Delhi Confidential: Top BJP leaders hold long meeting, trigger fresh round of speculation

A high-level meeting of top BJP leaders at party chief J P Nadda’s residence on Monday has triggered a fresh round of speculation, even as the party remained tight-lipped on the agenda. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh met Nadda for more than four hours. While some sources in the party indicated that the discussions revolved around candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections, slated for June 10, others said the talks were on the NDA candidate for the President’s election, coming up in July. A few others said the discussions included party affairs in Karnataka, too — although the last day of filing nominations for elections to Karnataka Legislative Council is Tuesday, the uncertainty seems to be continuing until the last minute. The nomination process for election to 57 Rajya Sabha seats also begins Tuesday.

Trip through history: Home Minister Amit Shah visited the Prime Minister’s Museum on Monday and praised the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in honouring the contribution of all his predecessors. Shah said the museum is above political ideologies and called it a praiseworthy effort in documenting the achievements of all PMs over the years. Shah shared on social media his pictures clicked with the portraits of Lal Bahadur Shastri, Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Regaining the touch: As the pandemic situation seems to ease across the country, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat will start the biometric attendance system after a gap of more than two years. The Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system was suspended in March 2020 as the first wave of coronavirus was spreading. The system, introduced in August 2018, will resume on a trial basis for the next 10 days and, starting June 1, will be fully reintroduced. All personnel have been asked to register on the Rajya Sabha Secretariat’s web portal so that their attendance can be marked through the biometric system starting June.