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As soon as India’s military confirmed for the first time that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in clashes with Pakistan in May, while saying the four-day conflict never came close to the point of nuclear war, there was some jubilation and relief in the Congress. The party without going into the nuances of what Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of Indian Armed Forces Anil Chauhan had made in his conversation with Bloomberg TV saw it as a vindication of what Rahul Gandhi has been asking from Day One about Operation Sindoor– which is about loss of jets. To amplify the admission made by the CDS in Singapore, it rushed Telangana Minister Uttam Reddy, a former IAF officer, to brag before the media how Rahul had been right all along. In the TV interview, CDS Anil Chauhan made it clear that it was not that important jets being down,”but why they were being down.” The CDS was attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. At the same time, Chauhan called Pakistan’s claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes as “absolutely incorrect” though declined to specify how many jets India lost. “Why they were down, what mistakes were made…that is important” General Chauhan said. “The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,” he added. The comments are the most direct yet from an Indian government or military official. Elated with Gen Chauhan’s disclosures, Uttam Reddy said, “As it appears very clearly, Rafale aircraft were shot down in the 4-day operations…CDS General Anil Chauhan confirmed this. The government of India should now stop denying this…”
Legendary freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is back in focus since mixed responses are surfacing in relation to his historic contribution to the freedom struggle. The Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi had been the most vocal critics of Savarkar and his ardent Hindutva philosophy. Of late, there is silence on this front though stray adverse comments are heard. In a bid to rekindle its earlier policy, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has started singing the Hindutva tune. To pay homage to Savarkar, the Maharashtra government has decided to make efforts to restore his legal degree, Barrister, which the British had withdrawn after his arrest and conviction in 1910. The then Bombay University had withdrawn Savarkar’s graduation degree but it has now been restored. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced that a study and research centre in the name of Savarkar will be opened in Mumbai University’s Kalina campus. He said a provision of Rs 100 crore will be made for the purpose. Moreover, a statue of Savarkar will be erected in the premises as well. These decisions have been announced in the wake of the visit of Union home minister Amit Shah a couple of days ago. Owing to the BJP’s initiative, the other parties are compelled to fall in line. The Hindutva agenda had benefited the BJP-led Mahayuti in the assembly election held late last year by giving it an unprecedented mandate. The same formula is being used with Savarkar in focus.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has started following in the footsteps of veteran leader Sharad Pawar, it seems, since it is becoming difficult to predict his next steps. His many statements are such that they can be interpreted in different ways. The latest instance is the fulsome praise he has heaped on Pawar while at the same time indirectly taunting his both deputies, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. In a media interaction, Fadnavis said that Pawar keeps on working even at this age, never bothering about victory or defeat. There won’t be any match to him, the CM said. Replying to a question about his both deputies, Fadnavis remarked that neither was good in communication. But he hurriedly said he was speaking in the lighter vein. The CM’s observation assumes significance against the backdrop of the all-out support of the Modi government by Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, who is heading an all-party MP delegation abroad to propagate India’s stand on Operation Sindoor. At the same time, the more frequent dialogue between Ajit Pawar and his uncle is also sending another set of signals. To top it all, BJP leaders have been declaring at every opportunity that their party will fight the coming local body elections in tandem with Ajit’s NCP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena. One definite angle that is emerging is that the Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray is most uncomfortable. It has blamed Fadnavis for this situation.
