WHEN MEDIA IS THE NEWS
The Press Club of India meet to condole the murder of Gauri Lankesh ended up with a controversial twist as there was some division between the journalists over the presence of political leaders at the meet. The CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D. Raja, AAP’s Ashutosh, the AAP rebel Yogendra Yadav and Swami Agnivesh were seen at the venue and some even spoke from the dais. This sparked a row as to whether politicians should be invited to what was essentially a media event, or whether or not their presence took away from the gravity of the event.
RAHUL ELEVATION IN OCTOBER?
Once again there is some speculation about Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as party president. And the Congress vice president has certainly been busy touring the countryside, especially election bound Gujarat, where he is said to have hit a chord with small shopkeepers when he spoke about demonetisation. But in between his elevation, he has also taken time off to attend a lecture in artificial intelligence, leading the Twitterati to quip, it’s a statement begging for a joke. Then again, being Rahul Gandhi has never been without its lighter moments.
BEING SWAMY
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s wife Roxna Swamy has penned a book on her husband, which is aptly titled, Evolving With Subaramanian Swamy: A Roller Coaster Ride. It’s an interesting compilation of anecdotes and events from Swamy’s life, including, of course, the famous incident when despite being on the hit-list during the Emergency, Swamy not only managed to sneak back into the country (he was in the US at the time) disguised under a turban, but also had the chutzpah to walk into Parliament minus the turban and actually managed to speak in the Rajya Sabha with an interjection. The interjection was typically Swamy-esque, for he told the Chair, “You have made a notable omission in your Obituary References, you have left out Democracy from your list of the deceased!” When the Speaker refused to record the point of order, Swamy staged a walkout in protest and managed to escape from Parliament. As for the other anecdotes, you’ll have to wait for the book to release next week.