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This is an archive article published on December 28, 2024
Delhi Confidential: Mutual Respect
FORMER PRIME minister Manmohan Singh, who was often the target of the BJP’s attack on the UPA government, on one occasion dialled a senior BJP leader and thanked him for a comment made in his favour. When BJP veteran L K Advani called Dr Singh the “weakest prime minister” he had ever seen, then BJP […]
Rajnath Singh
FORMER PRIME minister Manmohan Singh, who was often the target of the BJP’s attack on the UPA government, on one occasion dialled a senior BJP leader and thanked him for a comment made in his favour. When BJP veteran L K Advani called Dr Singh the “weakest prime minister” he had ever seen, then BJP chief and current Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chose to correct the statement. Singh explained that it was not a personal attack on Dr Singh but a reference to the Congress-led UPA government. When Dr Singh learnt about Rajnath Singh’s comment, which many said was an attempt to show that he did not agree with such a severe criticism of the PM, he telephoned the BJP leader and thanked him. According to sources, Rajnath Singh was surprised at such a gesture from a leader who was always at the receiving end of the BJP’s vehement criticism.
Flight Rush
As the news of Dr Manmohan Singh’s demise reached Belagavi where an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was underway, senior party leaders scrambled to get the earliest flight to Delhi. While Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi left late night on Thursday in two chartered flights, other Congress leaders returned early Friday morning. Sources said two commercial flights were fully booked by the Congress’s Karnataka unit for the party leaders to reach Delhi on Friday and pay homage to the former PM.
Musical Chairs
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh are still two years away but the Samajwadi Party on Friday made a pre-poll promise to the state’s cultural artists and folk singers. At a meeting of the party’s cultural cell on Friday, SP leaders promised that if the party comes to power in UP in 2027, artists will be given “due honour and will also be accommodated in the government”. The SP has always shown special regards for artists, especially folk singers, who are often a part of the party’s poll campaign, performing at rallies, public gatherings and nukkad meetings. The musical performances are mostly praises of party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the work of his past government. The SP, it is learnt, has reached out to folk artists for similar performances during its upcoming ‘PDA charcha’ in every Assembly segment.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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