Delhi confidential: At Rajnath’s home

Rajnath Singh

At Rajnath’s Home

After a day-long meeting of the BJP national executive, top party leaders were busy with other key issues. BJP president Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, party general secretary Ram Madhav, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and Union minister Jitendra Singh got into a huddle at Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence in the evening. While there was no official word, it appears the Kashmir issue came up for discussion.

Culture After Politics

After the conclusion of the BJP national executive meeting, the delegates got an opportunity to unwind to a cultural programme. However, the programme was not bereft of the party’s ideals of cultural nationalism. Troupes from different states across the country provided a cultural extravaganza to familiarise delegates from across the country about the cultural legacy of different states. Large posters of Deendayal Upadhyaya and Nanaji Deshmukh provided the backdrop to the programme.

DDU For The World

Deendayal Upadhyaya being the flavour of the month, the Ministry of External Affairs has produced an e-book, in which External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has written a foreword. Titled Integral Humanism, the book — in Hindi and English — is meant for the global audience and gives a glimpse of his thoughts expressed during his public life in the RSS. Officials said he engaged himself in Sangh work as an “excellent organiser, writer, journalist and orator”, and that is one of the key reasons why the ministry decided to prepare the e-book.

Apolitical Parikrama

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh bid adieu to the party’s 24, Akbar Road headquarters for six months. Singh is set to take a break, as he will embark on a six-month padayatra of almost 3,300 km to perform Narmada Parikrama from September 30. Singh met Rahul Gandhi and then came to his office at the AICC headquarters where he was closeted with AICC treasurer Motilal Vora. Singh’s break, during which he will not make any political statement, has baffled his friends and foes alike. His padayatra would touch more than 100 Assembly segments in Madhya Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due next year. Although Singh says only 50 people would accompany him, critics are worried whether his padayatra would transform into a mass-contact programme ahead of the polls. He has been out of state politics for over a decade now.