Kharge ‘hurt’ Congress in Maharashtra
Here’s something many Congress leaders are whispering into one another’s ears but can’t say in public: Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s remarks on pre-poll guarantees may have hurt the party in Maharashtra.
Speaking at a party meeting in Bengaluru on 31 October, Kharge took a dig at Karnataka Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar for his remarks about a possible ‘review’ of the party’s free bus travel for women scheme. Kharge said Shivakumar’s remarks “created doubts” in the minds of voters in then poll-bound Maharashtra. He also said he advised Maharashtra Congress leaders not to make so many promises, which, if made without considering the budget, could lead to bankruptcy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders had latched on to Kharge’s remarks to accuse the Congress of making false promises.
The Congress president’s remarks ended up discrediting Maha Vikas Agadi’s five guarantees, including free bus ride for women, say party leaders from Maharashtra. Meanwhile, their counterparts in Karnataka are curious about the timing of Kharge’s jibe at Shivakumar, given speculation about a succession plan if cases of alleged corruption against CM Siddaramaiah take a serious turn. Kharge’s son Priyank is a minister in the Congress government in Karnataka.
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‘Renaissance Man’ Vivek Tankha
Senior Advocate and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha will soon join the club of public figures whose lives have inspired films or documentaries.
A documentary showing Tankha’s legal career and contributions to social and administrative reform will be screened at his residence in Delhi for friends and colleagues next week. The opening sequence, it is learnt, revolves around the life and judgments of the Congress MP’s late father—former Madhya Pradesh HC judge Justice R.K. Tankha.
For the title of the documentary, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor suggested ‘Renaissance Man’. And it was an immediate hit.
The Karnataka sink or swim test
Forty years after the then Karnataka CM R. Gundu Rao inaugurated an indoor swimming pool in Bengaluru’s Sadashivanagar by taking a dip in full media glare, revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda tried to recreate the iconic moment during the inauguration of a swimming pool in Kempapura.
It is often customary for the dignitary invited to inaugurate a hotel, sports complex or any other activity-based establishment to try the food or the turf. But while politicians trying their hand at cricket may gain traction online, jumping into a pool may not always pan out as planned.
Former CM R. Gundu Rao’s son Dinesh Gundu Rao, Minister of Health & Family Welfare in the state government, had also tried to recreate the iconic moment in July, but instead invited criticism for enjoying a swim in a ‘clean pool’ while the city was witnessing a spike in vector-borne diseases.
Dinesh Gundu Rao’s predecessor K. Sudhakar, too, had come under fire in April 2020 after a picture surfaced of the BJP leader and his family spending time in a swimming pool at the peak of COVID-19 restrictions.
What sweetened Akhilesh’s Ranchi stay
It isn’t just administrative machinery that goes into overdrive each time VIPs descend on Ranchi. Maa Tara Mistanna Bhandar, a popular sweets shop and confectionery store in the Jharkhand capital, also has to put its best foot forward to satiate the sweet tooth of its high-profile clientele.
The last few days were particularly hectic for the legacy establishment as top politicians from across the country gathered in Ranchi for the swearing-in of CM Hemant Soren after the JMM-led alliance’s stellar showing in the assembly elections. Among the leaders in Ranchi for the ceremony was Samajwadi Party chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav whose personal aide is learnt to have dialled Maa Tara Mistanna Bhandar in advance to place an order for his favourite item on the menu—Nolen Gurer Kancha Golla.
The sweet, made using jaggery prepared from date palm and cottage cheese, is also a favourite of President Droupadi Murmu.
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