Third eye: Testing times for Delhi Congress leaders and additional charge

Testing times for Delhi Congress leaders: As Delhi Congress faces a daunting task of fighting AAP and BJP in the assembly elections, there is a growing demand from the beleaguered local party functionaries that many of the Delhi-based AICC functionaries and spokespersons, who indulge in daily soundbites and tweets as 'national leaders', should be fielded as Congress candidates here. If nothing, they say, the result will show how much ground connect and mass appeal these 'notional' leaders have outside their air-conditioned conference rooms and deceptive virtual world!

Additional charge: While eyebrows are being raised over bureaucratic changes in the revenue department just ahead of budget, the case of the culture ministry is also a curious one. Ever since Govind Mohan’s transfer as secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, in August, the culture ministry is without a full-time secretary, with secretaries of various other ministries holding additional charges. Currently, Arunish Chawla is holding the additional charge, even as he has moved to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.