Family vs Parivar?

At the release of her book Modi, Muslims & Media, Madhu Kishwar spoke for almost an hour, attacking the alleged Congress-propped “rogues’ gallery” for building a whole “web of deceit” around Narendra Modi. With her speech carrying on till dusk, camerapersons pointed out to her that lighting was being affected — the event was held on the lawns of senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani’s residence on Akbar Road. As she yielded the mike to Jethmalani, the 90-year-old lawyer thanked her for allowing him to speak while he could still see. Just then, there were strong gusts of wind, prompting Kishwar to quip that may be it was Modi’s chopper that was creating such a buzz. A conspicuous absentee was the special guest and now BJP member M J Akbar.

Poll position

There is disquiet within the BJP over a whisper campaign by some leaders of the Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) that post-elections, the party would be a part of the NDA. In fact, if senior BJP leaders are to be believed, INLD leaders are also seeking votes in the name of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, although the BJP has a tie-up with the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC). Though Chautala was very keen on a tie-up with the BJP, the saffron party developed cold feet due to the onging corruption cases against the Chautalas.

Border build-up

With border issues once again increasingly becoming strong driving forces for relations with neighbouring nations — from China to Bangladesh — the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is adding more teeth to its bureaucratic set-up. Word is that the ministry is set to create a new post that deals exclusively with border affairs. A Joint Secretary (border connectivity) is soon likely to join the ministry’s list of diplomats that manage foreign policy.

Raising a toast

The iconic Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who died in 2008, was known for his open-hearted attitude and an infallible connect with the troops. Now, a fresh article on him that comes ahead of his birth centenary on Thursday, shows that he did not lose this even in his final days. It turns out that in his last days in the Nilgiris hills, where he was being treated by an Army doctor, Col B N B M Prasad, the Field Marshal offered the officer a drink in the evening, which was turned down due to his ill health. While Manekshaw never recovered, a week after he died on June 27, 2008, the doctor received a bottle of scotch, along with a note of regret from the Field Marshal that he was not able to drink it with him.