The Cabinet turned up in full strength Friday evening at the wedding of their colleague Bhupender Yadav’s daughter at his 9, Motilal Nehru Marg residence. The restricted wedding event, which was also attended by President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, was arranged keeping in mind the high security nature of the guests as well as Covid protocols. Yadav, the Environment and Labour Minister, had in fact staggered the wedding celebrations over the week, keeping in mind the Covid protocols. For his daughter’s engagement, he had invited officers from both his ministries. On Monday, kicked off the celebrations with an event in his village, attended by guests from Haryana and Rajasthan. On Tuesday, colleagues from Bihar and Jharkhand were invited for lunch and party members from Gujarat and Maharashtra attended dinner. In the middle of the celebrations, the minister managed to squeeze out time for official commitments — a cabinet meeting and a speech at World Sustainable Development Summit among others.
President’s invite: Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan will have some special guests on Saturday. President Ram Nath Kovind has invited judges at Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, and their family members to the Mughal Gardens, which opened to the public on February 12. After a tour of the gardens – of which the main attraction this year is 11 varieties of tulips – the President and the First Lady would host high tea for the visitors, sources said. This is the first time the President has extended a special invitation to the judges, they said.
Seeking time: After being served a notice by Election Commission on Wednesday over his statement allegedly threatening to use bulldozers over voters who do not vote for the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh elections, BJP MLA T Raja Singh asked for an extension to respond to the poll body’s notice. According to sources, Singh has asked for time till 1 pm on February 19 to respond to the notice. Earlier, the poll panel had granted him 24 hours to respond on why action should not be taken against him.