Police form human chain to escort Chidambaram, face wrath from journalists

Police bear the brunt

The Delhi Police personnel who escorted former finance minister P Chidambaram from the CBI headquarters to the special CBI court in the Rouse Avenue complex had to face heat from advocates and journalists. The security personnel had formed a human chain right outside the courtroom to prevent anyone from entering the premises. This infuriated some advocates and journalists who started shouting, loud enough for the presiding judge to take note. The commotion was just about settling down when a former Uttarakhand chief minister came up to the entrance of the courtroom and was allowed entry without the slightest murmur. The advocates and journalists started protesting again, but without success.

Past & future

The Congress party kicked off its year-long celebrations to mark the 75th birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at New Delhi's K D Jadhav Stadium, located inside the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. Event organisers, led by party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (pictured), picked the party's youth faces to speak at the event. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi delivered the concluding address, others who spoke on the occasion were youth leaders Meenakshi Natarajan, Gaurav Gogoi, and Amarinder Singh Raja Brar. In his speech, Brar, a former Indian Youth Congress chief, appealed to Congress leaders and workers to unitedly support Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and give up their "greed for power", to which Sonia Gandhi was seen clapping vigorously. Several in the audience also raised slogans in support of Rahul. Brar's appeal was intriguing because several leaders now believe that the party should place its trust in Priyanka in the years to come.

Widening chasm
 

The expansion of the Yogi Adityanath (pictured) cabinet on August 21 has, according to the grapevine, widened the chasm between the chief minister and Deputy Chief Minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya so much so that Maurya refused to be present for the oath-taking ceremony of the new ministers at the Raj Bhawan. At one point, the other deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, and a senior BJP leader went over to coax Maurya to attend the ceremony. The chasm between the two top leaders is unlikely to close any time soon with rumours swirling that Maurya could be divested of some of his portfolios.