Third Eye: Kerala Cong's revelations, Sushil Kumar Shinde's story & Siddaramaiah loyalists' wishful thinking

Comrades Edgy As Cong Vows More Revelations
Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan government is in an embarrassing spot after Congress' charge that a top cop, working closely with the CM, held secret meetings with RSS leaders Dattatreya Hosabale and Ram Madhav. Several days have passed, but the CM is mum on the matter and state CPI-M secretary MV Govindan's attempt to explain away the issue has turned it into a foot-in-the-mouth case. Even as the state CPI leadership aired its criticism, the CPI-M polit bureau is keeping a deafening silence on the matter. Congress leaders of Kerala are promising more revelations, keeping comrades edgy.

Making Up a Story to Make People Laugh
During the launch of his memoir ‘Five Decades of Politics’ in New Delhi, Congress leader Sushil Kumar Shinde said when he first visited Lal Chowk and Dal Lake in Srinagar as the Union home minister, he was scared but was unable to share all this with anyone as he got good publicity for his visits. As his audience laughed, Shinde took a pause and said that he just made that up to make everyone laugh and he was never scared to mingle with people as he was a former policeman too.

Wishful Thinking!
Quite a few Congress ministers and MLAs are airing their desire to succeed Siddaramaiah as chief minister if he were to step down. The trigger for such comments is the ongoing case in the high court, challenging the governor’s permission to prosecute the CM. What has raised eyebrows is that the desire is being expressed mostly by Siddaramaiah loyalists, not by the followers of deputy CM DK Shivakumar.