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Journalism of Courage
Despite the expected victory of its candidate Droupadi Murmu in Monday’s presidential election, the ruling BJP had directed all its MPs to be present in the national capital on Saturday itself. Party leaders said they did not want to take a chance as there could be some unexpected hurdles at the last minute. The MPs met Saturday evening and there was a training session for them on how to vote. However, in the opposition Congress camp, the MPs did not get any instruction or direction from the party leadership on the presidential election. While there was no communication from the central leadership to the party MPs on the presidential election, Congress MPs from Kerala received a letter from state BJP president K Surendran seeking their support for Murmu.
RAJYA SABHA Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu was pleasantly surprised on Sunday when senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh suggested that the government should create a post of ‘Chairman Emeritus’ as a token of acknowledgement for his contributions to the Upper House. Ramesh’s suggestion came at a meeting of floor leaders of Rajya Sabha convened by Naidu, who is retiring as Vice President next month. It was an emotional meeting with many opposition leaders praising Naidu, with whom they often had arguments and disagreements over various issues. Ramesh, in fact, said Naidu used to get angry and irritated with the opposition leaders at times but he was a good person at heart and he will be missed.
SOON AFTER the conclusion of the monsoon session of Parliament, officials of the Environment Ministry have something to look forward to – the next meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, which this time will take place in Kerala. The last NTCA meeting, held earlier this year, was conducted in Arunachal Pradesh – the first ever NTCA meeting to take place outside of New Delhi. This is the mandate of Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, who has decided to take policy making beyond the national capital. Yadav, who is also the Labour Minister, has also started holding different central level meetings in the states – often interacting with the local population – to address issues on the ground. Yadav has also increased the frequency of meetings of different committees and agencies.
