New Delhi: Former Delhi deputy chief minister and excise policy case accused Manish Sisodia’s family was staying at AB-17, Mathura Road, during his time in jail. This residence was allotted to Atishi after he resigned following his arrest and she joined the cabinet. A section of the AAP feels Atishi should move into the Flagstaff Road CM residence to validate the point the party has been making all along—that the bungalow was meant for the occupant of the CM’s chair, not a vanity project of Arvind Kejriwal.
After all, back in 2013, during the Kejriwal-led AAP’s first electoral campaign ahead of assembly elections in Delhi, the former CM got leaders of his party to pledge that they will never live in government bungalows, take state security or use lal battis on their vehicles. It’s another matter that soon after taking over as Delhi CM for the first time, Kejriwal was allotted two adjacent five-room duplex houses on Bhagwan Das Road near Mandir House upon his request.
As news broke that the Aam Aadmi heartthrob was mulling moving into a plush duplex, there was opposition from his own supporters. Eventually, he accepted a 1600-ft bungalow on Tilak Lane, acknowledging that many “ordinary supporters were hurt by his choice”. He didn’t stay there for too long as he resigned 49 days after taking charge as the CM. In 2015, when he took over as CM for the second time, he was allotted the Flagstaff Road residence, which he exited on Friday.
What is Pallavi Patel up to? The Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader’s moves are keeping rumour mills busy in Uttar Pradesh political circles. Having won the last assembly election on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket, she has fallen out with Akhilesh Yadav.
Pallavi was unhappy with the SP’s choice of Rajya Sabha nominees—Jaya Bachchan and Alok Ranjan—last February but ended up voting for the SP candidates. She, however, chose to align with the AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha polls. Now, she has sprung another surprise on Akhilesh Yadav, meeting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently.
She called it a “courtesy” meet. It was, however, followed by her decision to contest the coming bypolls in eight assembly seats in alliance with Owaisi again. SP leaders are apprehensive that their alliance will eat into a chunk of the SP’s votes in the bypolls.
Pallavi’s meeting with Yogi came at a time when her sister, Union Minister Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (Sone Lal) and a BJP ally, has been needling the Yogi government, raising questions about its reservation policy. Akhilesh in the meantime has chosen not to seek her disqualification from the assembly, hoping that she may relent sooner or later.
In Mantralaya, a googly for Mahayuti
Security at the Maharashtra state secretariat, Mantralaya, at Nariman Point has always been a topic of discussion, with there being instances of lapses every few months, and with every such incident, an attempt by the police to ramp up security without hampering public access to the edifice. In 2012, a sweeper had discovered a walkie talkie, batteries and a projector inside a washroom. In 2017, a distressed farmer had climbed on the parapet of the top floor of Mantralaya to protest, prompting the police to impose stricter scrutiny of visitors’ passes and identity cards.
There have been multiple people who have attempted to self-immolate over the years, causing the security to ban carrying any liquids, even water bottles, inside Mantralaya premises. Distressed persons and protesters have attempted to jump from the higher floors of Mantralaya that all overlook a foyer.
In response, the state government installed safety nets in 2018. Following this, those who wanted to register their protests started jumping on the safety nets to make their point. On Friday, a handful of tribal MLAs, including two from the ruling parties—Narhari Zirwal from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Hemant Savra from the BJP—did the same, to everyone’s surprise, to show their opposition to granting reservation for the Dhangar community under the Scheduled Tribes quota.
Last week, an angry woman entered Mantralaya and caused a ruckus outside Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis’ office, damaging his name plate and breaking some plants.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)