CM's henchman in his own trap !

N D Sharma

Anoop Mishra The importance of Narottam Mishra in the political life of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan can be gauged from the fact that the Chief Minister had not removed him from cabinet even a month after the Election Commission found Mishra guilty of grievous electoral offences and disqualified him with the immediate effect to be a member of the Assembly as well as debarred him from contesting elections for three years.
Removal from cabinet, though, was a mere technical formality because Mishra had, for all practical purposes, ceased to hold all the positions which he was holding by virtue of being MLA the moment he was disqualified. Chouhan had hardly taken any time

Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narottam Mishra in seeking resignations of ministers accused of much lesser crimes. For instance, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education Anoop Mishra was made to resign in 2010 soon after his name had figured in a complaint made against some of his family members for the murder of a youth. Another Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ajay Vishnoi had to resign when the Lokayukta police raided the residences of Director of Health Services and the trail led to some of Vishnoi's relatives. They were easily dispensable.
Not so Narottam Mishra who, with portfolios of Public Relations and Legislative Affairs as well as Water Resources, has taken care of Chouhan's problems born out of his extra-curricular actions – and also managed manipulations adroitly. The opposition Congress had, for instance, moved in the Assembly a noconfidence motion against the Chouhan Government, replete with hard facts aimed at rattling the Government.

Ajay Vishnoi As the debate was to start at the appointed time, the first speaker (of course, a Congress leader) opposed the motion while expressing confidence in the Chouhan government. Amidst the turmoil that followed, Narottam Mishra, in his capacity as Minister of Legislative Affairs, moved a motion for adjournment of the House sine die and the obliging Speaker promptly did that. All within minutes before the Congress members could understand what was happening. On another occasion, when two Congress members had vociferously raised farmers' issues and the Government was finding it difficult to come with satisfactory replies, Mishra moved a motion for terminating the membership of the two members for bringing disgrace to the House by their unruly behaviour and the Speaker promptly did it. The communication was also sent to the Election Commission. It was all in violation of the Rules of the Assembly. As the two members were approaching the High Court at Jabalpur, Mishra persuaded them to return to the House. Again on Mishra's motion, the Speaker restored their membership nine days later. This must be a rare instance of mockery of the Constitution, the electoral law and the Assembly Rules.

Mishra's 'skill' is equally visible in the management of media. The media organisations in the State by and large 'self-censor' the news that is likely to harm the interests of Chouhan or his family members. Thus the deliberate trampling down of an upright IPS officer by a dumper transporting illegally mined stones becomes an accident.

Medha Patkar Mishra's 'skill' is equally visible in the management of media. The media organisations in the State ,by and large, 'self-censor' the news that is likely to harm the interests of Chouhan or his family members. Thus the deliberate trampling down of an upright IPS officer by a dumper transporting illegally mined stones becomes an accident. The State High Court appoints, on the direction of Supreme Court, a judicial commission which finds that thousands of families displaced by Sardar Sarovar Dam did not even know that the compensation in their names had been paid by the Government and, in some cases, even lands had been allotted to them. Following the efforts of Medha Patkar, on whose petition the Supreme Court had given the direction, the Judicial Commission's report is tabled in the Assembly but for the media in the State the findings were not worth reporting. So is the case with nearly a dozen reports of judicial commissions appointed by Chouhan like about the Petlawad blast where over a hundred persons were killed or the reports of Judicial Commissions which inquired the two Ratangarh temple stampedes.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi along with Election Commissioners O P Rawat (R) and A K Joti It was this media management which eventually did Mishra in. His media management in his own favour during Assembly elections in 2008 was too glaring to be overlooked by Election Commission (EC). The committee set up by EC had concluded that 42 news items appearing in favour of Mishra constituted "paid news" or advertisements. The EC said the first issue was 'whether the news articles, 'appeals' with photograph of the respondent, advertisements etc. in various newspapers namely, Dainik Bhaskar, Nai Duniya, Dainik Datia Prakash, Acharan Gwalior and BPN Times, published during the election process in Datia constituency (where Mishra was a candidate), amount to 'paid news'/advertisements in connection with the election of the respondent?' While a direct appeal, titled 'Vinamra Agrah' was published in Dainik Bhaskar on November 27, 2008 with a photograph of Mishra and Chouhan appearing along with BJP's party symbol, a slogan written at its bottom read 'Datia say uthi aawaz – abki Narottam phir Shivraj (The voice from Datia says Narottam this time, then Shivraj)'. Dainik Datia Prakash published an appeal to the electors, titled 'Matdata bandhuon say namra nivedan(A polite appeal to the voters)', along with Mishra's photograph and party symbol, which left nothing to the imagination on whom it intended to favour and why. In its 69-page decision of June 23, the EC report includes a list of the stories that appeared in these papers – with headlines that sound unlike any news report. Here's a sample: 'Kshetra ke vikas ke liye Narottam Mishra ki jeet zaroori (Narottam Mishra's victory is necessary for the development of the region)', 'Datia ka vikas Narottam ke haath (The progress of Datia is in Narottam's hands)'; 'Rozgar ka sapna pura karenge Narottam (Narottam will fulfil our livelihood dreams)'; 'Sabke dil par chaa gaye Narottam (Narottam has won everyone's hearts)'; the list goes on and on. The EC report goes on

