Pre-Truth — snappy, witty and significant snippets from the world of politics and government.
Rafale deal impasse may have kept Doval away from Modi tour
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a three-nation African tour last week, during which he attended the BRICS summit, conspicuous by his absence was national security adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. The NSA almost always travels with the PM on his foreign trips, particularly if it entails a summit as important as BRICS. However, the PM’s trip to Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa last week was an exception. This has set off speculation in the power corridors about the possible reasons and many believe it is because of the heat on the government over the Rafale deal. Another conspicuous miss was a bilateral meeting between the Brazilian President and Modi, even though the Indian PM held one-on-ones with heads of states of the other BRICS countries.
Acquitted in road rage case, Sidhu ready to hit the campaign trail
Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has never campaigned for the Congress, since he joined the party, outside Punjab despite his name being included in the star campaigner list for every assembly elections. But now Sidhu would be campaigning for the assembly polls in a few states later this year as well as the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Sidhu was said to be worried about his case related to a 1988 road rage incident that was being heard by the Supreme Court. He feared that actively campaigning against the BJP might go against him. Now that the apex court acquitted him in May, he is ready to campaign for the party.
‘Superstitious’ Kumaraswamy defers relief measures for farmers
The Deve Gowda family in Karnataka has always thanked its stars for being able to come to power by the grace of ‘God’. This time the family has taken its blind beliefs one step further: the state cabinet of chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has not held a cabinet meeting for close to a month. Reason: It is the month of “Aashada” which is considered inauspicious. But this has now turned out to be a cause of major embarrassment to coalition partner Congress.
The Gowdas’ belief in the stars, Vaastu and planets is well-known, but many in the government feel that this time they have taken it a bit too far. The heavy rainfall in coastal Karnataka at least required an announcement of relief measures from the CM’s office. The blind belief that taking any decision during Aashada will bring bad luck has forced people to fend for themselves. Sources close to the family said that CM Kumaraswamy’s decision may have been influenced by his older brother Revanna.
Cops in dilemma as music ban imposed in Bengaluru pubs
More than 400 pubs and restaurants have been served notices by the Bengaluru police to stop playing music or live bands until they obtain licences. While the effort is to ensure that all establishments enforce fire and safety norms, the lack of occupancy certificates is key to turning off the music in these places. Many of the establishments do not have this mandatory certificate as they are more than 20 years old and the local civic body does not issue the same to them. Now the owners of these pubs and restaurant fear that they would once again incur heavy losses in the similar manner as they did when the highway liquor ban was imposed.
A year ago, a notification was issued that said that liquor shops along highways will be shut down. However, most of the pubs in the central business district were right along the highway that ran through the heart of the pub capital. Now, the authorities want to wash their hands of the issue by saying that Bengaluru has a pub culture and it’s the police who must take a call.
(Contributors: Ruhi Tewari, Kumar Anshuman and Rohini Swamy)