Glasshouse of the week
CM Vasundhara Raje shunted out a DCP in Jaipur because he agreed with a local SHO that the Jaipur Lit Fest should look for an alternate location since the existing venue, Hotel Diggi Palace, was congested and only had a single entry and exit.
Guardian angel
Rajasthan's visiting culturati have a new guardian angel, CM Vasundhara Raje. She shunted out a DCP in Jaipur because he agreed with a local SHO that the Jaipur Lit Fest should look for an alternate location since the existing venue, Hotel Diggi Palace, was congested and only had a single entry and exit. The festival stayed at the venue and was even inaugurated by Raje. It was no isolated incident. Last November, she removed an SHO who had misbehaved with an artist for flying an art installation, a styrofoam cow, during an art summit. She also apologised to the artist. Earlier, she shifted IAS officer Umrao Salodia out of the Jawahar Kala Kendra and replaced him with a professional art consultant and curator.
Fish wish
Agriculture and farmer welfare minister Radha Mohan Singh has installed a large fish tank in his office at Krishi Bhavan, purportedly at the behest of vastu consultants. He next plans to install a similar fish tank at his 6, Ashoka Road residence as well. Party observers have been quick to link these developments to speculation about an imminent reshuffle of PM Modi's cabinet. The agriculture minister has been targeted by the opposition for the alleged mishandling of drought and farmer suicides.
BJP spokespersons are miffed these days because they were not invited to the January 23 dinner meeting at 7, Race Course Road. PM Modi hosted the dinner for BJP's outgoing office bearers. Invitees included the party's central parliamentary board including president Amit Shah, all the vice presidents, general secretaries and secretaries. The BJP's 10 spokespersons are not office-bearers but function in an informal set-up. A technicality that the PM's office did not miss.
Siddu out shopping
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah publicly picked up an expensive silk sari to gift his wife Parvathi. The CM was inaugurating a sari showroom set up by the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC), on January 19 when he was told about a waterproof sari costing Rs 1.09 lakh. The CM immediately had the claim verified with a jug of water. Satisfied, he purchased it for his wife. People are unlikely to see her wearing it though. Siddaramaiah's wife has never been seen in public with him.
Lost in translation
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar's investment pitch to China seems to have paid off, with the Wanda group reaching 'an understanding' for a real-estate project worth $ 10 billion. But not everything went as planned during the CM's Beijing visit. At an investment summit, the audience was left puzzled when the translator urged them to invest in 'Havana' while Narendra Modi was referred to as the former CM of the Indian state of 'Gonga'.
New strategy
Kummanam Rajasekharan, 63, an RSS pracharak who took over as BJP's state president in Kerala last month, is setting a new trend by calling on members of the clergy, for their blessings. This is because the party can't bank on the state's 54 per cent Hindu population for the upcoming state elections. The party has also prompted visiting NDA ministers to call on church leaders in the hope that Christian-dominated parties, join hands with the BJP-steered third front.
Nick-name
Mufti Mohammed Saeed's son Tassaduq Mufti is getting into politics. The buzz began after the cinematographer accompanied sister Mehbooba Mufti to meetings. He's even okay with his politically incorrect nickname, Nixon, from the ill fated US president.
BJP President Amit Shah was unanimously elected for a three-year term on January 24. Over 1200 party workers from across the country trooped into the party's 11, Ashoka Road headquarters. Lunch was hosted for 1500 persons and, for the first time, there were parallel celebrations in all national BJP headquarters.
The fan club
That Mulayam Singh Yadav's daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav is a huge Narendra Modi fan is UP's worst-kept secret. She has publicly praised the PM on several occasions and criticised film star Aamir Khan's comments on intolerance. On January 22, Aparna, the wife of Akhilesh's younger brother Prateek Yadav, arrived alone to listen to PM Modi's convocation address at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Amedkar University. Her office had wrangled an invitation from the university. Interestingly, her brother-in-law chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, received the Prime Minister at Lucknow airport but skipped all the three programmes he addressed, despite invites from the PMO.
Back to work
Andhra Pradesh Congress leader and 'megastar' K. Chiranjeevi sports a handlebar moustache for his much-anticipated 151st film, Telugu remake of the Tamil blockbuster Kaththi. Twist in the tale? The film is bankrolled by Chiranjeevi's son, actor Ram Charan.
Ups and downs
Political watchers in Patna are quickly drawing comparisions between Amit Shah and state chief minister Nitish Kumar. Last year, Shah was trapped in an elevator in Patna prior to the assembly polls, which Nitish won. Last week, Kumar was trapped in the state secretariat elevator for a few minutes after a power failure. Five days later, Amit Shah got a second term as BJP national president.
Attention to detail
Party general secretary Ramlal honoured Shah with a special garland, drawing the party president's attention to a lotus symbol on it.
Anti-selfie drive
A BJP youth worker who took a selfie with water resources and Ganga rejuvenation minister Uma Bharti was in for a rude shock. Bharti snatched his phone and asked her security guards to delete the selfie.
with Rohit Parihar, Santosh Kumar, Aravind Gowda, Ananth Krishnan, Amarnath Menon, Amitabh Srivastava, Ashish Misra, Nasee R Ganai.