Pre-Truth — snappy, witty and significant snippets from the world of politics and government.
Rahul breaks bread with ‘friend’ Jyotiraditya in Shangri-La
Last week was tricky for Congress president Rahul Gandhi. His party, in a huge electoral surprise, wrested power from the BJP in all three heartland states. But the fact that he had to pick the old guard to lead Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh over Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia respectively, must have rankled. Gandhi obviously wants to ensure neither holds a grudge and he continues to enjoy a rapport with them.
So, on Saturday night – two days after he decided on Kamal Nath as MP CM – Gandhi was seen dining with Scindia at Shang Palace, the Chinese restaurant at Lutyens’ Delhi’s Shangri-La hotel. While Scindia arrived first and asked for a table in a more private space, Gandhi arrived a bit later asking the staff if his “friend” had arrived. This could well have been the Congress scion’s way of placating the ‘maharaj’ of Gwalior but one can never be sure if the latter is indeed willing to leave this behind. It’s also ironic the dinner venue was this hotel. In the imaginary world, Shangri-La is known to be an ideal place. Not exactly where Scindia thinks he is in now.
Sachin Pilot’s new caller tune didn’t help
New Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is a lucky man. In the 2008 assembly elections, it looked nearly certain that C.P. Joshi, and not Gehlot, would be CM if the Congress won. That was because Rahul Gandhi had developed a liking for Joshi. As luck would have it, Joshi lost his own election by one vote while the party won. Gehlot was appointed the chief minister.
In 2018 again, Sachin Pilot looked set to be anointed the chief minister, given the way he had been sweating it out for five years to revive the party in the state. The Congress, however, fell short of the majority mark by one seat and the Gehlot camp used it to bolster his case by citing the need for stability ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. No wonder, Pilot’s mobile caller tune changed a few days before the verdict. It started with “Jai Hanuman gyan goon sagar, jai kapis tihun lok ujagar….”
Even SBI boss couldn’t get a chance to meet introvert Urjit Patel
Outgoing RBI Governor Urjit Patel has received much sympathy and well-deserved appreciation for choosing to quit and strike a blow for institutional autonomy rather than submit to the government’s demands, many of which are imprudent and unreasonable. But he also has himself to blame for being a perennially brooding introvert, unwilling to engage and explain his ideas and decisions. He ran the most inaccessible RBI in recent years. Even Rajnish Kumar, who took over State Bank of India in October 2017, was yet to find an audience with him.
His academic accomplishments had obviously not prepared Patel to handle the stresses of the job or the skills of the North Block and PMO bureaucracy. As tensions rose, he became more withdrawn and stress was severely affecting his health. His haters and admirers both say that one holding the governor’s office must be more communicative. But then, isn’t his introvertedness the reason he was chosen for the job by the Modi government, which found Raghuram Rajan “too” communicative?
Also read: Sachin Pilot, the BBC intern who joked about joining the BJP
After Mizoram, BJP sets eyes on Sikkim
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to open its account in Mizoram by winning one seat in the recent assembly elections in the state, which BJP leaders claim further establishes the party’s pan-national presence. With this, the BJP — which started off as a heartland states force — has ensured it has had at least one MP or MLA every state of the country at some point. All, except one — Sikkim — where it has never had an MP or an MLA. The party is now looking at Sikkim as its final frontier that needs to be breached.
Shah Congratulates KCR, ignores Mizo National Front
In the current politically charged environment and given the fragile political dynamics in the run-up to 2019, each small gesture or move by a top leader can have an underlying significance. On Tuesday, as the assembly election results were declared, the BJP was left disappointed with its poor show. However, party president Amit Shah took to Twitter to congratulate Telangana’s K. Chandrashekar Rao and his party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for an “impressive victory”. He chose to wish only the TRS and not the Congress that won three states. But more importantly, he did not even wish the Mizo National Front for its win in Mizoram, despite it being a part of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) floated by the BJP. Many in the political circles are now wondering if Shah’s outreach to KCR has more to it than meets the eye, given the ongoing frenzied game of who wins key allies before 2019.
Minister Harsh Vardhan’s e-invite upsets many
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr Harsh Vardhan chose the wedding of his son this week to drive home a message. He chose not to use traditional invitation cards and opted for e-invitations, instead. This was said to have caused a few problems as some people didn’t check their mails on time while a few others didn’t find the e-cards appropriate for wedding invitations. Harsh Vardhan had to pacify those people with elaborate explanations about how the e-cards were meant to help the environmental cause. The minister might not know how many were convinced but he certainly proved his point.
Also read: Meet the man who got Harsh Vardhan to believe Stephen Hawking endorsed the Vedas
CSOI bar to remain shut during day
The government has apparently decided to keep the bar at the Civil Services Officers’ Institute (CSOI) closed during the day. The rationale behind the decision seems to be the fact that many officers were coming back intoxicated to office after their lunch. It was initially decided to keep the bar shut on all days, but after protests, it was decided to keep the bar open on weekends. The decision, it seems, was taken by the cabinet secretariat. Many officers are disappointed with the move with some saying that they will miss their humble glass of beer during lunch.
(Contributors: D.K. Singh, Ruhi Tewari, Pragya Kaushika and Amrita Nayak Dutta)
Given how many spooks Delhi has per square inch, they must have examined the check for the Chinese meal, checked out exactly what the two gentlemen had for dinner.