Congress spirals into internal blame-game post Delhi election results

Congress leaders said it was intriguing that neither Sharmistha Mukherjee nor Chacko referred to the internal sabotage that the Dikshit government in Delhi had faced

A blame game has started within the Congress party a day after it was decimated in the Delhi Assembly polls. After senior Congress leader P Chidambaram lauded the Aam Aadmi Party for its win, the party's Delhi unit leader, Sharmistha Mukherjee, tweeted: "With due respect, Sir, just want to know, has the Congress outsourced the task of defeating BJP to state parties? If not, then why are we gloating over AAP victory rather than being concerned about our drubbing? And if 'yes', then we (Pradesh Congress Committees) might as well close shop!" Delhi Congress in-charge PC Chacko quit his post, but also said the Congress lost ground during Sheila Dikshit's tenure in 2013 to AAP and failed to recover since. Congress leaders said it was intriguing that neither Mukherjee, daughter of former president Pranab Mukherjee, nor Chacko, referred to the internal sabotage that both the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre and the Dikshit government in the state had faced.

Convenient amendments!

After Delhi, the political scene in Bihar has warmed up with the Assembly polls due by October. Speculation on whether Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would continue to stay in an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance or walk out are rife. However, any eventuality of Kumar joining opposition forces would need the assent of former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav who is currently serving a jail term on corruption charges in neighbouring Jharkhand. Opposition leaders are keen to meet Yadav, but the jail manual has made this difficult. The current manual allows only three visitors per week to a jail inmate, and that too for barely an hour. Since law and order is a state subject, these leaders are hopeful the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-RJD coalition government would soon amend the jail manual.

Exam fever

Not just kids, even India Inc boardrooms are wary of exams. An independent director of a small-sized pharma company quit this week saying she doesn’t want to appear for a “proficiency test” made mandatory by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) for all independent directors. “I am finding it difficult to comply with the new norms laid down by the MCA. In view thereof, I would like to vacate my seat in favour of another director who could satisfy the norms laid down by the MCA,” said Anjali Dalvi, a chartered accountant, who served as an independent director on BSE-listed Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals.