Delhi Confidential: Phone A Friend

To mobilise crowds for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Haryana’s Rewari on Friday, the government, it seems, tried a new outreach. People got calls on their cell phones on Thursday evening, sometimes more than one call, with a male voice introducing himself as Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh and requesting them to attend the Prime Minister’s rally. PM Modi on Friday laid the foundation stone of AIIMS-Rewari, which will be a 750-bed hospital.

Long-Distance Defence

Rajya Sabha member and lawyer Vivek Tankha represented the Congress before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Friday from Singapore. The MP is visiting his daughter and son-in-law’s house in Singapore to celebrate his grandson’s second birthday. Tankha is expected to return in a day or two and argue the case before the tribunal on Wednesday. The Congress approached the tribunal after its bank accounts were frozen by the Income Tax department in connection with a dispute over a tax demand.

Leading Lights

The Sardar Patel Marg in Delhi, which people often take to come to the Lutyens’ zone from the airport, has been plastered with large cutouts of Central BJP leaders, one after another, attached to almost every lamp post. The cutouts welcome delegates to the national council of the party, which is being held in New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday.