Cycle, cycle in RS
Samajwadi Party leader in the Rajya Sabha Ramgopal Yadav was grace personified a day after his party won two crucial lok Sabha bypolls of Phulpur and Gorakhpur last week. Yadav walked across to the Treasury Benches to greet BJP members including Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot before the House commenced proceedings. later, when the proceedings were adjourned due to uproar, law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reciprocated the gesture by going up to Samajwadi Party leader and congratulated him.
Advance booking
The Centre recently issued notification appointing three new Additional Solicitor Generals (ASGs) for the Supreme Court. But even before they took charge, there was a mad scramble for occupying the vacant office space left behind by their predecessors in the Supreme Court. Presently, four ASGs have their offices on the second floor of the building adjacent to the courtrooms. The remaining offices are situated in the Indian law Institute (IlI) building opposite to the apex court. One of the newly appointed ASGs made a smart move by putting up his nameplate outside of the vacant ASG offices in the Court building even before the notification arrived. Grapevine has it that the Attorney General’s office asked the junior ASG to make way for his seniors and shifted him to the IlI instead.
Rahul cries foul
Congress remains a trusted ally of the RJD chief lalu Prasad and vice versa. latching on to a media report which claimed that an FIR was filed against lalu despite CBI’s legal wing saying there was no proof in the IRCTC case, Congress came forward to accuse the BJP of engaging in political vendetta against its opponents to hide its “epic failures”. leading the Congress’ charge was party president Rahul Gandhi who accused the BJP of “using” the CBI to “harass” key opposition politicians and asked who will be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “next target”. Significantly Rahul had publicly tore an Ordinance brought by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in order to save lalu, a UPA partner, from the clutches of jail and facilitate him contesting elections.
Non-functional kisan cell
When Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Prabhu lal Saini visited Unnati Mela at the Pusa Institute on Saturday, at the kisan call centre stall he dialed 1800-180-1551 (toll free) to know how many mandis in Rajasthan were integrated with National Agricultural Market. He was told to hold for a while and later the call was disconnected. He again called at the toll free number-this time to know which medicines could be given in the case of spread of YVM disease in urad and tur crops. Saini was again told to wait while his call was being transferred. After ten minutes of wait, the call was disconnected.
Truce over lunch
Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is likely to invite Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to sort out differences on several projects including metro phase IV, sealing, regulation on unauthorised colonies, and notifications to declare 351 roads as commercial. During Metro Pink line inauguration last week, Kejriwal reminded Puri that he had promised to meet “over lunch”. “We will sort everything out over lunch. We can clear the viable routes and the unviable ones can be postponed,” he has said. Puri agreed to invite him for lunch.
Cong to keep online data bank
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has asked the AICC to maintain online details of every party worker as well as the data related to the booths they look after. This is an idea of data analytics organisation, Cambridge Analytica, hired by Gandhi.
Mosquitoes’ session
Mosquitos do not spare even the high and mighty. They were in full of action at the 84th AICC Plenary held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium on Saturday and Sunday. The invitees faced their wrath so much UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi had to be given a mosquito repellant gel to ward them off.