A tale of two chief ministers

NK SINGH

Going through my archive, I came upon a gem. It seems that our esteemed MLA from Bhopal (central), honourable Surendra Nath Singh, is a serial offender. In 1992 police had registered a criminal case against him after BJP’ organisational elections were rocked by violence, hooliganism and street fights. Singh was then the president of Bhopal district BJP. Another accused in the case was former BJP MLA Shailendra Pradhan.

Before your jump to wrong conclusion, let me clarify that BJP was in power in Madhya Pradesh at that time! The Chief Minister was the intrepid Sunderlal Patwa. After the registration of criminal cases, the party leadership also came down heavily against half-a-dozen workers involved in a spate of ugly incidents that dented forever the image of BJP as a disciplined party in MP.

Patwa, the legendary disciplinarian, died in December 2016. He was a stern administrator, who believed in rule of law and allowed his officers to act without fear or favour. The criminal case registered against BJP leaders, including Surendra Singh and Shailendra Pradhan, is a testimony to Patwa’s sterling reputation.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is a self-proclaimed protégée of Patwa. Paying rich tributes to his mentor after his death, Chouhan recalled how he had been seeking guidance from his political guru in statecraft.

Ironically, even as Patwa’s body was lying in state, a few meters away the MLA from Bhopal central was up to his old tricks, creating ruckus at Habibganj railway station. This time he was flexing his muscles to prevent removal of the unauthorized road side kiosks that have grown like mushroom under his patronage around the station. These kiosks clog the service lanes around Habibganj that the Modi government plans to develop into a world-class railway hub.

Bhopal Municipal Corporation could not remove the encroachments due to the MLAs resistance. It simply moved the illegal kiosks from the one exit to the other, literally shifting the bottleneck from one road to another, because Singh was demanding alternative sites for them.

It has become a flourishing and lucrative racket to first erect illegal kiosks on main roads, choking the city’s arteries, and then demand alternative sites, thus legalising the encroachments. The sprawling gumtis and slums have become a goldmine for politicians patronising it.

It is no secret that there is a well-organised slum and gumti mafia, controlled by small-time local politicians. It charges a monthly rental ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 from the unauthorised hand carts and kiosks.

The MLA from Bhopal central has emerged as the patron saint of all encroachers. Left to himself he will turn the city of lakes into a slum of shanty towns, chocking its streets with ‘thelas’ and ‘gumtis’.

He is no bleeding heart liberal, trying to help the poor. He is equally benevolent with all kind of encroachments. Last year he rushed to protect a two storied restaurant at Shahpura that municipal corporation was demolishing because it was built without approval on encroached land.

He has also thrown his weight behind the huge unauthorised furniture market that is blocking the highway near Subhash Nagar railway crossing. Last week he physically prevented MP Electricity Board from erecting facilities to improve power supply in the old city because he wanted that public land for a temple!

Politicians like Surendra Singh are emboldened because the government is gutless in acting against their illegal activities. A few months ago, along with his supporters, he attacked a municipal corporation facility in broad daylight and brazenly instigated the hooligans to loot the handcarts and kiosks that had been seized under anti-encroachment drive. The unruly crowd plundered the storage and beat up the government employees.

The police force and the executive magistrate present at the spot remained mute spectators. Despite a police complaint, registered after days of delay, no action has been taken till now, obviously due to political pressure.

That is why it is time to remember Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s “political guru”, Patwa. He was not one of those who believe that politics is the art of the possible. He brooked no compromises.

The State Government had launched a vigorous anti-encroachment drive during his second regime (March 1990-December 1992) as chief minister. The drive did not spare even ministers and ruling party MLAs, earning the sobriquet of ‘Bulldozer Lal’ for his equally intrepid local self government minister Babulal Gaur.

The man driving the bulldozer, metaphorically, was Manoj Shrivastava, then the Administrator of Bhopal municipal corporation. In a moving tribute to Patwa, he recalls that era: “Those were the formative years of my career. At a meeting in Bhopal, he asked. ‘Who is that Manoj who drives bulldozers and demolishes buildings?’ I thought I will be taken to task now and said, ‘Sir I can’t ride even a bicycle.’ I heaved a sigh of relief when he praised me in front of everyone.”

The chief minister, says Patwa’s chief secretary Nirmal Buch, would not brook any political interference in administrative work. That was the reason his police could register criminal cases against ruling party politicians.

Powers That Be, my column in DB Post of 1 Jan 17

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