As the nation is gung ho about Operation Sindoor, there is a major political battle about who carried out the first surgical strike on Pakistan? Was it done when the Congress was in office? Or when PM Modi took charge? Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sparked off a controversy with his remark that India’s first across Line of Control (LoC) surgical strike occurred in 2016 after PM Modi came to power. The Indian Army’s records also seem to support Tharoor’s assertion, the Congress quickly distanced itself from his statement. In 2016, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the then-Army Northern Command Chief, stated that the September 2016 surgical strikes were a “first” of their kind. According to Tharoor, the Uri strike in September 2016 marked a significant shift in India’s approach, where the country breached the LoC to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base. He further noted that the Balakot strike in February 2019 took it a step further, crossing not only the LoC but also the international border to target terrorist headquarters. Tharoor is leading an Indian delegation to the U.S. and four other countries as part of the Centre’s global outreach in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has been posting on X about how surgical strikes were carried out during the UPA era too and tagging Tharoor on these posts. He also cited Tharoor’s book The Paradoxical Prime Minister published in 2018 where he had questioned the “shameless exploitation” of the 2016 surgical strikes along the LOC with Pak by the Modi government which the Congress had never done. Strongly disapproving of Tharoor, Jairam Ramesh responded to one of the posts by Khera with a poetic swipe at Tharoor saying,”Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive… “
In a sharp counterattack to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent address in West Bengal’s Alipurduar, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has challenged the PM to a live TV debate—teleprompter and all—and dared the BJP to call early elections in the state. Modi’s address, widely seen as the start of the BJP’s campaign for the 2026 Assembly elections, took aim at Mamata, branding her “Nirmam” (merciless) while highlighting recent communal violence in Murshidabad and Malda, the Supreme Court’s scrapping of teaching posts which left over 25,000 teachers jobless, and accusing her government of blocking Central government’s schemes. Hitting back, Didi accused the PM of engaging in “political Holi” at the expense of national interests. She dismissed his “Operation Bengal” remarks as an insult to the people of the state and pointed out that her nephew, TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, was part of an MP delegation meeting global leaders—signalling her party’s commitment to protecting the nation’s interests internationally. Didi also slammed the Centre’s political motives behind naming the post-Pahalgam operation. She mocked Modi for his transformation from a self-proclaimed tea-seller to what she described as a “sindoor salesman,” a dig at his remarks that she interpreted as disrespectful to the women of Bengal. Mamata claimed that she had instructed her leaders to avoid commentary on “Operation Sindoor” despite its provocative nature. She accused the PM of spending more time on foreign trips than on India’s pressing issues and criticized what she called the erosion of federalism under Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s watch, branding him the country’s “acting Prime Minister.”
This is a common evolution in India. The Mahabharata has chronicled numerous such succession feuds as the forerunner of family groups. The latest feud is in the party of Dr S Ramadoss, founder of the Vanniyar caste party, PMK in 1989. His son Dr Anbumani’s action has made the patriarch lament in Shivaji Ganesan style “…the very son whom I loved and groomed is now kicking me on my chest”. Thanks to his father Dr Anbumani became the youngest Health Minister in Dr Manmohan Singh’s cabinet in 2004. But, in the past one year the internecine strife in PMK has come out in the open. The bone of contention seems be to Dr Ramadoss succession plan. He appointed his grandson (daughter’s progeny) Mukundan as the Youth Wing General Secretary. But Anbumani had other plans; he wanted to take over the party in toto and call the shots. It’s the same old story …a father wanting undiluted power over the progeny, and a son wanting to inherit the party which he has grown with his network. Of late, Anbumani (who has perennially ached for TN CMship) has become restive and influenced many cadres to not attend formal party meets called by the father. Add to this his wife Sowmya’s proximity to BJP and the political alchemy has turned explosive. The final nail in the coffin, Ramadoss senior alleges that in one of the family fights, the son hurled a bottle at his mother. The PMK has held sway in North Tamil Nadu and as a force cannot be ignored by any political parties for alliances. But could this family discord dismantle it. Will Dr Anbumani make amends with his father to salvage PMK? Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra.
