Delhi Confidential: No Noise

UNLIKE MANY politicians, top leaders of the Congress party who got the Covid vaccine have done it rather quietly. Most of them have not shared photographs of them getting the jab on their social media accounts. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party leaders say, got the vaccine earlier this month and had been telling leaders who spoke to her to get themselves inoculated. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad were among the first to get the vaccine.

The Pushback

PIYUSH GOYAL indulged in some plainspeak at a retirement function in Railways on Wednesday. Taking a dig at senior officers, the Railway Minister said the old system of officers giving government jobs to people as Bungalow Peons needed a rethink, which has now been done. He also had a word or two to offer against departmentalism. In an attacking mode, he also said that senior officers need to introspect on whether what they do is aligned with the objective of what is best for the country. Officials said Goyal probably got irked by a couple of senior retiree officers’ speeches and wanted to give them a fitting reply.

The Outsider

A BSF IG’s rather deep attachment to his son is fast becoming a cause for discomfort in the border guarding force. The IPS officer is said to be taking his son on all field visits and even takes him to the border when he briefs his subordinates on security issues. In a recent instance, the son sat through a presentation on border infrastructure by the field commandant and even gave his inputs. Once the presentation was over he asked his father to reward the commanding officer as he had quite liked the presentation.