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Delhi Confidential: Kotdwar Calling
Brittas visited the gym owned by ‘Mohammad Deepak’ (this is how he had identified himself to the mob that was making rounds on social media) and bought a year’s membership costing Rs 8,000, said sources close to the MP.
John Brittas with Vakeel Ahmed and Deepak Kumar in Kotdwar on Sunday. (Source: X/@JohnBrittas)
CPIM Rajya Sabha member John Brittas had to reach out to his wallet multiple times on Sunday during a visit to Kotdwar in Uttarakhand where a man named Deepak Kumar recently stood up to a mob harassing a 70-year-old garment shop owner Vakeel Ahmed. Brittas, who is perhaps the first parliamen-tarian to visit the town after the row, visited the gym owned by ‘Mohammad Deepak’ (this is how he had identified himself to the mob that was making rounds on social media) and bought a year’s membership costing Rs 8,000, said sources close to the MP. Brittas also visited Ahmed’s garment shop and bought a saree worth Rs 1,000. He also walked around the town with Deepak and Ahmed, and had tea at a stall owned by Deepak’s mother. He also interacted with the locals and paid for everyone’s tea, it is learnt.
SIR Dilemma
Kicking off preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, the Election Commission last week briefed all the officers who are set to be deployed as its observers during the poll process. Apart from passing down instructions, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar took questions from the observers, mostly IAS and IPS officers. It is learnt that one of the officials raised the issue of being deleted from the draft electoral roll in the EC’s Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal, in which 58 lakh names were cut in December.
Audit Plaudit
All Union ministers are learnt to have been asked to share “good news” at the Cabinet meeting every week. Recently, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who also holds the Rural Development portfolio, shared the “good news” of an initiative undertaken by his ministry, it is learnt. The initiative—the Rural Audit Portal, a unified digital platform developed by the Ministry of Rural Development for internal audit exercises—has also received accolades from the Finance ministry, which has urged other departments to replicate the initiative.
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