Delhi confidential: Slogan mistake

In conclusion, instead of saying “Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa”, to which the crowd had to respond, he said: “Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh”.

Slogan mistake

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh ended up making an error while shouting out a Sikh slogan at a Rashtriya Sikh Sangat event on Wednesday. The event, organised by the RSS-backed Sangat, was for marking the 350th birth anniversary of the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh. In front of a gathering of over a thousand people, Singh said that although he considered all communities as brothers, he considered the Sikhs elder brothers. In conclusion, instead of saying “Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa”, to which the crowd had to respond, he said: “Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh”. Realising he had made a mistake, the minister said: “Arre idhar udhar chalega (a bit of mistake here and there is okay).”

Pro, not politician

The Congress has brought in a professional as its media department secretary in a break from the practice of appointing a political face. Vineet Punia, who is director public relations in Punjab University and is currently on leave, will be the media department secretary. He replaces S V Ramani, a Congress leader from Tamil Nadu. Before Ramani, Tom Vadakkan was the media department secretary for nearly two decades. Punia is the first non-politician to be appointed in this post. He has informally worked with the AICC communications department for nearly eight months. Handpicked by the party’s communications department head Randeep Surjewala, Punia, made a good impression on Rahul Gandhi, sources said. It is not that Punia has no political connection at all. His mother is a district president of the Mahila Congress in Haryana.

Time for young Turks

The list of who is going to be the Congress’s star campaigners in Himachal Pradesh, submitted to the Election Commission, makes for interesting reading. The list has many young faces. While the likes of Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot have figured in the star campaigners’ list in the past, the list this time has young guns such as Gaurav Gogoi, Sushmita Dev, Jaiveer Shergil, Bhanwar Jitender Singh and Vijay Inder Singla. The list has almost all the senior party leaders from neighbouring Punjab, from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to Navjot Singh Sidhu, Partap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jhakar. Former chief ministers of Haryana and Uttarakhand Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Harish Rawat are also on the list.