Softer side of Haryana’s ‘angry, old man’ Anil Vij
Haryana Energy, Transport, and Labour Minister Anil Vij is known as an angry, old man in the Bharatiya Janata Party circles. He has had run-ins with CMs, incumbent Nayab Singh Saini and his predecessor Manohar Lal Khattar. Now, Vij is making waves on social media for a different reason.
Last Wednesday, while going through some files in his office in the Haryana Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh, he started singing the song ‘Main nikla, gaddi leke, ik mod aaya, main uthe dil chhod aaya’ from Sunny Deol’s movie Gadar. As he sang, he swayed to the music beats in his chair. After the singing, Vij said, “Whatever life we have, we must live it. Whether you live it laughing or crying, it is your choice. I prefer to live with laughter.” He then sang a patriotic song from the 1975 movie Aakraman, ‘Dekho veer jawano apne khoon pe ye ilzaam na aye‘.
This video has gone viral on social media.
Earlier on January 26 this year, Anil Vij was the chief guest at the district-level Republic Day celebrations in Ambala. During the event, Punjabi songs were being played, and the 71-year-old leader started dancing on the stage. Later, as he moved towards the guest seating area, he continued to perform Bhangra, encouraging others to join in.
Last October, when he was contesting from Ambala as the BJP candidate, when he was initially trailing, he told journalists, “Har fikr ko dhuein mein udata chala gaya.” Well, he eventually won.
Vij, however, says that he is just a bathroom singer.
SP’s MP now a ‘star Muslim campaigner’ for AAP
Samajwadi Party’s Iqra Hasan, a young MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana Lok Sabha constituency, has emerged as a star campaigner for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi assembly polls. She not only campaigned for several AAP candidates in minority-dominated areas but also did a grand roadshow for the party’s senior leader, Manish Sisodia, in the Jangpura assembly constituency.
According to sources in the Samajwadi Party, there was a huge demand for Iqra Hasan’s public meetings and roadshows in Delhi. She was invited to do public meetings for over a dozen AAP candidates. Even many in the Samajwadi Party were surprised to see their young Muslim MP doing a roadshow in support of Manish Sisodia, who was a deputy chief minister and a seasoned leader.
As the Samajwadi Party announced its support for AAP in the Delhi polls, Akhilesh Yadav himself did a roadshow with Arvind Kejriwal, but Iqra’s roadshow became a matter of discussion within the party as many see her as the party’s new Muslim face at a time when the Yadav family has distanced itself from Azam Khan, who is currently in jail.
New Kerala Governor’s ‘bonhomie’ with Pinarayi govt
After five years of constant run-ins with the Governor, the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in Kerala seems to have gotten some respite. Rajendra Arlekar, who took oath as the new Kerala Governor earlier this month, is all praise for the CM, marking a significant departure from his predecessor, Arif Muhammad Khan, whose tenure remained marked by acrimonious exchanges and feuds with the state government.
Addressing the 76th Republic Day celebrations at Thiruvananthapuram’s central stadium, Arlekar said Pinarayi Vijayan has a clear vision for Kerala’s development. The Governor added that he is proud of the southern state as it is leading in the country’s Human Development Index. A week before, on the convening day of the State Assembly’s budget session, Arlekar finished the full customary policy address that lasted nearly two hours, drawing appreciation from the Left Democratic Front. On January 23, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) mouthpiece Deshabhimani carried an article praising the Governor for reading the full address, even though it contained criticism of the BJP-led central government for denying the state its share of funds.
Kerala’s comrades are happy as long as it lasts.
In West Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose also had a great start with the Mamata Banerjee-led government when he replaced Jagdeep Dhankhar in 2022. It, however, turned out to be a very short dalliance. Bose soon followed in the footsteps of his predecessor, attacking the elected government day after day.
Employee ‘woes’ in Fadnavis’ Mantralaya
Since he took over as CM, Devendra Fadnavis has brought about quite a few operational changes in the way the Mantralaya functions. One of them is a facial recognition-based entry system for employees.
The system came into effect roughly a week ago. Some employees say it has brought in an air of importance and professionalism. “It feels like we are entering an airport,” one of them said. Some others are worried about how this will help their bosses keep a tab on all their comings and goings.
There is another plan to have floor-based access and colour-coded passes for employees and visitors. Employees fear that that might further curb their independence as a lot of them visit their friends across departments during office hours to take small breaks and enjoy lunch or tea together.
Tech glitches at old Congress headquarters
Last month, the Congress party moved its headquarters to a spacious new building on Kotla Marg in Central Delhi. While the party had made it clear that it had no plans to vacate 24 Akbar Road—its home for 47 years —press conferences were expected to shift to the new location. The new building, ‘Indira Bhavan’, boasts a press conference room with modern audio-visual facilities and comfortable seating.
However, the party continues to hold most press conferences at its old headquarters, where leaders often face technical glitches during briefings. Even on Saturday, as former Union minister P. Chidambaram sat down to discuss party views on the Union Budget with reporters, the microphone malfunctioned, causing the audio to become garbled. As reporters and camera persons interrupted him, a visibly annoyed Chidambaram had to pause the briefing until the issue was fixed.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)