Third eye: Congress’ media club, condition for return gift and Mama Banavla

Condition for return gift: BJP MP and diamond tycoon Govind Dholakia found himself cornered by the party’s women MPs. After Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Friday, some women MPs led by BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, Kavita Patidar, spoke to Dholakia and reminded him about the upcoming Raksha Bandhan. Also, each of them demanded one carat diamond for tying him rakhi. A smiling Dholakia assured them a return gift if they could make a trip to Surat on Raksha Bandhan.

‘Mama Banavla’: Uddhav Thackeray, in New Delhi recently, used a word play to slam BJP’s central leadership. Claiming that it was insecure of top BJP leaders like UP CM Yogi Adityanath, he said the leadership was trying to cut him down to size. He added former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Chouhan has been shunted out to the Centre as it doesn’t want him to become big. Thackeray said BJP leadership made a ‘mama’ out of Chouhan. While Chouhan is called ‘mama’ in MP circles, in Marathi ‘mama banavla’ means someone being fooled or duped.

Congress’ Media Club: At a meeting of Congress Lok Sabha MPs presided over by LoP Rahul Gandhi, many were amused by an advisory from the party’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi. With Gandhi sitting next to him, Gogoi said the leadership has noticed that many MPs talk to media persons on Parliament premises. He cautioned them against it by saying that “journalists are nobody’s friends” and they “are there only to get news”. After the meeting, some MPs wondered why Gogoi, who misses no opportunity to give soundbites before TV cameras in Parliament complex and who has his own WhatsApp media group, wanted others to shun the media. They concluded that his advice was perhaps aimed at limiting media interaction to, what they call, a “particular club within Congress”.