Yatra hits a hundred
Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has completed 100 days and is all set to enter Delhi. After which the yatra will go on a break and the yatris will once again hit the ground after the New Year. While the break is a much deserved one, there are those within the party who are wondering if it wouldn’t have been better optics if Rahul had taken the break to attend Parliament instead. By giving Parliament a miss, is he sending the right optics? Of course there is also speculation that the session may end sooner than due. Also, why should Rahul be singled out for not taking Parliament seriously; given the delay in summoning the winter session—a delay that was prompted by the then ongoing Gujarat elections giving the MPs, specially the Union Cabinet free time to focus their energies on the campaign in the Prime Minister’s home state?
House Chores for the VP
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and kudos to him for running the session smoothly. Before the session began he hosted a meeting of all the floor leaders in the Rajya Sabha and the takeaways from that were positive, with one Opposition MP even remarking that as a lawyer Dhankhar was also known as a skillful arbitrator, settling most of his cases out of court. Clearly, that skill is being put to test on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, as he has managed to keep the House running smoothly.
She Says
The draft data protection bill uses the pronouns “her” and “she” to describe individuals of all genders. The bill was circulated last month for feedback, but the ministry made it a point to reach out to women MPs in particular (cutting across party lines) for their feedback, to plug the loopholes in navigating social media and put in safety measures. The team of Ashwini Vaishnaw and Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the Ministry of Information & Technology have got some kudos for this gender sensitive approach, specially from their women colleagues; and as Vaishnaw told the media, the move is in keeping with the Narendra Modi government’s philosophy of women empowerment.