CHATTERBOX: The changing faces of 5, Kalidas Marg

Akhilesh's chefs, who used to serve Chinese as well as dal-roti, have been sacked

The changing faces of 5, Kalidas Marg

When Akhilesh Yadav had moved into 5, Kalidas Marg, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister’s official residence, after coming to power in the state, his supporters complained how they had to tear down all the pink tiles installed by his predecessor, Mayawati, who is fond of the colour. Now Yadav is getting his comeuppance. 5, Kalidas Marg used to enjoy near freezing conditions as central air-conditioning systems used to keep the building cold the year round, especially in June when temperatures used to reach 49 degree Celsius. Yogi Adityanath has done away with all that. He does not use air-conditioning at all and has taken down all the ACs in the building. Yadav’s chefs, who used to serve Chinese and continental food as well as dal-roti, have been sacked and replaced with the Yogi’s personal cook, who serves simple food. Hearing all this, Yadav remarked that when he returned to the building, he would have to have it sprayed with Gangajal. The Bharatiya Janata Party roared in anger at that.

Yechury has faith in Rajya Sabha’s voting machine

Last week, during the voting on the Finance Bill, the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha made its presence felt — somewhat pointlessly because the Rajya Sabha has no powers to amend Money Bills. Both the Congress and the Left insisted on a vote by division. When the electronic board showed that the vote was going the way of the Opposition, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury stood up and quipped to P J Kurien, the vice-chairman of the Rajya Sabha: “We may have a problem with EVMs, but we have no problem with your machines.”