2 min readNew DelhiJul 28, 2026 04:00 AM IST
Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar was left embarrassed on Friday after an altercation with some Kerala House officials in Delhi. Sources said Kumar went to Kerala House and told officials that a “friend” had booked a room for him at the facility. Officials refused him a room, citing “occupancy”. Kumar had a verbal altercation with a senior official, who subsequently called police and asked them to remove Kumar from the premises. Police officers asked Kumar to leave the premises, and he did. The incident has become a talking point among leaders from Kerala, where Congress now has a government, and despite that, Kumar, who is a CWC member, was denied a room at the facility in central Delhi.
Term Terms
The Union government earlier this month is learnt to have rejected CPCB Member Secretary Bharat Kumar Sharma’s request to grant extensions to two IAS officers serving as the Joint Secretaries of the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen and SBM Urban. While Sharma sought the extensions until April next year in his capacity as member-convenor of a Supreme Court Empowered Monitoring Committee on solid waste management, the Department of Personnel and Training is learnt to have replied that both officers were already on extended tenure. Usually, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet orders such extensions and postings.
Active Handles
Only a “handful” of BJP leaders have been found to be “adequately active” on Instagram as the party steps up efforts to increase its influence on the social media, according to insiders. PM Narendra Modi had taken to Instagram last week in a bid to engage with the youth amid protests led by CJP. With PM Modi showing the way, party sources said the platform was set to become the party’s next chosen “sphere of influence”. However, sources said, only a few Instagram handles have been found to fit the crucible of being “politically active”, including those of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma; MPs Manoj Tiwari, Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey & Tejasvi Surya.
