NK'S POST

NK SINGH The Bharat Bhawan controversy has taken a political turn, with one of its life trustees, noted painter J. Swami Nathan, launching a thinly veiled attack on the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Motilal Vora. The bearded painter said in a press interview that he apprehended a conspiracy by some "politically influential persons' behind the current "smear campaign" against Bharat Bhawan in the wake of the sensational Vibha-Karanth affair. In an obvious reference to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Swaminathan said the "conspiracy" was aimed at Mr Arjun Singh, the AICC-I vice-president and Bharat Bhawan Trust chairman, and Mr Ashok Vajpeyi, the culture secretary of Madhya Pradesh and Bharat Bhawan's trustee-secretary. Mr Swaminathan, who was 'lured' to Madhya Pradesh during the regime of Mr Arjun Singh, is considered a supporter of the former chief minister. "We will quit the trust," he had earlier told newsmen when asked wha...

NK SINGH With the Vibha-Karanth affair taking a back seat with the passage of time, the focus of attention is now shifting towards Bharat Bhavan, the sprawling lakeside cultural complex that employed both the principal characters of the highly emotional drama enacted in Bhopal last month. When the Bharat Bhavan management yesterday formally announced an inquiry into the functioning of the “house of arts” by its trustees, Ms. Pupul Jayakar, a number of cultural organisations in the city reacted strongly to the announcement, saying that it was like asking a thief to catch a thief. A press note issued on behalf of the Bharat Bhavan Trust said that any person or organisation wishing to lodge a complaint against Bharat Bhavan may send complaints or allegations “directly in a sealed cover” to Ms. Jayakar by June 15. The handout said that Ms. Jayakar, the Government of India nominee on the trust, had been appointed to inquire into complaints against the trust. About two dozen cultural and lit...

NK SINGH The renowned drama director and chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Film Development Corporation, Mr B.V. Karanth, who was arrested on Sunday night on a charge of attempting to bum to death Ms Vibha Mishra, the heroine of several of his plays, was on Monday remanded to judicial custody till June 10. Karanth, who is one of the foremost theatre personalities in the country, reportedly broke down and "admitted his guilt" after the police intensively interrogated him for a couple of hours on Sunday night. In a tape-reconded statement on Monday morning, he also admitted his "illicit relationship with the victim who is on her death bed with 80 per cent burns in a local hospital," according to the police. "Yes, I have indeed admitted my guilt in a tape-recorded statement to the police", a calm and composed Karanth told ENS at Vibha Mishra's house, where he was brought by the police on Monday to help in the recovery of a rope with which the actress had all...