Delhi Confidential: Across Party Lines

They may be bitter critics in Parliament but a battery of politicians from across parties turned up at TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s wedding reception at a prominent hotel on Tuesday. Besides Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and MoS (Health) Anupriya Patel, other prominent political figures who attended the event included Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and P Chidambaram; Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav and Iqra Choudhary; Supriya Sule of the NCP(SP); and Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT). Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann were also there. Moitra, the TMC’s Krishnanagar MP, tied the knot with former BJD MP and senior lawyer Pinaki Misra in May.

Meeting The PM

Amid tensions with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena leader and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde met PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Shinde meeting the PM with his family was keenly watched by BJP leaders in the capital. Shinde has been caught in a power struggle with Fadnavis and also faces a threat from Uddhav and Raj Thackeray after their reunion. Party insiders are guessing what was discussed and whether he got any assurance from the PM.

Farmers ‘At Home’

Among the invitees for ‘At Home’ at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Independence Day will be farmers cultivating oilseeds (soybean and mustard) under the Centre’s National Mission on Edible Oilseeds (NMEOS). The inclusion of oilseed growers in the list of guests is significant amid government’s stress to make India self-reliant in edible oils.