Didi’s Latest Tryst
What is Mamata Bannerjee up to? The fiery leader from West Bengal had certainly stolen the headlines last week. When she is not marching the streets of the national capital or camping overnight in the West Bengal Secretariat, she is visiting Lucknow and Patna to address rallies against the BJP-led Central government. What is interesting about her visits to the Hindi heartland is that she is reportedly learning Hindi phrases to address the crowd, and according to sources, is even referring to a Bengali to Hindi dictionary. Is this the first step towards realising her national ambition? For the people of Kolkata recall all too well how a fellow Bengali— President Pranab Mukherjee commented once—that he could not hope to be the PM of India because he did not know Hindi. Well, Didi is certainly doing her bit to woo the Hindi heartland.
Badals Up Close, Personal
In a rare—and first— television appearance, Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and his wife, Union Minister for Food Processing, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, appeared together on an interview in NewsX. Asked to rate her husband’s performance as Chief Minister, Harsimrat said while she gave her father-in-law Parkash Singh Badal 10/10, Sukhbir got 9/10. Clearly, the Deputy CM has to work a bit harder to keep up with his dad. Asked what was the one thing he would change about his wife, Sukhbir replied, “her temper”. And he even got away with that one as it was the last question of the interview.
The Captain’s Googly
Post the Punjab elections, Captain Amarinder Singh may have more than one reason to celebrate. While he is hoping to cash in on the anti establishment mood and swing these elections for the Congress, he has another reason to look forward to 4 March (by when the results will be out), for that is the date for which the wedding of his grandson Nirvan has been set. Nirvan, the son of Captain Amarinder’s daughter Jaya, is to marry Mriganka, the daughter of Chitrangada and Vikramaditya Singh. Apart from being Madhavrao Scindia’s grand-daughter, Mriganka’s mother Chitra and Nirvan’s mother Jaya are old school friends from Welham Girls. Clearly, it’s a match with political and old-school ties. So, as a Congress MP from Punjab pointed out, whatever the result, the Captain will have something to celebrate beginning March.
Setting a Trend?
Rajya Sabha MP and Supreme Court lawyer K.T.S. Tulsi has found a unique way out of the parking and traffic menace in the capital. He cycles to his place of work — whether it is the Supreme Court or Parliament of India. Luckily for him, he has a bungalow in Delhi’s Lutyens’ Zone, so the distances are not too much for this very fit septuagenarian. But in this age of large cavalcades and equally large egos, one admires the initiative of this soft-spoken, hard-hitting legal eagle and parliamentarian. Another one who cycles to Parliament is Minister of State for Finance, Arjun Ram Meghwal. Hopefully, the trend catches on.