hamirpur—parliamentary constituency of Anurag Thakur. His fans and supporters came out in his support with the slogan: “Tikka sahib,tum aage badho,hum tumhare saath hain”. But then,the BJP was not to remain silent. It had an advice for the young political heir: “Aage padho (do further studies in politics)” rather than aage badho.”

Out of the Woods

WHO says only IAS officers are born to rule and run the government at the secretariats? More than half-a-dozen Indian Forest Service officers,though their own department is in a mess,are the government’s blue-eyed boys getting plum posts as special secretaries,MDs of public sector units and heads of department. The IAS rank and file are unhappy and fear the non-IAS bretheren may gradually grab higher positions. “Don’t worry,sir,” a young IAS officer told his senior,“It’s like lodging lions from the jungles in the zoo. They will not last long.”