On the menu in TMC vs BJP—Samosa, jalebi
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was among the first Opposition voices to criticise the health ministry’s push for canteens and cafeterias to display the fat and sugar content of food items, including samosas and jalebis.
Mamata found this advisory akin to a ban on samosas and jalebis, but the Centre called her interpretation misleading. However, the Trinamool Congress sniffed a political opportunity, and at its press conferences held in Kolkata last week, served samosas and jalebis to media personnel.
TMC leaders who addressed the presser also made it a point to munch on the snacks. The TMC also arranged fish fry for non-vegetarian scribes, underlining that it did so since the leaders of the BJP in the Hindi heartland have “issues” with the consumption of fish.
A few months ago, after members of a Hindu fringe group had warned fish-sellers in Delhi’s Bengali-dominated neighbourhood Chittaranjan Park, the TMC had raised a storm, using the incident to corner the BJP in West Bengal where fish holds a special place in the Bengali dietary and cultural identity.
A photo from UP that has people talking
A few days ago, recently retired Uttar Pradesh director general of police Prashant Kumar posted on his social media account a photo of his meeting with farmer leader Rakesh Tikait. The picture quickly caught attention in the state’s power circles.
In his post, Kumar mentioned they had a good conversation and also talked about stories related to Tikait’s father and farmer leader Mahendra Tikait. During his time as the DGP and before that as ADGP (law and order), Kumar was known to be close to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while Tikait has always been a strong critic of the senior BJP leader.
According to sources close to the former police officer, Kumar and Tikait have known each other since his posting as Meerut zone ADG between 2017 and 2020.
The photo also helped explain how Kumar would have managed to diffuse the October 2021 protests led by Tikait after then Union minister and BJP leader Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish was accused of being part of a convoy that ran over a group of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, killing four and triggering violence that resulted in the deaths of as many more people.
Tikait had reached the site to lead a protest, but the agitators calmed down within a few hours after Kumar, who was then ADGP (law & order) met the farmer leader there. It’s believed in the corridors of power that Kumar’s old personal equation with Tikait played a key role in controlling the situation. The recent photo of them together has only strengthened this perception.
The other casualty of Maharashtra assembly lobby clash
Beyond the decorum and sanctity of the assembly, the 17 July scuffle between the supporters of Maharashtra MLAs Jitendra Awhad and Gopichand Padalkar inside the Vidhan Bhavan premises has had another casualty—access to the House.
A day after the fisticuffs in the assembly lobby, Speaker Rahul Narvekar said in the assembly that henceforth, while the legislature is in session, the premises will be out of bounds for all except the legislators, their approved personal assistants and government officials.
Awhad is an MLA from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Padalkar is from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Both apologised for the incident.
Usually, ministers often convene different types of meetings in their chambers at the Vidhan Bhavan during sessions. Speaker Narvekar said, henceforth, even that will not be permitted as it will involve the entry of outsiders. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has appealed to the Speaker to reconsider this decision.
Speaking in the assembly, he said, while Narvekar’s decision is appropriate, the assembly cannot be shut for people all the time because of the mistakes of a few. He suggested the security can be tightened to ensure every stakeholder who is inside the premises has a valid badge to show that the person’s entry has been permitted by the administrative system of the Vidhan Bhavan.
Fadnavis, however, warned all MLAs to introspect on the kind of behaviour that has gone on during the session this time and the message that it is sending to people.
Pawan Kalyan & his enthusiastic supporters
Their long-cherished dream of Pawan Kalyan becoming Andhra Pradesh chief minister looks unlikely to come true anytime soon, but it is not stopping some over-enthusiastic Jana Sena Party activists from imagining their supremo in the hot seat now, even if for a few days, as in-charge.
Whenever Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu goes out on visits abroad, JSP and Pawan Kalyan supporters make social media posts, claiming their beloved leader will be officiating in Naidu’s absence.
Such posts appeared on X in January when Naidu went on a five-day trip to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos along with his son and minister Lokesh and others.
Now the excitement among some JSP cadre is repeating as Naidu is set to embark on another five-day official tour to Singapore from 26-30 July. Some local Telugu news channels also stoked these emotions, airing such speculative news.
While a senior JSP leader told ThePrint they have no such information and that social media chatter shouldn’t be believed till the news is verified, a top bureaucrat also said there is no such decision taken “at-least to my knowledge,” nor there is any automatic provision of a deputy chief minister becoming the in-charge CM in the CM’s absence.
“In fact, our Constitution has no mention of deputy CM in the first place. It is a position created for political convenience,” the official said.
This time too, Nara Lokesh, the second-in-command in the TDP and in the AP government to a large extent, is accompanying his father. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Ponguru Narayana, Minister for Industries & Commerce T G Bharath and some officials are also going on the visit.
A government order issued on the tour describes it as an “Exposure and a networking Visit”.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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