Ahmed Patel
Post-Victory Prayer
Was it divine intervention or astute political tactics that led to Ahmed Patel’s victory in the from Gujarat? Whatever the reasons may be, 43 Congress MLAs from Gujarat flew to Tirupati on Monday for a darshan at the Lord Balaji temple. During their stay in Bengaluru, the MLAs had vowed to visit Tirupati if Patel won the election. They have kept their word. Before flying out to the temple town in Andhra Pradesh, the MLAs were in Delhi to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul. The Gandhis told them to remain united and continue with the same fighting spirit to defeat the BJP in the coming Assembly elections.
Social Media Class
The chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, who arrived for a meeting at the party headquarters on Monday, had been asked to submit, among others, their progress on social media. The CMs had apparently been asked to tweet between 8 am and 9 am and retweet PM Narendra Modi’s tweets. Every CM has submitted the report on the number of followers on their Twitter handle and Facebook page, as also how many followers each of them has added in the last 100 days. Another category they had to highlight was how many of their tweets were retweeted by Modi.
Credit For Photos
Outgoing Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit created a new wall of photos of the previous High Commissioners and their wives at Pakistan House. The wall, however, has pictures of only seven or eight envoys with their spouses. A hunt is now on in the archives to get more pictures of Basit’s predecessors.
Anniversary Request
About a dozen MPs and around 50 writers have written to the Centre with a request to celebrate the 125th anniversary of noted Hindi authors Rahul Sankrityayan and Shivpujan Sahay, who was also a Gandhian litterateur. They have asked the Centre to mark the event of the two stalwarts of Hindi literature in the same manner as the UPA government had celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of literary icon Munshi Premchand in 2006. Acting on their missive, Sahitya Akademi, which has been asked by the Culture ministry for its views, has already endorsed the proposal. However, no decision has been taken yet on the proposal even after months, making the enthusiasts anxious.