Did Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer get a raw deal for the five-Test series in England? Both have been given the short shrift. The set-up of Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill and the Selectors have sent across a message that in the present circumstances, both do not fit into the scheme of things for a challenging seven weeks tour of England. The gifted Sarfaraz scored 150 in the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand last year after his team was skittled out for 46 in the first innings. He has scores of 62, 68 not out and 56 against England at home for a tally of 371 runs in six Tests. On the turning tracks at Pune and Mumbai, he, like the full Indian batting line up, came a cropper against the Kiwi spinners. He was made to cool his heels in the five-Test series in Australia. Iyer began his Test career with 105 against New Zealand and he has played 14 Tests, his last two being against England in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in January-February 2024. Iyer has had serious issues with the BCCI, as a consequence of which he was taken off the central contract. Times have changed and he has returned to the big stage and given the central contract. He played a big part in India’s Champions Trophy win. But the selectors have gone back to Karun Nair who played his last Test in March 2017. Nair, now 33, had scored an unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai in December 2016. Khan has been unlucky, and Iyer has “no room” in the team according to Ajit Agarkar, the selection committee chair.
Trust TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to invest in Opposition politics and keep the INDIA bloc going. In fact, the Congress which fancies itself as the natural leader of this grouping may not even know what is quietly happening in the backyard. Well, the West Bengal CM took time off from her hectic schedule to catch up with her old friend Lalu Yadav, who was celebrating the birth of his grandson — born to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and his wife Rajshree on May 27 at a private hospital at Park Street in Kolkata. Mamata dropped by to congratulate the happy parents on the birth of their second child and also catch up with happy grandparents – Rabri Devi and Lalu Yadav — who had shared the happy news on X. “This is such happy news for the family…I wish them all the very best for the upcoming (Assembly) polls (in Bihar) as well…. I am quite certain that the child will bring good luck to them,” Mamata was quoted as saying in the media. Lalu shared pictures of family members with the newborn on X. Tejashwi and Rajshree have a two-year-old daughter, Katyayani. Mamata and Lalu — both former Union railway ministers — have been close since their time together in Parliament. Tejashwi was among a select few in the INDIA bloc whom Mamata trusted as an ally, and the RJD and Trinamool have firmly endorsed each other politically on most key issues in recent memory. “Tejashwi’s wife has been here for nine months. We have been in regular touch with the family. Tejashwi texted me at 6.14am with the good news,” Mamata was quoted as saying.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was up and quick as it unveiled its list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu, confirming that Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief and veteran actor Kamal Haasan will be among the nominees. It also extended to the veteran actor the courtesy of allowing him to contest on his party symbol. The DMK’s other candidates include senior advocate and sitting MP P Wilson, renowned Tamil poet-writer Salma, and party leader SR Sivalingam. Interestingly, poet-writer Salma is believed to be close to DMK Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi. Allocating one of its four Rajya Sabha seats to accommodate Kamal Haasan of MNM by the DMK is interesting as it shows that it kept the promise it made to the actor. Haasan, who had floated MNM, had campaigned extensively for the DMK alliance in the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission had declared that biennial elections to fill six vacant Rajya Sabha seats from TN will be conducted on July 19. These vacancies arise due to the completion of the terms of six incumbent members — Anbumani Ramadoss, M Shanmugam, N Chandrasegharan, M Mohammed Abdulla, P Wilson, and Vaiko—whose tenures end on July 25. Of its retiring MPs, the DMK has chosen to retain only advocate P Wilson and brought in at least three fresh faces –SR Shivalingam, writer Salma and actor Kamal Haasan.
With the Election Commission announcing elections for six Rajya Sabha seats in the MLA quota from Tamil Nadu to be held on June 19, the race for bagging party nominations has apparently heated up in Chennai. Though the DMK and AIADMK alliances are expected to retain the same number of seats they currently hold in the Rajya Sabha, political circles are abuzz with speculation about who will succeed the outgoing members. Sources claim that since DMK had promised actor Kamal Haasan a Rajya Sabha seat before Lok Sabha elections, it may accommodate him this year. No official announcement has been made so far but the only hitch seems to be a race of sorts between Kamal Haasan and former editor of The Hindu N Ram for one of the four seats the DMK alliance is guaranteed to win. With Ram emerging as the contender, it is being said, things could be tricky as both are Iyengar Brahmins. In an election year the DMK can’t be seen giving RS seats to Brahmins. Ram is viewed as being very close to the chief minister MK Stalin. Ram is seen walking with him in the morning. As for the remaining two DMK-alliance seats, sources indicate that the DMK may continue to allot Vaiko’s seat to either Vaiko himself or another senior leader from the party. For the last seat, currently held by R Shanmugam, who represents the DMK-affiliated Labour Progressive Federation, sources say it might again be given to a trade union representative. It will also be interesting to know who will get nominated from the PMK seat given the internal rift between PMK Chief S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani Ramadoss, political observers say the chances of Anbumani being renominated are slim.
