Venkaiah Naidu
He may be days away from getting ensconced in the protocol-driven position of the Vice-President of India, but M Venkaiah Naidu has not lost his hands-on approach, it seems. A day before voting for the Vice-Presidential election, Naidu took the watch and ward staff by surprise when he walked into the Parliament House annexe to check arrangements for the dinner-cum-book launch of his speeches for NDA MPs. The staff told him to not worry as they were on the job.
Homeward bound
M Venkaiah Naidu has already made travel plans a day after Saturday’s Vice-Presidential election. He is slated to visit Bengaluru, Nellore and Tirupati before returning to Delhi ahead of the swearing-in. Nellore is his native place and Bengaluru is the place from where he was sent to Parliament for the first time. He will also take the blessings of Lord Balaji in Tirupati.
Sky-high praise
Most NDA leaders who spoke during the MPs’ meeting on the eve of the Vice-Presidential poll praised the candidate, but the PDP’s Muzaffar Baig was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He virtually called Modi God’s gift and suggested he could be compared to the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein, Napolean, Lincoln and Newton, if everyone lent support to his leadership.
Envoy meetings
Rahul Gandhi is on a spree to meet foreign diplomats. After being criticised by the government for meeting the Chinese envoy, the Congress vice-president met Afghan ambassador Shaida Abdali and US acting ambassador Mary Kay Loss Carlson separately. Rahul had to face the ire of External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for meeting Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui after the Doklam row broke out.
