Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh appears to have taken to micro-blogging site Twitter with much enthusiasm and has been keeping reporters busy with his daily posts. Team Anna Hazare too had exploited the networking sites to build a campaign against corruption. So, Mr Singh is using Twitter to hit
back at Team Anna apart from voicing his views on all issues. So ahead of the UP Assembly elections, Mr Singh countered Team Anna to clarify its stand on the issue of reservation in a clear attempt to drag them into the caste ridden polity of the state. However, it’s yet to be clarified officially if Mr Singh’s views are official views of the Congress. When Congress spokesman Rashid Alvi was asked if Mr Singh’s views are that of the party, pat came the reply that only what spokespersons say are the views of the party. Though Mr Singh is the Congress general secretary, he is not the party’s spokesperson. Mr Alvi left it for the scribes to decipher what to make of Mr Singh’s assertions. However, on one occasion a Congress spokesperson had said that Mr Singh’s views on eligibility of bail for those languishing in jail are his “own views”.
Only two for Kani’s support
Contrary to what was witnessed in the CBI special court on November 3 when almost all the DMK MPs were present hoping to escort the party’s Rajya Sabha MP and DMK Chief Dr Karunanidhi’s daughter Mrs Kanimozhi out of jail, just two MPs, namely T.R. Baalu and A.K.S. Vijayan, were present when Kanimozhi’s bail application was taken up for hearing in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.
Sources revealed that a specific directive was given by the leadership to stay away from Court to avoid creating a sensation in the media about the case by making themselves available in the court premises. But it also had its effect with no TV channel having an opportunity to report that DMK MPs were present in full strength, thereby taking the sheen away from the case, albeit temporarily.
Family time for Advani
Veteran BJP leader and former deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is currently in the middle of a nation-wide rath yatra against corruption. The leader who is known for his penchant to conduct such rath yatras, however, didn’t miss celebrating his birthday with his family in the national capital.
The BJP leader took a detour from Gujarat, gave a miss to Rajasthan for a few days, and landed straight in Delhi on Tuesday to be with his loved ones to celebrate yet another birthday. The celebrations also gave the leader a much deserved day off from being on the potholed roads of rural India.
Bhushan’s candid best
Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) E.K. Bharat Bhushan was at his candid best recently at an aviation conference in the Capital. Mr Bhushan, a senior IAS officer, confessed that he had never had a more “difficult job” than being the DGCA.
For the record, the Directorate that he heads is the aviation regulator in the country which is grossly under-staffed. Mr Bhushan was to delivered a speech on aviation safety at the seminar where several aviation professionals were present. Being a career bureaucrat who is now handling a job that requires considerable expertise as an aviation professional, Mr Bhushan recalled a rather funny experience in the past.
“When I was Health Secretary in Kerala, I was once asked to address a group of gynaecologists on child-delivery. Compared to that, this (speech on aviation safety) is a walk in the park,” said Mr Bhushan with a straight face, even as many in the audience burst out laughing.
Derogatory remarks land CPI(M) in trouble
The CPI(M) appears to have stumbled in its own effort to draw people’s attention and confidence in West Bengal with senior leader Biman Bose antagonising a large section of the public by using derogatory language against chief minister Mamata Banerjee led Trinamul government and its alliance with the Congress in the state.
If a section within the party is to be believed, the recent remarks made by the senior CPI(M) leader has for the time being ended up diverting attention of most people from the burning issue for which Mamata was being attacked by her opponents and instead diverted people’s ire on the CPI(M) now.
People are aghast and did not expect a Left party leader to be talking like that, said a source. Mamata is a woman chief minister and that should always be kept in mind and due respect given to her, a woman activist said.