Is it a truce between the two estranged partners BJP and Shiv Sena? According to reliable sources, BJP has renewed its efforts to form the government with estranged ally Shiv Sena in Maharashtra – a move that gathered momentum after CM Uddhav Thackeray’s exclusive meeting with PM Narendra Modi. It is learnt that the Union Cabinet expansion has been deliberately delayed in view of the new development in Maharashtra. Sena will be accommodated in terms of cabinet berth. Devendra Fadnavis is likely to become CM for the third time while the name of Aaditya Thackeray for deputy CM is doing the rounds. Party insiders indicate that the “Maha Vikas Aghadi government may fall in the next 72 hours or in two weeks”. The deal is that the BJP-led government will not pursue various legal cases against Sena leaders. It may be recalled that Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, in a letter to Thackeray, had urged him to patch up with BJP to avoid harassment from Central agencies. Coming together will also help in the coming civic elections. Now the ball is in Thackeray’s court, and he has to decide whether to once again play a second fiddle in the interest of the party’s future or remain in the driver’s seat with the NCP and Congress.
Congress party’s ‘going solo’ call by the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole has not gone down well with the alliance partners Shiv Sena and NCP. But, he has received strong support from two former CMs Sushil Kumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan. Both have hailed Patole’s efforts in a short span to rejuvenate the party and recharge the cadre. Both said there is nothing wrong to declare party’s resolve to regain its past glory and become No. 1 again and assume power single-handedly. In fact, Chavan went a step ahead saying that the MVA was formed with the single point objective of keeping BJP out of power and that has nothing to do with the Congress party pursuing its expansion plan. Chavan said Congress can tolerate Shiv Sena’s ideology but not that of BJP. With dissensions within the party, and the Congress leaders speaking out of turn, can this number four party in Maharashtra regain its pristine glory? That’s a wager nobody is willing to take.
Dravidian politics is hard to comprehend. Often, it is riddled with inconsistencies. How else could one interpret the composition of the just-announced economic advisory council (EAC) for Tamil Nadu? The MK Stalin-led government of the DMK has set up a high-profile EAC comprising Nobel laureate Esther Duflo (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Raghuram Rajan (former Governor of Reserve Bank), Aravind Subramanian (former Chief Economic Advisor to the Centre), Jean Dreze (Development Economist) and S Narayan (former Union Finance Secretary). Who said DMK is anti-Brahmins? Well, the just- formed EAC has three Brahmins – two high-profile ones at that! Rajan and Subramanian, in particular, turned much bigger than the institutions they headed. Narayan is all too well known in the political and bureaucratic circles in Tamil Nadu. If these three have roots in Tamil Nadu, the other two are rank outsiders. Not surprisingly, tongues have started wagging. DMK is a party which has vociferously articulated the cause of reservation in higher educational institutions and government jobs. In the formation of the state’s highest policy-advisory body, the DMK regime of Stalin appears to have quietly overlooked its own relentless demand for reservation for dalits, backward classes and the like. Is there a paucity of talent within Tamil Nadu? Inconsistency is the sign of development, it said. DMK has embarked on a growth path, it appears.
