Delhi Confidential: All hands on deck before world’s longest river cruise MV Ganga Vilas sets sail

The successful voyage of the world’s longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas that was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi on January 13 this year, didn’t come easy. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said this while addressing a gathering of key stakeholders of inland waterways and business leaders. The minister said he himself kept a close vigil on the movement of the vessel for over 50 days before it docked at Dibrugarh in Assam on February 28 after covering 3,200 km across 27 river systems. Sonowal said it was a very important task for the ministry as the PM had a keen interest in the project.

Common Crib

With Parliament facing continuous disruptions, the most unhappy lot is the ordinary MPs across party lines. Their common complaint is that their senior leaders feast on disruptions. Members of the Opposition parties feel that their leaders have fallen into the trap laid by the treasury benches which wanted to avoid any scrutiny of the key issues. The ruling party MPs, on the other hand, are also upset because they couldn’t get an opportunity to raise issues related to the welfare of their constituencies in the House, especially when the elections are only a year away. The MPs belonging to both sides often crib about it at informal gatherings.