02-15-2009, 02:14 AM
Arjunâs saffron side
HRD Minister Arjun Singh may be the sharpest critic in the Cabinet of anyone espousing a remotely Hindutva line, but that does not mean that he is not a believer. Last week, the HRDâs National Mission on Education, through information and communication technology in higher education (ICT), was inaugurated at Tirupati. The venue seems to have been chosen deliberately so that the minister could pay a visit to the famed temple. Singh, unlike the rest of the HRD delegation, who stayed at a hotel, was put up at the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam guest house. In fact, the launch of the ICT was delayed till the afternoon so that the minister could receive the blessings of the deity, Lord Venkateswara, in the morning.
HRD Minister Arjun Singh may be the sharpest critic in the Cabinet of anyone espousing a remotely Hindutva line, but that does not mean that he is not a believer. Last week, the HRDâs National Mission on Education, through information and communication technology in higher education (ICT), was inaugurated at Tirupati. The venue seems to have been chosen deliberately so that the minister could pay a visit to the famed temple. Singh, unlike the rest of the HRD delegation, who stayed at a hotel, was put up at the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam guest house. In fact, the launch of the ICT was delayed till the afternoon so that the minister could receive the blessings of the deity, Lord Venkateswara, in the morning.