Of Madhu Koda, Shivraj and D company

Madhu Koda’s profile in Hindustan Times last week reminded me of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. I discovered many common things in the disgraced former Jharkhand chief minister and cocky Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Both were born sons of ‘humble farmers’; both cut political teeth in the RSS; both have been elected to Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha; both started –off with clean image; both managed to hoodwink people for long about their crores as CM.

Both are in early fifties. But Koda is now exposed. Will Shivraj too have the similar fate? Similarities between them don’t end here. The most striking similarity is that like Madhu Koda’s main corruptors—all those Vikas Sinhas, Sanjay Choudharys et al-- Shivraj too has a D Company to guide him on how to milk the government.

A suave builder heads the company. Top bureaucrats, police officers and, needless to mention, some media men, feel privileged attending the D company’s parties which, the CM too graces quite often.

Recently at a senior minister’s party, Mr D was one of the most-sought-after guests. The host sorely missed Mr D singing while himself sang duet with the CM. The host duly asked about Mr D from the stage on microphone.

Mr D is, arguably on top in the pyramid of power brokers in Madhya Pradesh. Mr D is also Mr Fixit. If you are a filmmaker, he will organize hassle-free locales. For a Yoga Guru, he has the requisite resources to ensure a huge jamboree in cooperation with VVIP spouse.

For officers looking for good postings, he is the one-window shop. The safest thing about him is that no body is going to write about his multifaceted feats. For, most journalists in Bhopal for now have other things to do- finding a house of their own is one for now.