GRAPEVINE
Have your cake and eat it too
A difference of opinion cropped up within the Congress in lending support 'openly’ to the CJP protest, coupled with a hunger strike by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar. While the grand old party maintained restraint in being vocal about the CJP and Wangchuk, the protestors received support from several political parties from the opposition side, including the Samajwadi Party. Grapevine has it that Priyanka Gandhi too expressed a desire to visit Jantar Mantar last week, but the Rahul Gandhi camp is understood to have prevented Priyanka from attending the protest. She was conditioned to hold back to avoid politicising, as the party had conflicting narratives on the issue, as Rahul himself is leading several protest rallies in support of students, alleged paper leaks, etc. Congress, however, dispatched an emissary in the newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera, who also heads the grand old party’s media and publicity wing.
Atmanirbhar assembly in India!
Grapevine is abuzz with the claims of Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu posting a photo of a C-295 Air Force Transport flight as Made in India '. Fact was the Airbus model was assembled in Vadodara by Tata as part of the deal signed in 2021 with Airbus. People wonder why the Civil Aviation Minister made such a claim on the Air Force contract of assembling of transport flights in India. Official reports suggest that the aircraft is being produced under $ 2.6 billion agreement, with 16 delivered from Spain and 40 to be assembled at the Vadodara facility as part of the Make in India programme, and the first assembled C-295 under this scheme was rolled on June 10.
Musical chairs at PHQ
Delhi Police Headquarters, popularly known as PHQ, is buzzing louder than a PCR wireless set, and a sudden change of guards has left several top cops gasping and scrambling for new chairs. One transfer order in the morning, and just like that, corridors that were “VIP zones” last week are now cold. Sources say the shake-up wasn’t just routine. Some commissioners were reportedly caught off guard, learning about their postings from WhatsApp forwards before the official file landed. Tea was spilt, egos bruised. The grapevine in Darya Ganj is working overtime: Who’s now suddenly “very close to the brass”? For now, nameplates are being changed, assistants are running with files, and everyone’s smiling a little too widely in the elevators. In the Delhi Police, peace never lasts. The next reshuffle is probably already drafted.
