[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]L[/dropcap]ate Seethi Haji was a popular leader of the Muslim League in Kerala. This rustic chieftain from Malappuram district had no educational qualification to boast about. But his observations and comments on national as well as state politics had assumed the status of all time comedies.
This woman has written that there would not be rain if trees are felled… It is a rubbish claim. Are there trees in the Arabian Sea? How come that it is raining in the Arabian Sea?”
– Seethi Haji
There was a discussion in Kerala legislative assembly way back in the 1980s about the massive deforestation in the State. Encroachers have been denuding the forest land and this had caused wide resentment among the intelligentsia. A leading poetess had penned a poem lamenting the felling of trees which she said would lead to severe drought. During the discussion, one of the MLAs recited the poem and said that the apprehension in the mind of the poetess was quite serious.
Seethi Haji, who intervened in the discussion, scoffed at the argument that deforestation would lead to drought. “This woman has written that there would not be rain if trees are felled… It is a rubbish claim. Are there trees in the Arabian Sea? How come that it is raining in the Arabian Sea?” Haji had asked in the legislative assembly. The Kerala MLAs are still groping in the dark in search of the answer for the question posed by Haji.
Team PGurus happened to remember Haji after seeing the speech delivered by Mallikarjun Kharge in Lok Sabha on Monday. Kharge, Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, who was intervening in the discussion on union budget 2017 to 2018, went out of the way to appease and impress his Madam, who was sitting near him, by ridiculing and humiliating Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the end, one could not comprehend what Kharge was telling as he lacked coherence, clarity and consistency. His brief was to attack and criticise Narendra Modi which he did as he and other Congressmen were doing for the last 15 years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat in the House throughout the speech of Kharge with rapt attention which means that he will give point by point answers to the utterances by Kharge. Why the Congress is going down the chute over the years? One need not waste time to find out the answer. It is people like Kharge who has made Congress what it is today.
The Congress leadership could have fielded someone like Kamal Nath who is famous for his articulation and erudition. But the Nehru-Gandhi clan believes only in total acolytes who can toe the line of the family like the Kharges and Anand Sharmas. Had Kamal Nath been fielded to sum up the union budget, the treasury benches would have been in real trouble. The listlessness of Kharge’s speech forced young Jyotiraditya Scindia to leave the House midway through. Before “walking out”, Scindia was seen expressing his disgust and disappointment over Kharge’s speech with K C Venugopal.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]I[/dropcap]n the Rajya Sabha, the government exposed its weakness during the Question Hour with Piyush Goyal, the power minister who was deputing for the water resources minister failing time and again to furnish a blunt answer to the question as to when the Cauvery Water Management Board would be constituted. The minister’s answer was vague and evasive reminding one of an episode from “Yes, Minister”, the famous BBC TV serial. The cabinet minister Jim Hacker asks his secretary Bernard Woolley, a career civil servant, about the answer to be furnished to a question raised by the Opposition. “Minister, it is very easy. Tell them the matter is under consideration”.
When you tell that the matter is under consideration, you mean that you are searching for the relevant files. When you tell that the matter is under active consideration, you mean that the file has been lost and efforts are on to locate it. It is that simple, Minister,” said Woolley.
A surprised Jim Hacker asks him what does that mean. “It is very simple. When you tell the matter is under consideration, they will understand that you are trying to locate the relevant file,” said Woolley. “My dear secretary, they will ask the same question after some time. What will I do then”? asked Hacker. “Minister, at that time you tell them that the matter is under active consideration. They will be satisfied,” said his secretary.
Hacker was not amused. He asked the difference between the answers, the matter is under consideration and the matter is under active consideration. “My dear minister, it is so simple. When you tell that the matter is under consideration, you mean that you are searching for the relevant files. When you tell that the matter is under active consideration, you mean that the file has been lost and efforts are on to locate it. It is that simple, Minister,” said Woolley.
Even after all the explanations furnished by Piyush Goyal, none in the House could understand when the Cauvery Water Management Board would be constituted. The minister is also not sure about who the final authority is in river water disputes. Is it the tribunal or the Supreme Court? One hopes Goyal does not have a Woolley as his secretary!
He is a frequent contributor on Banking, Money, Investing, Technology and Education.
Detailed bio & posts - https://www.pgurus.com/as/
- Palaniswamy sworn in as TN CM amidst much drama - February 18, 2017
- How Vadaam Mami is thriving post-demonetization - February 18, 2017
- What are the credentials of Palanisamy? - February 15, 2017
