Delhi Confidential: Informal gathering at Manoj Tiwari’s residence; Modi nudges lawyers on numbers

BJP leaders Manoj Tiwari and Shivesh Kumar recalled their shared Purvanchal links. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the NGT international conference in New Delhi.

Welcome to Delhi Confidential, your inside track to the power corridors of the capital. Today: From an informal gathering that brought two BJP leaders together over their shared Purvanchal links to a lighter moment during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at an important conference. Meanwhile, a hearing in the Supreme Court saw a senior advocate raise an unusual objection linked to a judge’s earlier handling of a case.

1. 01

   Mutual Respect

   BJP's north east Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari and the party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar Shivesh Kumar took a walk down memory lane during an informal gathering at the former’s residence in the Capital on Saturday. Both the leaders hail from the Purvanchal region. While felicitating Kumar, who has recently been appointed the national president of the BJP’s SC Morcha, Tiwari sought to underline that Kumar’s family is firmly rooted in the BJP and has been associated with the party for generations. He said he happened to hail from a village that has been represented by Kumar’s family over the years. To this, Kumar pointed out that Tiwari’s own role in the BJP began as the booth in-charge of the village where his family has traditionally been associated with the party since its Jana Sangh days. He said Tiwari is an inspiration for all members of the BJP, which prides itself on its connection with each voter down to the polling booth level.

2. 02

   For the Record

   As he rattled off data points on his government’s push and India’s achievements in the field of renewable energy and climate action during his keynote address at the NGT international conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept asking lawyers to pay attention to the numbers. From solar energy capacity expansion to prevention of emissions, Modi said, with a hint of wry humour, that these figures may come in handy someday, drawing a chuckle from a crowd of judges, lawyers and bureaucrats.

3. 03

   Objection to Judge

   Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in the 2015 cash for votes row, told the Supreme Court recently that the judge who dealt with the matter in the High Court had to face allegations of regional bias. This was when the state of Telangana had just been formed and the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad was still the common High Court for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, he pointed out. “An application was moved saying ‘you cannot hear this (case) because you belong to Andhra Pradesh. So there is a regional bias’. So a new ground for bias was sought to be taken. The judge had to first deal with the issue of bias before hearing the matter. The state had recently been carved out. It was preposterous...It was very unfortunate,” Luthra said. The application was eventually rejected.