Wangchuk has been on hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for the past 19 days as part of a protest by the CJP seeking the resignation of Education Minister Pradhan over NEET-UG paper leak. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)AFTER STAYING silent on Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike over the NEET controversy, the Congress on Thursday extended its support to the activist on the 19th day of his fast. Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal assured Wangchuk that the Congress will confront the Narendra Modi government and demand the resignation of the Education Minister. Sources said it was Sonia Gandhi who wanted the party to back Wangchuk even though a section of Congress leaders was sceptical about joining the activist or the Cockroach Janata Party on the issue. Gandhi, party insiders said, pointed out that in 1984, the then PM, Indira Gandhi, had flown to Leh to meet Wangchuk’s father Sonam Wangyal, who was on a hunger strike seeking Scheduled Tribe status for Ladakhis. Indira had persuaded Wangyal to end the hunger strike.To Err Is HumourA SLIP of the tongue during the announcement of Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav’s arrival on the stage, where activist Sonam Wangchuk is sitting on a hunger strike, lightened the sombre mood at Jantar Mantar for a moment. As she walked towards Wangchuk with other senior SP leaders, the Mainpuri MP was mistakenly introduced as “yuva MP Dimple Kapadia”, before being corrected by the crowd. The announcer tried to make up for the error by repeating her name several times, eliciting laughter from the youth protesting at the site.Catch ’Em YoungUNION JAL Shakti Minister C R Patil has launched a unique initiative to promote awareness about water conservation among school-children. As part of the campaign, notebooks featuring a photo of PM Narendra Modi and a message encouraging water conservation are being distributed to students in villages along the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh. The notebook focuses especially on Varanasi, which is also PM Modi’s constituency. Earlier, the ministry had launched the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari campaign following PM Modi’s call for greater community participation in water conservation efforts.