Delhi Confidential: As campaigning moves online, Shashi Tharoor in demand

Digital Push: Restrictions on physical election rallies appear to have thrown up new star campaigners besides those in the party’s official list. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor does not figure in the star campaigners’ list of his party, but the digital campaign seems to have put him in demand, at least in some states. Earlier this week, Tharoor announced that he would address the people of poll-bound Goa virtually. Soon more than 150 people signed up and his followers on Facebook and YouTube also joined. Tharoor’s 25-minute speech went viral and there were dozens of questions from the viewers as well, which received significant coverage in local newspapers.

Pusad Movement: One year ago, Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha made an appeal to Chairman of the Upper House Venkaiah Naidu to develop Pusad in Maharashtra as a memorial of the 1930 Jungle Satyagraha, which was offered under the leadership of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar. The spot in Pusad in Yavatmal district has remained neglected since Independence. On Wednesday though, the Ministry of Culture formally gave a go-ahead to a museum dedicated to the movement, which ran parallel to Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha, as part of the Azaadi ka Amrut Mahotsav celebrations.

Eyes on Numbers: Due to the rise in Covid cases, most central ministries are running with depleted staff strength. Below the level of under-secretaries, 50 per cent staff are allowed to work from home on a given day. Naturally, the usual buzz is missing from the power corridors. But officials in the Department of School Education in Literacy are slogging away to make the upcoming ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ a success, with the Prime Minister’s Office monitoring the status of registrations for the event on a daily basis. It is learnt that so far there have been over 11 lakh registrations for the annual event during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds an interaction with selected students, parents and teachers on tackling exam stress. On Thursday, the last date for registration was extended to January 27. An official said the event is likely to be held in online mode around mid-February.