In a surprise move, the Enforcement Directorate facilitated a backdoor exit for senior IAS officer and former chief secretary Anurag Verma, who was questioned for over 10 hours at the agency’s regional office in Jalandhar on Wednesday. Instead of leaving through the main gate, Verma took another exit, avoiding media personnel, who had been waiting outside the ED office for nearly 10 hours. When he arrived, Verma was caught unawares by the media presence and rushed inside without responding to their queries. The officer reached the ED office in an SUV bearing a Jalandhar registration number instead of his official vehicle.
Punjab Youth Congress (PYC) has questioned Saurav Das, co-convenor of the Cockroach Janta Party, over his selective audit of government schools in Ludhiana. Das and his team visited a School of Eminence and praised its facilities, including a swimming pool, AI lab, computer lab and ramps. PYC president Shuvam Sharma wondered why the audit did not examine other government projects, pointing to the foundation stone of the proposed medical college at Mastuana Sahib in Sangrur. In a X post, he said chief minister Bhagwant Mann laid the foundation stone in August 2022, but not a single brick has been placed since then.
Gurdaspur MP and former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Thursday praised governor Gulab Chand Kataria for patiently hearing the Congress delegation’s concerns over law and order and the drug menace. Randhawa said Kataria was particularly concerned about the drug problem and had himself undertaken a yatra in border areas against drugs. Taking a swipe at Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Randhawa said, “We told the governor that Mann is intoxicated on power among other things.”
Backlash over Omar aide’s ‘one-trouser’ remark
National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq’s remark that people in Kashmir had only one trouser, while crediting Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah’s grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, with bringing people out of poverty, drew widespread backlash from opposition parties and the public. Though some NC legislators sought to defuse the situation by apologising on Sadiq’s behalf, Omar’s defence of the remarks left party leaders in a quandary over whether to defend Sadiq or apologise. However, a majority of people, including NC sympathisers, have termed the remark as distasteful.
BJP MLA from Dharamshala Sudhir Sharma and Congress’ Kullu MLA Sunder Singh Thakur recently slugged it out on social media. It all started with Sharma’s dig at the Congress leaders’ visit to Delhi, saying, “Himachal Congress performed ‘Sundarkand’ in Delhi…” Thakur, seen as a minister-in-waiting, hit back, saying the ritual was meant for family’s prosperity, while had “wreaked havoc” in others’ families. Sharma retaliated to Thakur’s stinging remark by asking, “Should the list of hosts and guests for the Kullu rave party be made public? #Sundarkand?” The two legislators appeared to be divulging each other’s guarded secret on social media.
The 1980s retro-look trend on social media has caught on among Himachal Pradesh politicians, with several leaders sharing old photographs or AI-generated images of themselves in retro attire. BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur shared a photograph of himself sporting the retro look, captioned “Joining the 80s trend.” PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh also posted a photograph of himself and his wife in 1980s-style attire. However, BJP’s Dharamshala MLA Sudhir Sharma shared an actual photograph of himself from the 1980s, captioning it, “The 80s classic.”
(Contributed by Navrajdeep Singh, Karam Prakash, Hillary Victor, Mir Ehsan, Shailee Dogra)