Pre-Truth — snappy, witty and significant snippets from the world of politics and government.
Congress president unlikely to return before 2 July
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has gone on a foreign jaunt again. Many party leaders were relieved when he, for a change, stayed back in India on 19 June to celebrate his birthday. They thought he was growing conscious of how his political adversaries were trying to project him as a non-serious politician by making an issue out of his frequent vacations abroad. They were probably mistaken. Rahul was off to an undisclosed location abroad just a day after his birthday.
On 20 June, he met a group of Congress leaders from Telangana and tweeted pictures of his meeting with actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan. Late in the evening, Rahul boarded a flight to go abroad. Congress leaders are clueless about his whereabouts. Some Congress leaders were given an appointment with him on 29 June but grapevine has it that he is unlikely to return before 2 July. Last month, Rahul had accompanied his mother Sonia Gandhi to the US for an annual medical check-up and returned after a week, on 4 June.
Congress leaders give Saifuddin Soz’s book launch a miss
With J&K Congress veteran Saifuddin Soz courting controversy for his ‘Kashmiris-for-independence’ view in his book, party leaders, including former finance minister P. Chidambaram, stayed away from the launch function Monday. The only exception was Jairam Ramesh. He came there thinking Chidambaram, who was the chief guest, would also be there. Ramesh later told his friends in the party that had he known Chidambaram would not be there, he, too, would have stayed away. But as the joke in political circles goes, whenever there is a controversy, do check up on Ramesh.
J&K governor N.N. Vohra’s hands are full
There is something about Srinagar Raj Bhawan and the India International Centre in the national capital. Jammu & Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra is the president of the IIC, a post he secured last year after jurist Soli Sorabjee stepped down following what is termed as a bloodless coup against him by a section of life trustees and members. With the state under the governor’s rule, Vohra has to multi-task with one foot in Srinagar and another in New Delhi. Former J&K governor Jagmohan is also a regular at the IIC where he reaches in the morning and stays until the evening. He is often seen sitting in his library while those in charge of his security remain on guard outside.
Lawyer Indira Jaising to retire?
Lawyers don’t retire. They take briefs and appear in courts even when they in their 90s. If anything, it is after 65 — the official retirement age — that a lawyer peaks in his or her career. But one veteran lawyer who turned just 78 last month is considering hanging her boots. Indira Jaising, former additional solicitor general (the first woman to hold that post), is planning to retire from practising law to focus solely on advocacy. She recently launched The Leaflet, a website for legal opinion. But she still has a bunch of cases coming up once the Supreme Court reopens after summer break and that is likely to delay her retirement.
Top court may give verdict on Centre-Delhi tussle next week
The Supreme Court verdict on the Centre-Delhi power tussle is expected to be the first constitution bench ruling that will be delivered once the Supreme Court reopens after the summer break next week. The ruling that has been reserved for over seven months was being written by judges during the break, pretty much around the same time when chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was staging a dharna at the lieutenant governor’s residence. The court has reserved verdicts in some key cases that were heard by a five-judge constitution bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra.
Hapur lynching village turns into a ‘tourist spot’
The ploughed piece of land in Bajhera Khurd village of Hapur, UP, where Qasim, a cattle trader, was allegedly lynched over suspicion that he was to slaughter a cow, has now become a tourist spot of sorts. Qasim’s red slippers, that are still there, have become the major attraction. In the past nine days, people from 19 adjoining villages have been frequenting the spot, just to see the red slippers and the piece of land they have been watching on TV and in videos being circulated on social media. The moment one enters the village, a group of kids escorts the visitor to “the spot” and en route give a detailed timeline of the incident. A section of villagers even term the piece of land as ‘cursed’.
(Contributors: Maneesh Chhibber, Kumar Anshuman, Apurva Vishwanath, and Ananya Bhardwaj)