Vaishnaw’s Bhaichara in Cuttack
Frequent visit by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to Odisha and his shuttling between two parliamentary constituencies of Balasore and Cuttack has raised the curiosity bar about his choice of seat for contesting in the upcoming poll.
Though the union minister has maintained he will act as per the party’s instructions, speculations are rife that Vaishnaw has zeroed in on Cuttack where the BJP has no suitable candidate for the Lok Sabha seat. In his last visit to Balasore, he had put to rest all speculations of him contesting from the seat as Pratap Sarangi is the sitting MP.
Going by political engagements and interaction with party workers during his visits to Cuttack parliamentary constituency, rumour mills were abuzz the Railway minister is the party’s choice for the prestigious Lok Sabha seat. Sources in the BJP said former DGP Prakash Mishra who was nominated from Cuttack is no more interested in electoral politics. Besides, Mishra is no more visible in any political activities of the party after his defeat at the hands of the BJD
- Bijoy Pradhan
Mahal Manda is a pro
Who is ‘Mahal Manda’? Even as the junior teachers’ recruitment exercise triggered a political slugfest between the BJP and BJD over irregularities allegations, the presumably fictitious candidate has taken the social media by storm ever since an admit card was issued in its name for the computer-based test. The name ‘Mahal Manda’ could have escaped notice but for his supposed father’s name in the admit card - Mahal Manda Pro.
While hundreds of aspirants sat on dharna alleging irregularities in recruitment process, starting from application process to selection of merit list, BJD leaders tore into Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for blaming the state government since Educational Consultants India Limited (EdCIL), a central PSU under his ministry, had conducted the drive. Both the BJP and BJD have fallen silent after EdCIL clarification, but Mahal Manda continued to trend. He even inspired a song on the social media. Looks like a pro
- Hemant Kumar Rout