A question of power

It is no secret that Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh is a confidante of Chief Minister Mayawati and, therefore, extremely powerful in the state dispensation. It was a point that he sharply reiterated at a recent press conference in Lucknow to announce a new slum redevelopment scheme. When a senior journalist asked Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Alok Ranjan, who was sitting on Singh’s left, a question, it was Singh who started to answer. When the journalist pointed out that his question was aimed at Ranjan, Singh said with a dry smile, “Main abhi cabinet secretary hoon na” (I am still the cabinet secretary, aren’t I?). Touche.