Glasshouse

  • Rohit Parihar
  • Jeemon Jacob
  • Kaushik Deka
  • Ananth Krishnan
  • May 18, 2018
  • UPDATED 19:31 IST
Illustration by: Siddhant Jumde
Illustration by: Siddhant Jumde

Kissa Kursi Ka

It must be embarrassing for RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Last November, he was seen sharing the dais with 'special guest' Kishore Rungta, ex-BCCI treasurer and industrialist, at the RSS function 'Swar' in Jaipur. And just this fortnight, Rungta was sent to jail after a CBI court in Jaipur upheld his 2015 conviction for taking a Rs 3 crore unsecured loan as MD of Man Structures Pvt Ltd without permission from the RBI and the central government, thus violating company law. Eyebrows were raised during the event itself when Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who had removed Rungta to bring in Lalit Modi, was seated below the stage. RSS insiders maintain that Rungta was honoured more for helping organise the event than to embarrass Raje, and that many were unaware of his leanings.
Pinarayi's Wrath

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is furious again. His dream plan, the Rs 30,000 crore Life Mission project to build houses for the homeless-is delayed and CEO Adeela Abdullah has gone on a month-long leave. Pinarayi had issued several warnings to initiate tenders, but the CM suspects one IAS officer is holding up things by sending useless queries and spreading misinformation in the media. Pinarayi has told the chief secretary he won't tolerate such behaviour. CMO insiders say he's planning a surgical strike on the babus.

A Plan with a Man

The BJP has picked Kanna Lakshminarayana, an ex-Congress minister who joined them in 2014, as state president in the quest for a TDP-mukt Andhra Pradesh. Having secured a vote share of 7 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls and a meagre 2 per cent in the assembly election, the BJP is banking on Lakshminarayana's influence in his Kapu community and his being a YSR acolyte to enable a pre- or post-poll deal with Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress for 2019.

Exam Dress Code

Bihar authorities appear to have gone into overdrive to stop cheating in examinations. On May 13, male candidates for the Bihar Polytechnic Diploma Certificate Entrance exam were asked to take off their shirts and enter the examination centres only in vests. A day before, women candidates appearing for the paramedic entrance exam were allowed in only after invigilators cut the sleeves of their kurtis in half.

Jab They Met

Photo: Aftab Alam SiddiquiPhoto: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

When Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar met Lalu Prasad Yadav on May 12 at the wedding of son Tej Pratap, the two held hands. Nitish was smiling, Lalu's face was inscrutable. They were meeting 10 months after Nitish broke away from the grand alliance in July 2017. The one man missing was Deputy CM Sushil Modi, who was on a trip to Poland.
-Kaushik Deka with Rohit Parihar, Ananth Krishnan, Jeemon Jacob, Amarnath K. Menon, Amitabh Srivastava.

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