GRAPEVINE
Don’t mess it — SIR
Around 33 lakh people in Delhi got SIR show-cause notices from the Election Commission of India. The list includes former Deputy PM LK Advani, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, noted lawyer Kapil Sibal and former minister Subramanian Swamy already declared their intention of approaching the Supreme Court. Latest news is majority of Supreme Court and Delhi High Court Judges and their wives also got notice from the ECI to prove their identity. Many say bad days await the ECI in Court for a mass show-cause notice.
UPI’s bell the cat!
Grapevine has it there was a huge argument in India International Centre’s Saturday lunch on UPI charges. Many bureaucrats told their Finance and Commerce Ministry counterparts that these extra charges will create public anger. Many feel these charges were demanded by the US to protect Master and Visa Cards. The question was who would alert political leadership, as a retired bureaucrat quipped, “Who can bell the cat?”
Out of the blue
New Delhi’s political corridors are buzzing over a quiet renovation at YSRCP’s Central Delhi office. Sources close to the party say YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s outfit has put its own team to work after the reported break with the NDA — and the first casualty is colour. According to those familiar with the site, saffron curtains that had hung through the alliance phase are being taken down. In their place, planners are said to be lining up a blue interior, a visual reset that gossip circles are already reading as a political statement. Party insiders insist it is only a routine facelift. Rivals, of course, see symbolism: saffron fading as the Delhi equation changes.
