Delhi Confidential: Constituency over Capital

Amid the Budget Session in Parliament and state Assemblies, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has called a national consultation meeting on pulses on February 7 in a village in his constitue­ncy, Vidisha. Chouhan is learnt to have written to agriculture ministers of all states, inviting them to participate. Sources said the venue is unusual, as such meetings are usually held either at Krishi Bhawan or at Pusa Campus in the Capital. The meeting is aimed at discussing a strategy to roll out the ‘Pulses Mission’.

One Query, Two Replies

IN AN unusual turn of events, two questions on the same topic — the deaths in Indore due to contaminated drinking water — were ans­we­red by two different ministries in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. While the written reply to the starred question on the Indore incident was given by Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil, the written respon­se to a similar question was given by Housing and Urban Affairs MoS Tokhan Sahu. The starred question was eventually not taken up during Question Hour. The two replies shared the same information, including exact same lines about the state government’s response.