He refused to bowl at Virat Kohli in the Royal Challengers nets though the RCB captain was instrumental in signing up the giant from Auckland for the IPL. Kyle Jamieson did the star turn for New Zealand in the rain-hit WTC Final at Southampton, picking up his Bangalore skipper’s wicket with one that came back. Cricket may have already found the new Joel Garner as the 6 ft 8 in fast bowler claims a unique record of a fifth five-wicket haul in only his eighth Test for a tally of 44 wickets at an average of just 14.13. No bowler since the 1890s has taken more at a lesser average. Bowling to a fuller length, up by 44% after an opening day in which he tried to do too much, did the trick as Jamieson dominated the Test while presiding over the destruction of the reputed Indian batting. Like Garner, the Kiwi gives nothing away, no loose balls as freebies for the batsmen. During the IPL, Jamieson put two new Dukes balls in his kit bag to practise with them as the England tour was to come up immediately after IPL. What we have now is a gentle giant capable of bowling out Test batsmen with his consistency of line and length.
Arya Rajendran, all of 22, adorns the mayor seat of Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram with the distinction of being the youngest elected mayor in the country. This BSc maths second year student, stood and won from the Mudavanmugal ward under the CPI-M banner. Arya is no greenhorn test case politician, fielded by her party. Daughter of an electrician father, a CPI-M activist and working mother (LIC agent), privilege and power did not boost her rise, having been inducted into the Balasangam (the children’s wing of CPI-M) when she was in Class 5. Politics being what it is, the accolades she got from all over the country when elected mayor, must have rankled the major opposition incumbents, the BJP and the Congress among others. Recently, BJP Councillor Karamana Ajith took her on for lack of supervision and accountability in her duties. The ward’s garbage disposal and inventory and high-cost equipment obviously got flak. “The AKG Centre’s LKG student probably thinks of this as a play school. Taking on a Mayor’s duties is not child’s play.” Ouch, that must have hurt. But Arya is no wilting wallflower. Her repartee, “No one needs to judge my capability and efficiency by my age. I am confident of holding my own.” Don’t mess with this Miss.
Athletes and officials who like to tipple will be allowed to consume their favourite alcohol, but strictly within the confines of their rooms at the Olympic Village spread over 44 hectares in Tokyo. The local organising committee of the Summer Olympics 2020, postponed exactly by a calendar year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, had actually mulled over banning consumption of alcohol in the Athletes Village in order to enforce the “No, No” rules generally put in place in Japan. Now the habitual among the 18000 athletes and officials, can look forward to enjoying a drink or two. However condoms will not be available. It’s from the Summer Games in Seoul in 1988, that condoms were distributed at the Olympic Village, but as a forced shift from a 32-year-old custom, the athletes and officials will get the contraceptives when they depart Tokyo. The Olympic Village consists of 3800 condominiums and 21 residential quarters. The “Playbook” which details the rules to be followed by all delegates and athletes during the Games has counselled participants to avoid being close to people. Any violation of the rules will risk getting ejected from the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) believes that the majority of the people involved with the Games would have received both jabs of the vaccine by July 23, 2021, the first day of the Games.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu, now Samantha Akkineni, has put in a once in a lifetime performance as the LTTE woman in a very highly acclaimed Season 2 of The Family Man, on Amazon Prime. The central antagonist, Srikant Tiwari who carried Season 1 entirely on his talent and skill, playing the role of a covert operator of TASC (a fictional NIA), is pushed to play second fiddle to Samantha as Raji. In trying to tar her in sepia tones as a Sri Lankan, the brown make up has totally gone haywire…but this does not diminish from her brooding, menacing , almost other worldly countenance as she takes on the suicide mission of bombing the venue for a crucial meet of the two neighbouring country’s Prime Ministers. Her kill skills, spycraft and totally frigid inhuman approach to the enemy spies and mission…chilling. Samantha has pirouetted through many inane films that showcased her good looks. In The Family Man Season 2, she conveys every nuance needed to prove what it takes to be a suicide missionary, whatever the cause.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.