Fly on the wall
Long wait for Rahul Darshan, 700 in queue
Congress Party's senior leader Rahul Gandhi may be ridiculed by the BJP day-in and day-out and the saffron party's social media army may be trolling him for everything that comes its way. But Rahul Gandhi continues to be in high demand in his own party if those managing his political affairs and office are to be believed. It is said that party's Lok Sabha candidates want Rahul Gandhi to campaign in their constituencies though insiders say the demand of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is equally high as she never trips as is often the case with Rahul Gandhi. Whatever may be the case, Rahul Gandhi is in high demand. An aide of Rahul Gandhi recently flared up when a Congress leader questioned him for not arranging his one minute meeting with the scion of the Gandhi family. The senior leader was from Delhi and had been trying to meet Rahul Gandhi for more than a month without any luck. The aide bluntly told him that more than 700 party leaders are waiting to meet “RG”. But the former Congress president has been extremely busy in campaigning and other critical issues. A clue to Rahul Gandhi's extremely busy scheduled came recently when the Chairman of the Congress media in-charge Jairam Ramesh disclosed in a social media post that Milind Deora had spoken with him over phone and requested about wishing to to speak with Rahul Gandhi over his concerns over Shiv Sena (UBT) laying claim to the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat. A number of party leaders were surprised that Deora could not directly communicate with Rahul though he was considered very close to him.
BJP's Christians headache
The
BJP leadership is facing a humongous problem in many of the Christian
dominated Lok Sabha constituencies particularly in Kerala. Though PM
Modi has taken several steps as part of his outreach program and had
hosted their religious leaders at his residence, the problem
persists. The cardinals were unhappy that Pope Francis had not been
invited during the past several years ignoring a long standing
tradition. Though the government explained that a mutually acceptable
time-frame is being worked out after an invitation was sent. The
Christians are also unhappy that not a single member of their
community has been appointed as Vice Chancellor in any of the 75
central universities. Fortunately, Prakash Javadekar who is incharge
of Kerala told them that during his tenure as Education Minister, two
VCs of their community were appointed. They are complaining that the
National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) set
up to promote education among the minorities, is running with just
one member against a stipulated strength of four for years together.
The quasi-judicial body grants minority certificates to institutions
set up by minorities for promotion of education among them. The
commission has had no Christian members for the past eight years.
Sahid Akhtar is the lone commission member at present. The
Christian community in general and the Catholic Church in particular
run thousands of educational institutions. The Catholic Church alone
has 50,000 institutions with 6 crore students.
Baffling absence of AAP's Raghav Chadha
A media favourite, charming, polite and a permanent fixture on television news channels, Raghav Chadha has been missing from the scene for more than a month. He went to London with his actress wife Parineeti Chopra ostensibly for an eye surgery though the couple took part in India Forum 2024, hosted at the London School Of Economics and many other events. It is explained that he is undergoing treatment of his eye while his wife was seen landing at the Mumbai airport earlier this month. The grapevine has it that Chadha is delaying his return to India as the ED may name him in an on-going Delhi Jal Board probe. The ED has already filed a chargesheet in the Rs 2 crore bribery case. Though it does not mention Chadha's name. But the ED is planning to file a supplementary chargesheet and may summon him for questioning. Lately, Raghav Chadha is incommunicado and Parineeti Chopra is also keeping the media at bay. Insiders say that Parineeti Chopra's sister Priyanka Chopra who is considered close to the powers that be, may play the role of a peace-maker. A long wait and deadly silence!
The Varun Gandhi riddle
Why did the BJP deny ticket to Varun Gandhi and chose his mother Maneka to contest Lok Sabha polls? This question continues to baffle even those close to the BJP high command. Many say that Varun Gandhi paid the price for his public utterances after he was not inducted into the Modi ministry in 2021. Though a couple of meetings took place between him and BJP chief J P Nadda on the issue. It is said Varun Gandhi was sounded for Minister of State's post but he suggested that he be considered for MoS with an Independent charge so that he can prove his mettle. It may be mentioned that his mother Maneka Gandhi had missed the Cabinet bus during Modi's second term in 2019 itself. Since then, Maneka Gandhi had maintained a studied silence and did whatever party work was assigned to her. But Varun Gandhi being a young fire-brand leader, kept throwing tantrums. It also transpires, though unconfirmed, that Varun Gandhi was asked obliquely if he will be willing to contest against any member of the Gandhi family belonging to the Congress. It is said that Varun looked reluctant though didn't decline. After the ticket was denied to him, Varun Gandhi has been maintaining a studied silence except for sending a heartfelt letter to the people of Pilibhit to say his doors would always be open for them.
