Congress leader Brijesh Kalappa quits, says "lacking in passion"
Bengaluru(PTI): Congress' known face on news channel debates and Supreme Court Advocate Brijesh Kalappa has resigned from the primary membership of the party, ending his 25-years long association.
In a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said, in the recent past he has been finding himself "lacking in passion", while his own performance has been "listless and perfunctory".
In a letter dated May 30, thanking Sonia Gandhi for opportunities given to him, including his appointment as Legal Advisor to Government of Karnataka with rank of Minister during the party's rule in the state, Kalappa thanked her for "patronage".
Pointing out that he has been representing the party on Hindi, English and Kannada channels since the UPA years in 2013- for almost a decade and has clocked 6,497 debates, he said, besides, the party has been regularly assigning political work to him which he has performed to the best of his satisfaction.
"Even at the worst of times for the Party in the aftermath of 2014 and 2019 debacles, I have never felt enervated and lacking in energy and enthusiasm. But, in the recent past I have been finding myself lacking in passion, while my own performance has been listless and perfunctory," Kalappa said.
"It is under these circumstances that I am left with little option but to resign from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress and to end an association that began in 1997," he added.
According to some party sources, he might have also been upset over not being considered as candidate for recent MLC and upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
After fake ID crackdown, IRCTC daily new accounts down to 5000 from one lakh: Railways
New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.
Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.
"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.
The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.
"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.
The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.
Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.
Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.
This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.
