DailyOh! Has Ashok Gehlot fuelled Sachin Pilot’s rebellion, to the rise of Pilot Senior
What looks to be clear for now is that Ashok Gehlot can run the government without Sachin Pilot.
There was no possibility of the rift between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan coming to the fore since it was always an open rift. You can’t bring a thing in front if it is already in the front. So, Sachin Pilot had to fly down to Delhi to bring before party high command the fact that the rift had ruptured. What did the high command do? It sent a two-member team of Ajay Maken and Randeep Surjewala to Jaipur as central observers.
Guess what the observers observed? They saw posters bearing the name and photos of Sachin Pilot being brought down from the party office. Whether they saw to it that it happened or just saw what was happening is not clear yet. The posters were reportedly put back up later.
In #Jaipur, @SachinPilot's poster being removed from Congress Office by Ashok Gehlot's supporters #RajasthanPoliticalCrisis pic.twitter.com/Qdc4Eqrb3z
— Kirandeep (@raydeep) July 13, 2020
What looks to be clear for now is that Ashok Gehlot can fly solo, we mean without Pilot. Gehlot’s sailing appeared smooth because he has 107 MLAs on his side in a 200-member House. Arch rival BJP has 72. Pilot said he has 30 on his side, but that looks unlikely because about 100 MLAs attended a meeting called by Gehlot this morning in Jaipur.
We don’t mean to say people who have attended one meeting can’t attend another one the same day or the day after, but we just find it absurd someone would want to attend so many meetings. Remember these meetings are happening in person and not on video calls. After Pilot refused to attend the meeting and be part of the 107 MLAs Gehlot was counting, the Congress extended an olive branch. The party has told Sachin, "We love you, we respect you, we are ready to welcome you with open arms, please come and talk."
Whether the 'we' includes Gehlot or not has not been stated.
But Pilot has stated his conditions for return. Trust us, it more than just jalebis. Sachin Pilot reportedly wants the Home Ministry for himself and four ministries for his loyalists.
But many say Gehlot forced Pilot to take this step because he doesn’t want to see the latter as his successor or No. 2 in the Rajasthan government. Gehlot sees that spot more suited for Gehlot Junior, Vaibhav Gehlot.
You smell nepotism there and feel for Sachin Pilot? Well, Sachin Pilot’s entry into politics is owing to his father Rajeshwar Prasad Singh Bidhuri.
Do you know how Rajeshwar Prasad Singh Bidhuri became Rajesh Pilot? Before we tell you that, just think of it: had Rajeshwar Prasad not shortened his name, Sachin Pilot today would have been Sachin Prasad Singh Bidhuri.
Anyway why think about that which did not even happen or was prevented from happening? Not many people like their professions, but some do. Some like it so much that they add their profession to their names. Rajeshwar Prasad was a bomber pilot. Rajeshwar Prasad was commissioned in the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a pilot officer in 1966. He was promoted to flying officer in 1967 and to flight lieutenant in 1971. Prasad fought in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 as a bomber pilot.
In late 1979, Prasad resigned from IAF to join politics, under the influence of his friend Rajiv Gandhi. He contested his first election in 1980 as Congress candidate from Bharatpur, changing his surname to Pilot. He went on to defeat the former queen of Bharatpur and then rose to be a powerful Gujjar leader.
How much of that power Sachin Pilot retains will be seen as things pan out in Rajasthan. If you want to know what all can happen going from here, read this.
Much before Prasad became Pilot, he used to say, he was a modest ‘doodhwala’ who, as a young child, sold milk on a bicycle in Lutyens’ Delhi. Will the ‘doodhwala’s’ son join the ‘chaiwalah’s’ party? No answers to that just yet.
But since we are talking about fathers and sons and politics, we just quickly want to talk about a father, his son and Bollywood. You guessed it right. We are talking about megastar Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek. The two are in Nanavati hospital, recovering from Covid-19. Actor Aishwarya and daughter Aaradhya are recovering at home. Millions across the country are praying from wherever they are for their well-being. We don’t know what prayers can do, but the doctors are doing their job and since all four are either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, they are likely to recover soon and get back to life. You can choose to thank God, or doctors, or both, or none, depending on who you believe in, once they recover.
