The officers who will take charge of new assignments will need some time to have grip over the new area. This will have ill effect on the campaign against Covid-19. Besides transferred officers will have to move to new areas without their families. In this hour of crisis officers do need the company of families. Besides school exams are beginning soon. Sons and daughters of transferred officers may be appearing in these exams. The wards of transferred officers will miss the presence of their parents. It is clear that these factors were not taken into consideration before transferring these officers.

According to another decision the state government has decided to post women employees as sale persons at the liquor shops. It may be mentioned here that the traders who won the tenders to run liquor shops have surrendered them because the government has declined to accept their terms. Trader wanted to be compensated for the losses sustained by them because of the closure of shops during lockdown. Since this demand was not accepted by the government traders surrendered their shops. In view of this government has decided to run the shops. Following this decision it has been decided to post women employees as sales persons. People are not happy at this decision with reluctance.

On the political front both BJP and Congress are facing several difficulties. The first difficulty is due to Rajya Sabha election which is now due to be held on June 19. Madhya Pradesh has to elect three members. Those who are seeking election include Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Digvijaya Singh is sponsored by the Congress and Scindia by the BJP. With 24 seats vacant in the 230 member Madhya Pradesh assembly and 22 former MLAs not eligible to vote the number of votes required to secure a Rajya Sabha seat has also gone down.

As per the present strength, number of votes required for one Upper House seat is 52. Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled for June 19 and Congress after the fall of its government has 92 legislators in the House as opposed to BJP’s 107. The present composition of the House suggests that BJP is all set to get two of the three vacant seats from the state. For Congress, Digvijaya Singh is sure to get his second term in the Rajya Sabha while the party’s second candidate Phool Singh Baraiya’s election is likely to fall short by 12 votes.

Congress is depending on former BSP state president Phool Singh Baraia’s Dalit card and personal rapport with the four independents, two BSP MLAs and one SP legislator. But even after adding all these members he may not be lucky.

State Congress leaders claimed that the upcoming Rajya Sabha election is one of the several factors why Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has postponed cabinet expansion.

“Toppling of the Kamal Nath government has paved the way for 22 former Congress MLAs who are now in the BJP, vying for ministerial berths. And the more these berths are given to Scindia loyalists, more are the chances of rebellion and discontent within the BJP.

“In the Rajya Sabha elections, no whip is issued. so, an MLA can cross-vote without the risk of his disqualification”, AICC media coordinator Abhay Dubey explained. Though BJP may walk away with two RS seats, yet Congress is not to give-up so soon. Sources in the party said that after the biennial elections, Congress will approach the courts against BJP candidates Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki. Senior Congress leader Digvijya Singh had in March raised objections with the Election Commission claiming Scindia has not provided details of cases pending against him in the nomination papers.

Phool Singh Baraiy had approached EC and demanded that Sumer Singh Solnki be disqualified because he was a professor in a government college on the day of filing his nomination papers. His resignation was accepted a day after he filed nominations. Scindia and Solanki filed their statements to the returning officer and were cleared to contest the Rajya Sabha elections. But Congress claims, it will reach the courts and fight legal battle against the two BJP candidates. (IPA Service)