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‘The IB needs to be more alert’

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone’s visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University Tuesday to show solidarity with the students beaten up during Sunday’s violence took BJP leaders by surprise.

Senior BJP leaders say the Intelligence Bureau (IB) was “clueless” about her visit to the campus. That was why, they say, the party couldn’t frame any immediate counter-strategy to prevent it from becoming a “national debate”.

Many Bollywood actors came out in support of Padukone even when she was being trolled on social media, with many saying that her visit was a PR strategy to promote her film Chhapaak.

“The IB needs to be more alert,” said a senior BJP functionary, adding that Padukone’s visit has made a university issue a national debate.

UP Congress fighting egos of leaders

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s new team in Uttar Pradesh is riddled with infighting and ego clashes, which began after she appointed state general secretary Rajiv Tyagi in-charge of UP Congress a few days ago.

As Tyagi was yet to be assigned a new team, he created a WhatsApp group and added members of the old media department. UP Congress chief Ajay Lallu was also added to the group, but he exited the group the next day.

Following this, Tyagi was sent a notice by the Congress state disciplinary committee, asking him to explain why he created this group without seeking permission from the UP Congress president.

Lallu has several other reasons to feel offended. Sandeep Singh, deputed by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to guide Priyanka in UP politics, has been quite abrasive in dealing with him and other party functionaries.

A former member of the CPI(ML)’s student wing, All India Students Association, Singh was seen constantly tutoring Priyanka by whispering into her ears at least six times during her press conference in Lucknow last week.

An exasperated Priyanka was finally heard telling him, “Let me finish it first.”

Delhi Congress chief doesn’t check mails

As Congress shifts its focus to the Delhi elections, the party’s MP Shashi Tharoor decided to do his bit. His team wrote to Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra, detailing his plan for the polls scheduled next month.

Tharoor’s chosen medium of communication — email — elicited no response from Chopra. After several emails went unanswered, Tharoor’s team finally attempted to find out why they weren’t getting a response. As it turned out, Chopra, who is 73 years old, rarely checks his mail.

(Contributors: Prashant Srivasatava, Neelam Pandey and Deeksha Bhardwaj)

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