Premium

Delhi Confidential: Balancing Act

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, it is learnt, was not present to greet the Vice President when he arrived, or escort him when he left.

Mansukh Mandaviya (Express illustration)

On Monday evening, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar was at the opening ceremony of the first Kho Kho World Cup. Also present were Delhi L-G V K Saxena, Indian Olympic Association chief P T Usha and Kho Kho Federation head Sudhanshu Mittal. Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, it is learnt, was not present to greet the Vice President when he arrived, or escort him when he left. The minister attended the event for a while and gave a speech but left before the lighting of the torch and the V-P’s address as he had a flight to catch. This led some of those in attendance to question if the protocol for the V-P had been followed.

Pass To Future

Several Congress secretaries and leaders found themselves in a rush on Tuesday evening after being told they had to collect “physical passes” from room 17 at 24, Akbar Road for the inauguration of the new AICC headquarters on Wednesday morning. Most leaders were under the impression that the invitation would suffice for entry to the Indira Gandhi Bhawan. All leaders have been instructed to be present at the new office on Kotla Road by 9.30 am. Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate it at 10 am.

Officers Choice

Though former home secretary Ajay Bhalla has recently been appointed Manipur Governor, the buzz in the bureaucracy is that the government is increasingly reluctant to give post-retirement jobs to senior superannuated officials. The appointment of a serving officer as the NTRO chairman earlier this month was a case in point. The post had remained under temporary stewardship of Arun Sinha for months before the announcement of 1994-batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre Rajesh Arya. In the run-up to the appointment, the names of former IB Special Director Anish Dayal Singh and former IB chief Arvind Kumar were also doing the rounds, but none materialised. The name of a former RAW chief was also being discussed for the post, but the government eventually chose a serving officer. NTRO has in the past been largely headed by retired officers.