Jairam Ramesh
All Write
Congress leaders seem to be on a book-writing spree. And many of them are lawyer-politicians with a busy professional life. Two party leaders — Salman Khurshid and Abhishek Singhvi — are releasing books this week. And one gets to hear that Manish Tewari and Kapil Sibal are working on their memoirs, which may be out soon. But it is Jairam Ramesh who is most prolific in writing books since the UPA went out of power, publishing at least one title each year since 2015. Perhaps it was this context he had in mind when Singhvi, during his book launch on Wednesday, quoted former US President Ronald Reagan: “Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards. If you do not, you can write a book.”
Meetings Galore
Over the last two days, leaders of the Congress and JD(S) have met several times and spent hours together to resolve issues over Cabinet formation in Karnataka. So much so that Danish Ali, secretary-general of JD(S), broke his Ramzan fast at Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence. Ali and Congress leaders Azad, Ahmed Patel, Ashok Gehlot and K C Venugopal met for hours on Wednesday and Tuesday. Finally the Congress reluctantly agreed to part with the Finance portfolio, but there is no resolution on distribution of other portfolios.
Set For Radio Gaga
Fifteen Union ministers who are touring the country, publicising the achievements of the four years of the Narendra Modi government, have not only been asked to conduct press conferences in more than 20 states over the next week but also told to hold interactive sessions with radio jockeys of popular private FM channels wherever they go. The ministers are required to talk about successes of the government during these interactions, and also gauge the public sentiment through RJs, who have a big reach in their respective regions.