Lunch with the Vice-President

You must give it to Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar for his wit and humour. One such gem came at the All-India Management Association’s 14th Managing India Awards event this past week. Dhankhar, who was the chief guest and handed out the awards to the winners at the event, let out a lament during his speech that evening.

“I never had an occasion for a Koffee with Karan,” he rued, sending all those assembled into peals of laughter. But thankfully for him — Dhankhar went on to say — the awardees and AIMA management were invited for ‘Lunch with the Vice-President’. “I happen to be on the saddle (of VP Post) at the moment,” Dhankhar quipped.

Koffee with Karan is the most watched English talk show in Indian television that is now ruling the OTT landscape. AIMA had that evening honoured Karan Johar with the Best Director of the Year award and the award was presented by the Vice-President.

Dhankhar also had another telling remark — he will now get noticed (by people) because of Karan Johar’s presence in the photo frame that would be clicked that evening! Dhankhar truly had the last word on several things at the AIMA event.

Wise words

Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, in his speech at Bharat Biotech Campus, Hyderabad, on April 27, had some wise words to say. “Research and development are the final strength of any economy. They are the final strength of any nation. Execution is never a problem. Execution can take place by mediocrity, but developing a particular medicine, being innovative about it, that’s the greatest help you can contribute to humanity at large. This company stands out. And this company stands out not because of two of them.”

“...Because it is the human capital that is precious. It is the human capital that alone is the ultimate repository of your wealth...,”he said.

TN vs UP

One of the regular debates witnessed in Tamil Nadu is politicians comparing the State with Uttar Pradesh. But businessmen have a different tale to narrate. For instance, allocation of land for new products in Tamil Nadu is getting delayed by not months but years. At the same time, it is being done quickly in Uttar Pradesh, though sometimes officials have to be given “some encouragement”. There are industry leaders who see the northern State more promising than the southern one not just for quick decision-making but in terms of business prospects too.

Down to the wire

No the issue here is not about any IPL T20 match (most matches these days are anyway nail biting finishes). This is about the Congress cliffhanger playing out in the capital and whether the party would muster courage to ask Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra to contest from old strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli.

Both constituencies were Congress bastions until 2019. Congress sympathisers in the capital are sitting on the edge of their seats to see how this will unfold. Even Congress Party President Mallikarjun Kharge didn’t help. Wait for few more days, suspense will be over, he noted on Saturday.

Kharge would still not let the cat out of the bag as to whether Congress would want Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka to contest these seats. BJP supporters are however hopeful of a repeat of 2019 even if Rahul Gandhi’s name were to be announced as the candidate from a second seat (Amethi). Real suspense thriller this, quipped a political observer, noting that Congress has announced all its 17 candidates from UP, barring Amethi and Rae Bareli.

PM Modi scores in Kolhapur rally

Using football analogy at a rally in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that after completion of the second phase of 2024 general elections, BJP-NDA was leading by 2-0. Connecting with Kolhapur in football terms,

Modi also claimed that Congress-led INDIA bloc has inflicted two self-goals — ‘anti-nationalism’ and ‘politics of hatred’.

One political observer noted as to how PM Modi didn’t stop with football analogy. PM Modi also bowled a doosra at the Opposition, taking a jibe at the INDIA bloc by claiming that they are weighing up on a one-year PM scheme and that 5 PMs will take turns to run the country for each year if INDIA bloc were to be voted to power, this observer quipped.

Now can such an arrangement be Constitutionally feasible if it were to ever happen, wondered another political observer. Only time will tell.

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