Delhi Confidential: Rain plays spoilsport for BJP celebrations on 8 years of Modi government 

Delayed by storm: The sudden storm on Monday evening marred elaborate preparations made by BJP to celebrate completion of eight years in government. On a day party president J P Nadda addressed the media, there were elaborate arrangements for a high tea in the central courtyard of BJP headquarters. The storm and the rain, however, spoiled the arrangements — the staff had to make alternate arrangements in about half-an-hour. While Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur were at the party office before 4 pm, senior ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh joined later for an informal interaction with the media. Singh got delayed due to the mayhem caused by the storm on roads. He got stuck on his way back from the party office, too.

Dharna pressure: The monotony of holding court during vacations gave way to hearty laughter in Supreme Court on Monday as senior advocate Kapil Sibal told a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and B V Nagarathna that “nowadays there are too many dharnas outside my house”. The message was not lost on anyone as Sibal had recently exited the Congress and will return to Rajya Sabha with Samajwadi Party’s support. The remarks came during mentioning hours — when matters that require urgent hearing are brought to notice of the sitting judge. Justice Rastogi was advising the Bar that it should give more chances to junior lawyers, at least when the court is on summer vacation, when Sibal made the comment, albeit in a lighter vein.

Health advisory: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s conversation with the chairman of a civic board in the state’s Purulia district left netizens in splits on Monday. In the video clip, Banerjee could be seen expressing concern, albeit in a jocular manner, about the gentleman’s paunch. The response of Suresh Agarwal, chairman of Jhalda civic board that he exercises regularly however cut no ice with Banerjee, who advised him to cut down on snacking.