Delhi Confidential: Ditching Shivaji Park

In an attempt to finalise a National Education Policy that would not invite objections from other political parties, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has decided to hold meetings with MPs from different states. At a meeting with a group of MPs earlier this week, the minister told them to provide suggestions and proposals to improve the education system. YSR Congress’s MP from Rajahmundri, Margani Bharat wanted the minister to ensure a playground for every government school and also suggested that there should be anganwadi facilities for children from the age of four. The minister agreed. But Bharat’s third suggestion was difficult for him to accept — the MP wanted English-medium instruction in every government school. “Hindi is our national language,” the minister reminded the MP.

No State Issues, Please

The verbal spat between MPs from the Trinamool Congress and the BJP have reached the winter session of Parliament, too. Trinamool MPs often get irritated at attempts by their BJP counterparts from West Bengal to raise state issue in Parliament, and have in the past complained about it. Speaker Om Birla recently called Trinamool’s Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay to his chamber and told him that following a letter from Bandyopadhyay and his party colleagues Mala Roy and Sougata Roy, he has told BJP MPs Locket Chatterjee, Soumitra Khan and Arjun Singh that state issues cannot be “directly raised” in the House. The TMC letter named the three MPs and taken objection to their repeated attempts at raising Bengal-related issues.