Parrikar's dilemma
Will it be Panaji or Curchorem? That's the dilemma Goa BJP and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar are facing. Parrikar, former defence minister, has to get elected to state legislature by mid September. Under normal circumstances he would have chosen to contest from Panaji, the assembly constituency he has represented five times. But Panaji isn't a safe seat anymore, feels a section of BJP. Reason is simple, the victory margin of Siddharth Kunkalienkar, in the recent assembly election was less than 1000 votes. Given this fact, there is a feeling in the BJP that Parrikar should not contest from Goa as the election will not be an easy ride. Elites of Panaji are not happy about the way the BJP wrested power in the coastal state despite being second largest party. Secondly, there is also the threat of Atanasio 'Babush' Monserrate contesting against Parrikar to make it a prestige contest. Mapusa too was considered by the BJP but senior BJP leader Francis D'souza is happy with cabinet berth in Goa and isn't too keen to move to Rajya Sabha. The BJP top brass is happy that Nilesh Cabral, party legislator from Curchorem in South Goa, has shown willingness to resign his seat for Parrikar. Cabral won with a huge margin of over 9000 votes and hence contesting by election from Curchorem will be easier thanks to Parrikar's stature and Cabral's networking skills and connect among locals. What remains to be seen is whether he chooses a tough fight to return to Goa legislature or whether he prefers safe and hassle-free landing via Curchorem.
Village of books
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and culture minister Vinod Tawde recently inaugurated first of its kind 'village of books' in India. Bhilar, situated near hill station of Mahabaleshwar, is being modeled on Welsh town Hay on Wye, famous for its literary Hay Festival. In the first phase of this project Maharashtra government spent Rs 25 lakh to create the infrastructure, decorate the village and donate a few thousand Marathi books. The second phase will see the government donating English and Hindi books to this village where they have been kept in a special library and book shelves donated to villagers. Bhilar is know for its strawberry farming and the plantations are spread over some 8000 acres. Tourists who frequent Mahabaleshwar often stop at Bhilar to experience strawberry farming. State government now plans to promote 'literary tourism' by making Bhilar, a village of books. Initially, the idea was to develop Malgund, on Konkan coast, as the village of books. Malgund happens to be the birthplace of one of Maharashtra's finest poets late Krishnaji Keshav Damle who wrote under the pen name 'Keshavsut'. The government, however, felt that Malgund lacked the infrastructure and the tourist flow to the village wasn't much. Hence Bhilar, near Mahabaleshwar, was chosen. Sadly, however, not a single stalwart literary personality was invited for the inauguration of 'village of books'. All those present on the dias were politicians.
Corporator seeks salary hike
Rais Shaikh, a corporator of Samjawadi Party in Mumbai has launched a campaign demanding salary hike for elected representatives in Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation. As of now, elected corporators get a monthly salary of Rs 10,000. Shaikh wants it to be raised to Rs 50,000. Shaikh recently wrote a letter to BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta outlining his demand and justifying the need for the hike. He says that BMC is one of Asia's richest municipal bodies and a decent salary will attract qualified individuals to become corporators to solve city's problems. He also wants the conveyance allowance to be increased to Rs 500 per meeting, at present it is Rs 150 per meeting. The demand comes when the BMC has reduced its budget by almost 25 per cent to bring it below Rs 30,000 crore and bring in fiscal discipline.
