Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Who really is CEC Navin Chawla?

Chindu appears to give Navin Chawla real undue coverage. Why is that?

Wikipedia has a succinct summary on Navin Chawla
Some odd highlights include,
At the time of Indian Emergency (1975 - 77) he was secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Shah Commission which inquired into the excesses during the Emergency, indicted Mr Chawla for having been 'authoritarian and callous' and for gross misuse of power "in cynical disregard of the welfare of citizens". Further, it declared that he was "unfit to hold any public office which demands an attitude of fair play and consideration for others"

Or how about the Gandhi family connection?
He has been considered close to the Gandhi family. Apart from his documented proximity to Sanjay, his mother was the gynaecologist who supervised Priyanka Gandhi's delivery. Priyanka and Rahul are reported to be "very fond of him."

Or running private trusts on behalf of the Congress,
Election Commissioner and his wife Rupika ran the Jaipur-based Lala Chaman Lal Education Trust which had secured MPLADS funds from Congress MPs — A.A. Khan, R.P. Goenka, Ambika Soni, Dr Karan Singh and Mr A.R. Kidwai. Exclusive: Chawla accepted funds for private trusts. The trust was allotted 6 acres (24,000 m2) of land by the Congress government in Rajasthan when Mr Ashok Gehlot was the Chief Minister.

And the icing on the cake,
The CEC alleged that Chawla had discharged his duties as Election Commissioner in a partisan manner, seeking to further the interests of "one party." The CEC report contended that Chawla would take breaks during crucial meetings to and secretly talk to functionaries of the Congress party and leak confidential details of the election commission.

Really some interesting character this Chawla is. Probably not since Seshan have had some bureaucrat getting this much media coverage.
And he's made poor Juhi the second most well known Chawla.
What do you think is the link between Chindu and Chawla?

7 comments:

kuttychathan said...

Thank you DD...So, Ram is batting for a person who was declared by a judicial commission as unfit for holding any office.

And as you ask, 'what is the link between chindu & chawla' There must be something fishy, behind that link. I remember, when allegations agaist the trust run by Chawla's wife, were raised by BJP, Ram published an 'exclusive' story with banner headline, white-washing Chawla & his gem of a wife. But, alas, Arun Jaitly promptly pulled down Ram's red shorts gave two of his best whacks. I remember Jaitly demolishing Ram's 'exclusive non-story, convincingly with documents to prove his point. And Ram quietly went back to wife to heal his bum with balms.
Now, Chawla was not the only officer, close to Sonia, who got into trouble during UPA regime. I don't remember The Hindu or Ram rushing to the rescue of any other officer-in-trouble, during the UPA regime.
Perhaps, Chawla a shady, power-broker had helped Ram & Co, in some shady deals. Remember Chawla was the I & B secretary during his past life, immediately before his reincarnation as EC...

kuttychathan said...

By the way friends... please see the Clarifications & Rectififications Column, today(23.04.09). Our beloved Readers Editor tells us that Vinod Rai is the Comtroller & Auditor General of India and not the Controller & Auditor General of India. Do they really need a readers editor to say that. What more... he tells the readers (in bold print) with the gravity of a nun, who is the headmistress of a convent school, that readers should mention the edition, date & page in their correspondence(so that he could tell a comtroller from a controller). Next monday, his bi-weekly musings will appear in the op-ed page. Wonder what he will be prattling about....

Anonymous said...

Navin Chawla is also the author of a biography on Mother Teresa. Every year, Chindu publishes Chawla's article on the ghoul's birthday.

Dirt Digger said...

kuttychathan,
Didn't know that Jaitly snubbed LiC.
Thanks for sharing that incident.
But you are right there's more to go around than we really know. LiC has literally been around with anyone from the Chinks to the NGO's to the commies to the Congress to the missionaries .....

Dirt Digger said...

Anonymous,
Thanks for detailing the fact. If you could provide some details from the book, especially some controversial ones that would be enlightening to our readers.

kuttychathan said...

Dear Friends... I have been thinking about the discussion we have had about Sevanti Ninan's 'Jigsaw Puzzle', last week. She made a revelation (atleast to me) in that story. That tens of news papers are thriving in Kashmir, without any ad support. She hinted that they were being supported either by the state or jehadis.
Friends... The Hindu has been supporting the jehadis and the UPA govt for the last several years. It has been pursuing this policy, braving the wrath of majority of its readers. Its own readers editor had disapproved of the policy, several times. But all protests were imperiously brushed off.
Consider this... The news papers of Kashmir are nondescript rags with combined circulation of a few thousand copies. And the UPA govt and Jehadis are paying crores of rupees, to keep them alive.
The Hindu is a news paper with a legendary reputation for quality and fairness (thanks to Ram's ancestors). The circulation of the Hindu is more than a million copies.
Now friends... Can anyone imagine, how much UPA & Jehadis would be willing to pay, to buy the loyalty of The Hindu... And do any of my friends believe that Ram, Malini & co, who own The Hindu, are such angels, who would not touch the money from government or jehadis?
For Kasturi family, The Hindu is their business. The primary principle behind the success of any business is to keep its customers satisfied & happy. The Hindu has been violating this basic principle with sheer arrogance & contempt, for the last several years. Now I understand, how they can afford to trample on the goodwill of their readers....

Anonymous said...

The Hindu (Ram) has been supporting not only the jehadis and the UPA govt, but also the desi commies and their videsi masters! Of course, we may include Frontline also to share this dubious honour. After all, Frontline is Chief's first pet.