Rajendra Bharti, who had lost to Mishra in the 2008 Assembly elections and was the complainant to the Election Commission about Mishra's 'paid news' activities, smelt a rat and moved the Supreme Court and got Mishra's petition transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court to Delhi High Court where a single bench refused to grant stay to Mishra.

to document how identical reports with the identical headlines were published in multiple editions of big newspapers. The decision was taken unanimously by EC comprising (then) Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat. The EC decision said the committee arrived at its conclusions on the basis of the "timing of the publications, content specifically carried in the publications, the repetition of content from one newspaper to another on successive dates of publication, headliners of the news items which heavily promoted the respondent in particular, and most importantly, publication of the item without the mention of any reporter's name."

The EC said, 'These observations made by the committee support the conclusion that the said news items were indeed paid news; 'all 42 paid news items are extremely biased in favour of the respondent. Many of these are printed 'impact features' which are typically paid for on prenegotiated terms according to the prevailing advertorial policy of the concerned newspaper.' The EC added that all the items 'identify strongly with the illustrations contained in the Commission's compendium on paid news.'
The EC held Mishra guilty of an offence under Section 171H of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 for issuing 'direct appeals' which appeared in his name, containing his photograph, and were published on the day of the poll, November 27, 2008. In his account of election expenses, Mishra had left the column on 'campaign through electronic/ print media' blank and accordingly, the EC held that he had knowledge of and impliedly authorised publication of the 'impugned advertisements' within the meaning of section 77 of the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Mishra was also found by the EC to not have disclosed all his expenditures properly. It says, 'the guidelines for maintenance of day to day accounts of election expenditure clearly stipulate that goods or services received in kind like vehicles, posters, pamphlets, media advertisement, helicopters, aircrafts etc from party or any person/body/association' must be detailed in Part A of the accounts. Therefore the Commission said even if it were to accept Mishra's argument that he did not pay for the alleged advertisements that supported his candidature, 'he clearly derived benefit from the same and was thus obliged to have included a notional estimate of such expenditure in his day to day accounts register, but has failed to do so.' The EC feels that paid news, as defined by the Press Council, plays a very vitiating role in the context of free and fair elections since electors attach greater values and trust news reports more than clearly specified advertisements. 'Paid news is masquerading as news and publishes advertisements in the garb of news items, totally misleading the electors. To make matters worse, the whole exercise involves use of unaccounted money and underreporting of election expenses in the accounts of election expenses of the candidate…

Hemant Gupta Mishra moved a petition in the Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court to obtain a stay order against his disqualification. He was refused though the High Court agreed to hear his petition. A petition on an issue related to Mishra's disqualification was moved by a mysterious person in the main bench of High Court at Jabalpur and Chief Justice Hemant Gupta hastily transferred Mishra's petition from Gwalior bench to Jabalpur bench. Rajendra Bharti, who had lost to Mishra in the 2008 Assembly elections and was the complainant to the Election Commission about Mishra's 'paid news' activities, smelt a rat and moved the Supreme Court and got Mishra's petition transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court to Delhi High Court where a single bench refused to grant stay to Mishra. He made an appeal before a division bench of Delhi High Court but again was denied a stay though the division bench agreed to hear his petition in August. Desperate to get a stay, Mishra had moved Supreme Court at the time of writing.



