Delhi Confidential: Fast Track

Nitin Gadkari stunned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan when he met him on Tuesday regarding the widening of national highways in Kerala.

Nitin Gadkari

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari stunned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan when he met him on Tuesday regarding the widening of national highways in Kerala. As Vijayan pointed out that the state had already sent a proposal accepting a condition the Centre had stipulated — that the state should bear 25 per cent of the estimated expense considering the high land prices in Kerala — Gadkari summoned his officials and gave them a dressing down. “I am the boss,” he reminded them, and asked why there was a delay on the ministry’s side in clearing the proposal. “I had some Naxalite traits in me in my earlier years. I wish if I had become one, I would have run bulldozers over you,” he told them. The minister then gave them an ultimatum that all the papers be ready before 5 pm. At the end of the day, the Chief Minister returned happily as the clearance arrived.

Run For Health

Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has written to all state health secretaries and National Health Mission directors to organise Fit India Plogging Runs at all public healthcare facilities, especially in the health and wellness centres, on October 2 to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. Participants will collect garbage from homes and open spaces along the path while running.

Minister Mobbed

The release of Sunil Ambekar’s book The RSS: Roadmaps for the 21st Century, at which RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was the chief guest, was marked by the presence of the number of Union ministers. Although Nitin Gadkari, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Prakash Javadekar, Prahalad Patel and Arjun Ram Meghwal were in the front row, it was Pradhan who attracted the most attention. He was literally mobbed by the crowd, mostly youths from ABVP — Ambekar is National Secretary (organisation) of ABVP. As he obliged the selfie requests, Pradhan could not leave the Dr Ambedkar International Centre for a long time.

Post Politics

The Congress may be down and out in Uttar Pradesh, but the race for the post of state Congress chief is getting murkier. CLP leader Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is vying for the post, is said to have angered some senior leaders with his eagerness to hog the limelight. One gets to hear that the UPCC announced its plan for a Nyay Yatra from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow on Monday without informing former Union minister and local heavyweight Jitin Prasada. Half the yatra was to traverse through Shahjahanpur, Prasada’s hometown. Prasada learnt about the yatra only after it was announced. He reached Shahjahanpur Sunday night, and by then Lallu and some AICC secretaries had already reached. There was no coordination with local leaders and workers. Prasada nevertheless joined the protest and was detained, but the development has not gone down well with many leaders.