Delhi Confidential: Committee Man

Monday evening’s NDA meeting was a huge success for the BJP in terms of creating good perception. While pictures of leaders of 32 parties — from Kashmir to Kerala — standing with BJP sent a strong message about the NDA, there were other gains, too. Uddhav Thackeray, chief of long-sulking NDA constituent Shiv Sena, left Delhi on a happy note after seemingly enjoying his dinner table conversations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. The only other person on the table was Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. Praise for the Prime Minister came from each one of the speakers. Kashmir politician Sajjad Lone, for instance, said that listening to Modi speak makes him feel as if he is “talking to an elder brother”.

Power Points

Government buildings seem to be preparing to beat the rising heat in the capital. After replacing bulbs and tubes with LED lights, these buildings are being readied to replace the old ACs with new ‘super-efficient’ air-conditioners. The Power Ministry is learnt to have informed other ministries that the new ACs are about 40 per cent more energy-efficient than the five-star-rated ACs available in the market, and need to be promoted in a big way. Bulk orders from the government will help bring down the cost of these ACs in the market as well. For a start, more than 4,000 ACs in 25 government buildings in Delhi are proposed to be replaced with these new ACs.