Rajiv Mehrishi
Speculation had been rife about outgoing Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi getting a post-retirement assignment. But on Wednesday, his last day in office, Mehrishi said that he is headed to Jaipur on Thursday. While no official order has been issued yet, the grapevine has it that he may be called back to take up an assignment — like on the previous occasion, when he had to return from the airport to take over as Home Secretary.
Suddenly, All Quiet
It’s been 10 days since the O Panneerselvam and E Palaniswami factions of the AIADMK have merged. But the two sides, which had flooded the Election Commission with petitions and affidavits claiming the party’s ‘Two Leaves’ symbol, are yet to approach the poll panel and inform that they have patched up. A five-member team of the AIADMK, including some top leaders such as V Maitreyan and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, were in Delhi and it was expected that they would go to the EC and file an affidavit on the merger to resolve the dispute. But to everyone’s surprise, the team, sources said, held discussions with legal experts but did not go to the EC, and instead left for Chennai. It begs the question whether there is a new twist in the AIADMK tale.
Anger In The Hills
With an upset CM Virbhadra Singh indicating that he would neither contest nor lead the party in the coming Assembly elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had to summon Ahmed Patel from Gujarat to deal with the Himachal Pradesh strongman. She herself did not meet Singh, and would do so perhaps only after the Chief Minister is cooled down considerably. There is no indication so far of Singh’s demand having been accepted. He wants removal of the party’s state unit chief so as to get a free hand in ticket distribution. Singh’s critics allege that his real intention is to bring to the front his son Vikramidtya. Sources close to Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, the state Congress chief, say that he has no plans to come to Delhi soon as he is in the middle of a padayatra. The indication is that he has not been summoned. As it stands now, it seems things will move forward only after party vice-president Rahul Gandhi returns home.