For now, take extremely good care of yourself, because believe it, the virus is unsparing. India has close to 9,00,000 positive cases now and the world, over 1,30,42,559 cases. If the numbers are scaring you, do know that in India, over 5,55,00 have recovered. Globally, 75,88,789 have. Whether the numbers scare you or not, do remember to take all precautions. To uplift your mood, we have nothing to offer. But B Big has something.
T 3586 - This too shall pass .. pic.twitter.com/sjx3UV13c6
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) July 8, 2020
Talking of coronavirus, Russia has claimed that it has completed the human trials for a Covid vaccine. Humans who were being tried have reportedly recovered and developed immunity from the disease. They are likely to be sent home soon. But when will the vaccine be sent to the commercial production stage is something Russia hasn’t spoken about. We will have to hold our horses on that front because we do not want to gallop towards disappointment.
In some disappointing news that has already hit your kitchens, price of tomato is rising. In some markets, the fruit/vegetable is selling at about Rs 70 per kg and is likely to rise to about Rs 100 per kg because many states are going slow on harvesting amid the number of coronavirus cases rising. Also, the supply of harvested crop isn’t regular and, you know, tomato doesn’t have a long shelf life.
But did you know that tomato at one point was called ‘poisonous apple’? In 1700s, many European aristocrats were seen dying after eating tomatoes. They blamed tomatoes and called it poisonous. If only they would have paid attention that the poor were dying of tomatoes because the problem wasn't the tomatoes... The problem was tomatoes served on pewter plates.
Tomatoes are high in acid. This makes them potentially hazardous when they come in contact with heavy metals and pewter. Highly acidic foods may leach when they come in contact with certain metals like pewter. Tomatoes served on pewter plates in the 1700s occasionally caused people to fall ill or die from lead poisoning.
If science back then had been as advanced as science now is, perhaps, the aristocrats could have been saved and tomato would have just been tomato.
Today, science is telling us to look at the sky for a comet. We mean today science is advanced enough to do that. But the lookout notice is for tomorrow.
The comet will be visible from July 14 on Earth as it soars across the solar system. Neowise, the comet, swept within Mercury's orbit a week ago. Its proximity to the Sun caused dust and gas to burn off its surface, leading to an even bigger debris tail.
It’s the tail that gives comet its name as comet. Comet, our Word Of The Day, originates from the Latin word ‘cometes’, which in turn comes from the Greek word ‘kometes’, which means ‘long-haired’.
A comet, as described by Oxford dictionary, is “a mass of ice and dust that moves around the sun and looks like a bright star with a tail”. You can call it a ponytail. Whatever you call it, it is formed when a comet passes near the Sun and begins to release gases because of the heat of the Sun. The process is called outgassing.
Neowise is expected to come closest to Earth on July 22-23. Don’t stand in your balcony all day long because it will be visible only for about 20 minutes after sunset. Come August, and Neowise would fade away from the skies.
You know how far the comet would be when it will be the closest to us? Even at its closest, Neowise will be at a distance of 64 million miles or 103 million kilometres from us.
Last night's fireworks, for real. Because Science. #NEOWISE #comet pic.twitter.com/IKcJ1wLFAl
— Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) July 5, 2020
If you fail to watch Neowise now, your next opportunity would be in the year 8,786 — which is over 6,700 years later. Which actually means, miss it now and miss it forever.
Well, since you can't wait for 6,700 years - even if you have the patience to wait - you can always Google for the photos and videos. Talking of Google, the tech giant's CEO Sundar Pichai today said that as part of the company's Google for India initiative, Google will invest $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in India over the next five-seven years.
That is sure to create a lot many employment opportunities. The jobs will come when they come but today, CBSE declared Class 12 board exam results. A total of 88.78 per cent students have passed. But nobody failed, but how does one exam declare someone failed?
Result of 400 students could not be computed on the basis of alternative assessment scheme and will be released later.
So forget the results and look at the sky for the comet. Not today, but tomorrow.
We will see you tomorrow and remind you to do that.
Stay safe.