Paswan’s Goyal moment
Coming in sync with the dilution of Section 18 of the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the appointment of Justice AK Goyal as the National Green Tribunal head seems to have become a hot potato for the Centre. First, Dalit leader Udit Raj, who joined the BJP around the peak year of 2014 and found a place in the Rajya Sabha above many old party loyalists, took up the issue on the floor of the house, much to the treasury’s discomfort.
And now Union Minister Ram Vilas Pawan has joined in. Paswan’s rather handsome son Chirag, on whose advice he switched camps to the NDA from the UPA, has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh to restore Section 18 to its original form—under which anticipatory bail was not possible on any complaint of atrocity against Dalits.
And Paswan is not exactly toning down his demand for Justice Goyal’s ouster. The minister seems to be exceptionally peeved about the fact that Goyal’s appointment was notified the very day his term as Supreme Court judge got over—“even while he was giving his retirement speech justifying” the two-judge bench’s decision to dilute the stringent provision.
Goyal and UU Lalit were part of the bench. A wrong message has gone out that the judge was being rewarded, the LJP leader claims. An amendment or an ordinance, he’s convinced, “is the only way” to take the sting out of the August 9 Dalit protests. Paswan asserts there’s no way he or any other Dalit MP who gathered in his residence for talks on this issue will step back.
Rahul’s women’s meet
Though Rahul Gandhi’s two-hour-long free-flowing interaction with women journalist went off rather well — a rather confident Congress president candidly spoke at length on a wide range of issues, answered all questions put to him, even subjected himself to a bit of cross-questioning — it has led to much heartburn. The idea of the interaction came from the gutsy young Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, and was coordinated by the party’s media cell head Randeep Surjewala.
The guest-list was apparently prepared by both in consultation with @OfficeofRG. Those who got left out, including some prominent ones, have not taken kindly to it, particularly because the Congress handpicked invitees from the IWPC managing committee, inviting some, leaving others out. Also, the off-the-record interaction code was breached by some, another bone of contention.
Priyanka intervenes
Lest the senior leaders who were dropped from the Congress Working Committee by Rahul Gandhi take umbrage, sister Priyanka Vadra Gandhi persuaded each and every one of them on phone to attend the meet. Karan Singh, BK Hariprasad and CP Joshi responded to Priyanaka’s overtures. She apparently told them that their contribution to the organisation was appreciated and the party would certainly find a new role to make use of their vast experience.
But the sweet talk failed to cut ice with Janardan Dwivedi, who has by now lost his AICC general secretary position, Rajya Sabha seat and was not accommodated in the CWC. He flatly refused to attend. Digvijaya Singh too cited a prior programme in Madhya Pradesh: He neither holds a position in his home state nor in any other. Singh was also a bit unhappy that the talking points he provided to Rahul for his no-confidence motion speech were not used by him.
Anti-hug Dubey
The chatter around the now-famous hug is refusing to die down. Rahul Gandhi himself kept it alive by stating at the launch of Karan Thapar’s book ‘Devil’s Advocate’ that BJP MPs were stepping back from him, lest he hugs them. The self-deprecating humour obviously missed Nishikant Dubey. Indeed, his wife may object, he retorted, and Section 377 has still not been decriminalised! Dubey’s recent antics have caught much attention, and elicited some snide remarks as well.
It seems, though, whoever he becomes overtly friendly with ends in the dumps and any issue he champions gets derailed! Take Yashwant Sinha, or even Arun Jaitley, or Adani’s mining rights in Chhattisgarh. Lately, he’s been seen eagerly trying to tag on to Nitin Gadkari, who’s been duly warned.
Santwana Bhattacharya
The author is Political Editor, TNIE.
Email: santwana@newindianexpress.com