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Removal from cabinet, though, was a mere technical formality because Mishra had, for all practical purposes, ceased to hold all the positions which he was holding by virtue of being MLA the moment he was disqualified. Chouhan had hardly taken any time Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Narottam Mishra in seeking resignations of ministers accused of much lesser crimes. For instance, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Medical Education Anoop Mishra was made to resign in 2010 soon after his name had figured in a complaint made against some of his family members for the murder of a youth. Another Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ajay Vishnoi had to resign when the Lokayukta police raided the residences of Director of Health Services and the trail led to some of Vishnoi's relatives. They were easily dispensable. Not so Narottam Mishra who, with portfolios of Public Relations and Legislative Affairs as well as Water Resources, has taken care of Chouhan's problems born out of his extra-curricular actions – and also managed manipulations adroitly. The opposition Congress had, for instance, moved in the Assembly a noconfidence motion against the Chouhan Government, replete with hard facts aimed at rattling the Government. Ajay Vishnoi As the debate was to start at the appointed time, the first speaker (of course, a Congress leader) opposed the motion while expressing confidence in the Chouhan government. Amidst the turmoil that followed, Narottam Mishra, in his capacity as Minister of Legislative Affairs, moved a motion for adjournment of the House sine die and the obliging Speaker promptly did that. All within minutes before the Congress members could understand what was happening. On another occasion, when two Congress members had vociferously raised farmers' issues and the Government was finding it difficult to come with satisfactory replies, Mishra moved a motion for terminating the membership of the two members for bringing disgrace to the House by their unruly behaviour and the Speaker promptly did it. The communication was also sent to the Election Commission. It was all in violation of the Rules of the Assembly. As the two members were approaching the High Court at Jabalpur, Mishra persuaded them to return to the House. Again on Mishra's motion, the Speaker restored their membership nine days later. This must be a rare instance of mockery of the Constitution, the electoral law and the Assembly Rules. Mishra's 'skill' is equally visible in the management of media. The media organisations in the State by and large 'self-censor' the news that is likely to harm the interests of Chouhan or his family members. Thus the deliberate trampling down of an upright IPS officer by a dumper transporting illegally mined stones becomes an accident. Medha Patkar Mishra's 'skill' is equally visible in the management of media. The media organisations in the State ,by and large, 'self-censor' the news that is likely to harm the interests of Chouhan or his family members. Thus the deliberate trampling down of an upright IPS officer by a dumper transporting illegally mined stones becomes an accident. The State High Court appoints, on the direction of Supreme Court, a judicial commission which finds that thousands of families displaced by Sardar Sarovar Dam did not even know that the compensation in their names had been paid by the Government and, in some cases, even lands had been allotted to them. Following the efforts of Medha Patkar, on whose petition the Supreme Court had given the direction, the Judicial Commission's report is tabled in the Assembly but for the media in the State the findings were not worth reporting. So is the case with nearly a dozen reports of judicial commissions appointed by Chouhan like about the Petlawad blast where over a hundred persons were killed or the reports of Judicial Commissions which inquired the two Ratangarh temple stampedes. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi along with Election Commissioners O P Rawat (R) and A K Joti It was this media management which eventually did Mishra in. His media management in his own favour during Assembly elections in 2008 was too glaring to be overlooked by Election Commission (EC). The committee set up by EC had concluded that 42 news items appearing in favour of Mishra constituted "paid news" or advertisements. The EC said the first issue was 'whether the news articles, 'appeals' with photograph of the respondent, advertisements etc. in various newspapers namely, Dainik Bhaskar, Nai Duniya, Dainik Datia Prakash, Acharan Gwalior and BPN Times, published during the election process in Datia constituency (where Mishra was a candidate), amount to 'paid news'/advertisements in connection with the election of the respondent?' While a direct appeal, titled 'Vinamra Agrah' was published in Dainik Bhaskar on November 27, 2008 with a photograph of Mishra and Chouhan appearing along with BJP's party symbol, a slogan written at its bottom read 'Datia say uthi aawaz – abki Narottam phir Shivraj (The voice from Datia says Narottam this time, then Shivraj)'. Dainik Datia Prakash published an appeal to the