Babus face CMs ire for dancing with Big B

Raipur: At a recording of Kaun Banega Crorepati in Raipur, an Additional Chief Secretary and a Joint Secretary who is also the longest-serving OSD (officer on special duty) to Chief Minister Raman Singh, got on to the stage and broke into a dance with Amitabh Bachchan, thereby inviting CM’s ire.

The two officers and their wives who were occupying prime seats, courtesy VIP passes, reportedly barged on to the stage and shook a leg with Big B on his hit song ‘Mere angane mein tumhara kya kaam hai’.

According to a report in The Indian Express, both were served a written “reprimand notice” for “behaviour unbecoming of an officer” by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, on the orders of the Chief Minister. The notice warned them against such behaviour in public in the future.

While Additional Chief Secretary M K Rout heads the important departments of Panchayat, Rural and Labour, Raman Singh’s OSD Vikram Sisodia is also the vice-president of the Chhattisgarh Olympic Association and president of the Chhattisgarh Tennis Association.

The show in question is yet to be aired, and except for those present at the recording, few know what exactly the officers did to invite the CM’s ire.

According to sources, someone complained to Raman Singh about their behaviour.

“It’s not about dancing on stage. It’s the way officers conduct themselves. They must maintain decorum and should not be seen jumping queues and joining the public to dance,” said an officer.

Asked about the notice, Rout said: “I have absolutely no idea.” Sisodia, who didn’t deny having danced, too, claimed not to know about the notice. “I will have to check,” he said.

There are others who see the episode as the handiwork of the officers who themselves couldn’t make it to the TV show’s recording.

“What’s wrong in dancing with the mahanayak (superstar)?” said an officer. “What wrong did they commit?”

Incidentally, the CM had himself courted Bachchan in Raipur, with the state machinery ensuring that Singh’s house was the first halt of the star in the city. Bachchan then visited several forthcoming projects — a fact promptly publicised — after which the state government announced that the actor had agreed to lend his voice to the state’s promotion.