Mayawati finally joins Twitter, years after disapproving the platform

Twitter is treating this as nothing short of a coup. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, Mayawati (pictured), has finally debuted on the social media platform. In the past, Mayawati had not just disapproved of her party members officially joining the platform, but a youth leader was publicly ticked off for operating a quasi-official Twitter handle in the name of the party, and had to eventually quit the party. On Wednesday, an anodyne press statement from the BSP stated that Mayawati "has for the first time decided to join Twitter for speedy interaction with media and masses, besides expressing her views on various issues of national and political importance through Twitter". The BSP chief's Twitter handle is @SushriMayawati, and the first tweet on it was posted on January 22. However, no one took it seriously until the official statement considering previous similar handles were termed fake by the party.
 

Together we can

Bravado is probably a necessary requirement for a politician's job profile. On Wednesday, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala rejected reports that his party's alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was under strain after the drubbing it received in the Jind bypoll, asserting that the two would jointly contest the coming Lok Sabha polls. Abhay is the younger son of INLD president and former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. In the Jind bypolls, Digvijay Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) finished at number two, while the INLD candidate lost his security deposit and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged the winner. Abhay's brother Ajay Singh Chautala, currently serving a jail term, is a patron of the JJP and his two sons — Digvijay and Dushyant — are spearheading the party in his absence. Interestingly, BSP chief Mayawati, in a press statement issued on Monday, said her party would not have any truck with the INLD till the warring family reunites.

Seating arrangement

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday took charge as the Congress party's general secretary and in-charge of its affairs in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka assumed charge after dropping off her husband Robert Vadra at the Enforcement Directorate office. Her room is adjacent to her brother's at the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road in Lutyens Delhi. The Congress released photographs of her getting briefed by two party workers, with a map of Uttar Pradesh prominently displayed near her. She will attend her first official meeting, convened by party chief Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday. The party has postponed her visit to Prayagraj to attend the Kumbh to next week.