A new Hindi idiom has come into vogue in Madhya Pradesh: “Paisa I&D ho gaya” (which means public money has been siphoned off). It owes its genesis to an observation of a Congress leader.
Speaking on the budget demands in the Assembly, Arif Aquil, MLA from Bhopal North constituency, referred to the corruption in the government and advised Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to keep away from those whose names started with “I” and “D”. It was a clever ploy on the part of Aquil because the Assembly rules do not permit a member to name unfavourably an outsider who cannot be present in the House to defend himself.
However, he had played his cards well as the “I” and “D” had for long been known in the political, bureaucratic and journalistic circles as Chauhan’s alleged “partners-in-corruption.” Some people have already started saying “Paisa I&D ho gaya” when they want to say that the public money has disappeared into private pockets.