Diary of Covid Times
Former District Magistrate and Collector, Bhopal during the first wave of the Covid crisis, Tarun Pithode has written a book on The Battle Against Covid, Diary of a Bureaucrat. It deals with the management and the human aspects of Covid, with what he aptly calls the “juggle and the struggle” against Covid and gives us the perspective of someone who was on ground reacting to the pandemic as it unfolded. He talks about how TB teams were used for contact tracing, how Sarnam Singh, then Director AIIMS Bhopal advisory on quarantine was adopted by the GOI, how Dr Bharat Aggarwal (also a well-known face in the media world) developed a user friendly Covid-19 tracker grid, which helped him diagnose patients within 3 minutes, how the contact tracing software developed by the war room in Bhopal was adopted by the entire state and so on. Interestingly, Pithode reached out to colleagues and DMs all over India and has penned down some interesting anecdotes from states other than just Bhopal. While most of his colleagues were appreciative of his efforts in sharing their stories (and helping them get some recognition) one colleague was not as appreciative and has since then taken to social media complaining. This despite the fact that when Pithode reached out he made it clear that he was going to incorporate the material in his book; and due credit has been given to all the DMs whose stories are printed in the book. In fact, the book is a must read for those who want an insight into how our bureaucracy responded to the pandemic.
Presidential Polls
While the focus is on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections the larger impact will be on the Presidential polls that are due later this year. If the Opposition manages to notch up some numbers in the five Assembly elections, then the ruling NDA could have a fight on its hands. Already we saw Prashant Kishor reaching out to Nitish Kumar and while the focus was on Nitish Kumar’s candidature as the next Presidential candidate, there is also speculation that Prashant had gone to test the waters for Sharad Pawar’s candidacy. Just as Pranab Mukherjee had realised that he won’t be making it to Prime Ministership and so he should instead make a bid for Rashtrapati Bhavan as a consolation prize, it seems as if Pawar too has made the same calculation. The question here is that will Narendra Modi manage to turn Pawar before he can make his Presidential pitch?
A Winter’s Lunch
Sachin Pilot held his annual kisan lunch in the capital recently and the talk of course were the ongoing Assembly elections, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The menu hasn’t changed since the time when the late Rajesh Pilot began hosting the kisan lunch—makki ki roti, saag, lassi, guavas and gud. But for the journos this was also a chance to exchange campaign stories and while opinion was divided between the BJP and the Gathbandhan winning Uttar Pradesh, the general consensus was that this would be a close fight. As for Punjab, some reporters were of the view that while the Aam Admi Party could not convert its poll narrative into votes, the Akali Dal may show a surprising result. Here, the consensus veered towards a hung house. But it was an enjoyable afternoon under the winter sun with a lot of good natured banter in the backdrop of Sachin’s comment recently—when asked during an interview if he would also be joining the BJP like some of his erstwhile colleagues and friends, Pilot had retorted that politics is a serious issue, and should not be compared to journalists leaving one channel to join another channel.
While the media focus has been on those erstwhile “Young MPs” who quit the Congress to join the BJP and other parties, don’t forget the one who did a reverse migration. Former BJP MP and late Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh joined the Congress in 2018. He has since then been keeping a low profile, but his in depth understanding of national security and strategic affairs has got him some traction with the Congress high command. Whether it was his articulation of the implication of J&K being broken into a Union Territory or the current invasion of Ukraine, Manvendra’s domain knowledge has earned him much appreciation within the party, with one leader even referring to him as “Shashi Tharoor minus the Oxbridge English”. Well, while he did not go to Oxbridge or Doon School (like R.P.N, Singh, Jitin Prasada or Jyotiraditya Scindia), Manvendra was in the neighbourhood so to speak, having done his early education at Mayo College and then graduating from School of Oriental & African Studies in London.