Change Of Heart
The first to welcome demonetisation, Kamalahaasan has done a course correction ahead of his political takeoff. From describing it as a bold fight against black money and then toning it down to a poorly implemented good idea, he has now declared that the very intent was fraudulent. Besides apologising for jumping the gun in praising DeMo, he has also latched on to the Taj controversy and cautioned against the dilution of India’s diversity. Having been criticised for being soft on the Modi government, the actor is now in a hurry to distance himself from Modi. “You can soon expect him to attack GST as well,” quips a fellow actor.
Found Unbreached
Security personnel at the Adnan Sami show in Srinagar went into a tizzy when MoS Home Kiren Rijiju complained he had lost his phone. Rijiju was watching the show along with local BJP leader Hina Bhat. Even as the service provider was alerted about the loss/theft and the police investigated the security breach, Rijiju got a call from his missing phone on his other number. It was Bhat. She had picked up Rijiju’s phone by mistake as she uses a similar one. When she reached home, she found the extra phone in her bag. The phone, on silent mode, had several missed calls from one number. She called back on the number to find Rijiju on the other side. A collective sigh of relief was heard from the banks of Dal lake. There had been no breach.
Ahmed Patel’s Fever
After the October 9 joint rally of Rahul Gandhi and Ahmed Patel, has Team RG suddenly developed cold feet about taking Patel along? Does Patel’s absence in subsequent rallies have anything to do with the raids against one GD or G. Dhawan? In 2011, I-T raids on a Mumbai-based business group revealed hawala transactions between the group and an influential power-broker in Delhi. This year, ED raided the group’s offices in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi, with the I-T department sharing diaries linking it with GD. Team RG obviously wouldn’t want the Old Guard’s old skeletons to further embarrass the party.
Overheard “Taali ek haath se nahi bajegi,” said someone as the Congress kept two news channels, said to be close to the BJP, out of its press conference in Bangalore. Clap trap?
