Mohan Bhagwat's speech didn't attract any non-BJP politician of note

The first day of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's speech at New Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan didn't attract any non-Bharatiya Janata Party politician of note. The RSS said it didn't invite any. Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh attended, as did film industry personalities Annu Kapoor, Madhur Bhandarkar and Gajendra Chauhan. On social media and television channels, Bhagwat's speech vied for space with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's press conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spending the evening with children at a school in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on the occasion of his birthday, and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addressing party workers in Madhya Pradesh.

Godman to the rescue

Life is coming full circle for a Delhi Police inspector. Not so long ago, he was shunted out from his post of a police station in-charge after pictures of a controversial self-styled godwoman sitting on his official chair surfaced online. Fast forward to the present, and the officer, who played a crucial role in tracing an absconding self-styled godman last week, is hoping to be reinstated. This godman was booked in an alleged rape case and was on the run till crime branch sleuths, with the help of clues provided by the said officer, nabbed him. Despite not being part of the investigating team, the inspector contributed in the operation, thanks to his network of informers. As his peers said, his path to redemption followed the one that led to his fall.

Samaj versus Samaj

Former Rajya Sabha member Naresh Agarwal, who had switched from the Samajwadi Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to organise a "Vaishya Samaj" conference in New Delhi on September 29. Agarwal, a Vaishya or Baniya, had been all but forgotten in the BJP; with the Lok Sabha election approaching, he has felt the need to underline his relevance in the party. According to Agarwal, he has invited Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Harsh Vardhan as chief guests. Goyal and Vardhan also hail from the trading caste. Meanwhile, the Congress had been organising Brahmin Samaj conferences, and one such meeting would be held later this month in Rajasthan.