electors, titled 'Matdata bandhuon say namra nivedan(A polite appeal to the voters)', along with Mishra's photograph and party symbol, which left nothing to the imagination on whom it intended to favour and why. In its 69-page decision of June 23, the EC report includes a list of the stories that appeared in these papers – with headlines that sound unlike any news report. Here's a sample: 'Kshetra ke vikas ke liye Narottam Mishra ki jeet zaroori (Narottam Mishra's victory is necessary for the development of the region)', 'Datia ka vikas Narottam ke haath (The progress of Datia is in Narottam's hands)'; 'Rozgar ka sapna pura karenge Narottam (Narottam will fulfil our livelihood dreams)'; 'Sabke dil par chaa gaye Narottam (Narottam has won everyone's hearts)'; the list goes on and on. The EC report goes on Rajendra Bharti, who had lost to Mishra in the 2008 Assembly elections and was the complainant to the Election Commission about Mishra's 'paid news' activities, smelt a rat and moved the Supreme Court and got Mishra's petition transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court to Delhi High Court where a single bench refused to grant stay to Mishra. to document how identical reports with the identical headlines were published in multiple editions of big newspapers. The decision was taken unanimously by EC comprising (then) Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat. The EC decision said the committee arrived at its conclusions on the basis of the "timing of the publications, content specifically carried in the publications, the repetition of content from one newspaper to another on successive dates of publication, headliners of the news items which heavily promoted the respondent in particular, and most importantly, publication of the item without the mention of any reporter's name." The EC said, 'These observations made by the committee support the conclusion that the said news items were indeed paid news; 'all 42 paid news items are extremely biased in favour of the respondent. Many of these are printed 'impact features' which are typically paid for on prenegotiated terms according to the prevailing advertorial policy of the concerned newspaper.' The EC added that all the items 'identify strongly with the illustrations contained in the Commission's compendium on paid news.' The EC held Mishra guilty of an offence under Section 171H of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 for issuing 'direct appeals' which appeared in his name, containing his photograph, and were published on the day of the poll, November 27, 2008. In his account of election expenses, Mishra had left the column on 'campaign through electronic/ print media' blank and accordingly, the EC held that he had knowledge of and impliedly authorised publication of the 'impugned advertisements' within the meaning of section 77 of the Representation of People Act, 1951. Mishra was also found by the EC to not have disclosed all his expenditures properly. It says, 'the guidelines for maintenance of day to day accounts of election expenditure clearly stipulate that goods or services received in kind like vehicles, posters, pamphlets, media advertisement, helicopters, aircrafts etc from party or any person/body/association' must be detailed in Part A of the accounts. Therefore the Commission said even if it were to accept Mishra's argument that he did not pay for the alleged advertisements that supported his candidature, 'he clearly derived benefit from the same and was thus obliged to have included a notional estimate of such expenditure in his day to day accounts register, but has failed to do so.' The EC feels that paid news, as defined by the Press Council, plays a very vitiating role in the context of free and fair elections since electors attach greater values and trust news reports more than clearly specified advertisements. 'Paid news is masquerading as news and publishes advertisements in the garb of news items, totally misleading the electors. To make matters worse, the whole exercise involves use of unaccounted money and underreporting of election expenses in the accounts of election expenses of the candidate… Hemant Gupta Mishra moved a petition in the Gwalior bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court to obtain a stay order against his disqualification. He was refused though the High Court agreed to hear his petition. A petition on an issue related to Mishra's disqualification was moved by a mysterious person in the main bench of High Court at Jabalpur and Chief Justice Hemant Gupta hastily transferred Mishra's petition from Gwalior bench to Jabalpur bench. Rajendra Bharti, who had lost to Mishra in the 2008 Assembly elections and was the complainant to the Election Commission about Mishra's 'paid news' activities, smelt a rat and moved the Supreme Court and got Mishra's petition transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court to Delhi High Court where a single bench refused to grant stay to Mishra. He made an appeal before a division bench of Delhi High Court but again was denied a stay though the division bench agreed to hear his petition in August. Desperate to get a stay, Mishra had moved Supreme Court at the time of writing.