Straws in the wind

All smiles all the time
Sadananda Gowda aka ‘Smiling’  Gowda was seen smiling at 11 am on Thursday before any ‘bulava’ came from Delhi and at 11.30am when a call had still not come. He had reason to smile at about 12 noon when the call actually came. Gowda has smiled no matter what. Political observers will recall he was smiling when he became the CM and smiling when he was forced to step down. Smiling when he was made Rail Mantri and smiling when he was relegated to law ministry and then to a more insignificant statistics ministry. He smiled when they said Deve Gowda would contest against him and smiled and smiled. The reason is not far to seek because his very name Sadananda means ‘ever joyful’!

Double delight for Angadi Sahebru
Belagavi strongman Suresh Angadi Sahebru’s elevation as minister has come as a birthday gift for him from Narendra Modi. Angadi is expected to arrive in Belagavi to a grand birthday celebration on June 1 when he turns 64. A large number of friends and supporters gathered at Laxmi Complex, where Angadi’s office is situated at Sadashiva Nagar in Belagavi to witness their beloved  leader take oath as Union Minister on a large screen specially installed for the purpose. No sooner was Angadi inducted into the Modi’s ministry, Belgavi exploded with celebrations with people bursting firecrackers. But this is only a pre-birthday warm-up and the  final celebrations are going to be bigger, we are told.

Don’t  rubbish this
When Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi took oath as a Union minister, people in his neighbourhood were joyous.  Of course, they are delighted because he is now their ‘namma minister’. But there is another most important reason as to why they are beaming. Some residents candidly say they are tired, fed up and frustrated because of  a  ‘black spot’  near Joshi’s residence. Here is where people dump garbage and the area is like a stink ball.  The problem has only worsened over the years and complaints have not yielded results, say residents.  They hope that this black spot will be removed in a jiffy and the entire area will wear a new shining look and will be absolutely clean now that ‘Mantri saab’ ‘ resides here.

From complaints to comfort
In the last one year, ever since the Congress-JDS coalition came into existence in Karnataka, every meeting between Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been all about complaints, except the one on Thursday.  A bird tells us that perhaps for the first time, Kumaraswamy didn’t utter a single complaint against Congress leaders in Karnataka including Siddaramaiah. For Rahul Gandhi who was only used to listening to Kumaraswamy complain about lack of coordination, about this and that,  Thursday’s meeting must have come as a pleasant surprise. All that Kumaraswamy offered was comfort and concern. Kumaraswamy is said to have told Rahul that state Congress leaders are going the extra mile to save the coalition. Well, would that count as a first now?