Delhi Confidential: Giving A Miss

The list of business for the first day of the Winter Session on Monday had the tabling of the Ethics Committee report on the ‘cash for query’ charges against TMC MP Mahua Moitra. However, when Kirit Solanki, the BJP leader who was in the Chair, read out the list, he skipped item number 5, listed against Vinod Sonkar (chairman of the panel) and Aparajita Sarangi (member of the committee). Despite questions from some of the Opposition members to cite the reasons, the Chair did not give any. However, BJP leaders said that the party did not want to “disrupt” its celebrations for poll victories as the Opposition would have made “Mahua expulsion” an issue.

Generational Shift

The Congress is set for a generational change in Madhya Pradesh where the party suffered a beating. Kamal Nath, state party chief, is 77 and Digvijaya Singh, who called the shots in state Congress, is a year younger. The buzz is that Nath will make way for a new leader at the helm. But what is interesting is that Nath’s son and Lok Sabha MP Nakul, and Singh’s son Jaivardhan Singh are both looking for a leg up. Then there is Jitu Patwari, who lost the election from Rau seat.