Action, not ‘dialogues’

John Brittas suggested that Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri and Minister of State Suresh Gopi should go on “an all-India tour in a special aircraft to witness the ground reality of the LPG crisis and the plight of the people”.

DURING THE debate on Appropriation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, CPI(M) MP John Brittas suggested that Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri and Minister of State Suresh Gopi should go on “an all-India tour in a special aircraft to witness the ground reality of the LPG crisis and the plight of the people”.

He, however, cautioned Puri that he should ensure that his junior minister Gopi, who has courted a number of controversies over his comments, should refrain from delivering any “filmy dialogues”.

Puri was visibly amused by Brittas’s dig at Gopi, a fellow MP from Kerala, and was seen having a hearty laugh over the suggestion.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, seemed to have inspired Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal’s press briefing on Monday on the ongoing trade turmoil.

With a smirk on his face while making the opening remarks, the officer said, “We are facing one challenge after another.” Global trade has been in a tailspin for months, first due to US tariffs and now due to the raging war in West Asia.

THE ONGOING tussle between cadre officers of the Central Armed Police Forces and the government over implementation of the Supreme Court ruling, granting the force Organised Group ‘A’ Service (OGAS) status, appeared to turn political on Monday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visiting an injured CRPF officer at the NS Staff Camp Hospital in the Capital.

Ajay Malik of the 209 CoBRA battalion, who lost his left leg in an IED blast, handed Gandhi a memorandum flagging delays in implementing the verdict and stalled promotions.

The visit coincided with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge writing to PM Narendra Modi, urging immediate compliance with the court’s order.