At new Congress HQ, history rewrites itself
Congress has documented its long history on the walls of its sprawling new headquarters, Indira Bhavan. Alongside rare photographs and quotes from its iconic leaders, landmark moments in the party’s history are showcased across the six-storey building.
Several large photographs of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao are prominently displayed, with the party being careful to honor the late leader’s legacy. Interestingly, the timeline of the party’s journey omits the Rajiv Gandhi government’s defeat in the 1989 general elections, as well as the party’s losses in 2014 and 2019.
However, it highlights the defeat of the Rao-led Congress government in 1996.
On the timeline, it talks about how Congress lost the 1996 general elections, dropping its tally to 140, and P.V. Narasimha Rao resigned from the presidency of the party. “To keep communal forces at bay,” the party decided to support the United Front government—under the leadership of H.D. Deve Gowda and later Inder Kumar Gujral—from the outside.
When Supriya tai called up ‘Lolo’
When actor Saif Ali Khan was attacked Thursday by an unknown intruder inside his house, it sent shockwaves through Mumbai. Everyone from the film fraternity to politicians expressed shock and concern. Baramati MP Supriya Sule’s concern for the Khan family, especially, played out under full media glare.
As reporters and camera persons approached Sule, seeking comment on the attack, instead of giving them a byte, she chose to give a call to the Khans and Kapoors while the cameras were rolling. She first spoke to Karisma Kapoor, using her nickname “Lolo”, and enquired after “Bebo (Kareena) and Saif.”
She asked if she could do something for them, and if “Mom and dad know”. Better not to tell them, Sule advised, as the private telephone conversation played out on TV.
A Congress ‘whodunit’ in Belagavi
Even as the Congress celebrates its move into its new address on Delhi’s Kotla road, its Karnataka unit has been further divided over who gets to take the credit for building the party office in the northern district of Belagavi, fuelling a growing rift.
Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar crediting women and family welfare minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar has fuelled a feud with the powerful Jarkiholi brothers.
Shivakumar and his cabinet colleague Satish Jarkiholi locked horns at a legislature party meeting earlier this week over the former’s remarks crediting Hebbalkar.
Ramesh Jarkiholi, a BJP legislator from Gokak in Belagavi, has also claimed credit for the building. Though he defected from the Congress to the BJP in 2019, he claimed to have given land for the building and his brother Satish about Rs 3 crore from his own pocket.
In 2019, the fight between the Jarkiholi and Shivakumar over Belagavi district affairs resulted in Ramesh’s defection and the collapse of the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition government. Five years later, they are at it again.
Haryana leaders caught on hot mic
Earlier this week, Haryana Minister Rao Narbir Singh and former minister Moolchand Sharma had a short, but terse exchange at a meeting in Faridabad without realising that a microphone in front of them was still hot. Rao Narbir was chairing a grievance committee meeting, while Sharma, the sitting MLA from Ballabhgarh, was present alongside him.
Sharma has been elected MLA for three consecutive terms, including in 2024. However, he failed to secure a ministerial position this time. Previously, he served as a minister from 2019 to 2024 and, even when Nayab Saini replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister, Sharma was inducted into the cabinet. But when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a full majority government in 2024, he was not made a minister.
During the meeting, Sharma commented to Rao Narbir, “The entire city is in terrible condition.” In response, Rao Narbir sharply retorted, “You were a minister for five years. Is it still in terrible condition? What did you do? Forget it, man.”
Also Read: Portrait of a Yogi causes stir in IAS circles & a Babbar redux keeps UP Congress guessing