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The BJP central leadership is watching with interest the tantrums that its former Tamil Nadu state president K Annamalai is throwing. Even as he dismissed reports that he may launch a new party, it seems Annamalai may not last in the BJP for long. He expressed his discontent by saying none can put a gun to one’s head and force a person to remain in a party. Annamalai has been sulking ever since Nainar Nagendran replaced him as TN BJP president in April this year. Sources in BJP headquarters say Annamalai has been working overtime to undermine Nainar and weaken the AIADMK-BJP alliance. Though he officially maintains that “the NDA should win” the 2026 Assembly elections, it is being said he is not comfortable with the idea of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) clinching a win. He is also known to have played a role in bringing together former AIADMK leaders like VK Sasikala, KA Sengottaiyan and O Panneerselvam. More than these disparate groups of former AIADMK leaders, Annamalai’s real interest is in floating a new party and striking an alliance with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). With Vijay recently declaring that the 2026 Assembly elections would be a contest only between the TVK and the DMK, virtually writing off the AIADMK-BJP alliance, Annamalai may feel more encouraged to float his own outfit. But then the future of leaders who have quit the BJP to launch their own outfit has not been very bright. From late Kalyan Singh (UP) to BS Yediyurappa (Karnataka) to Shankersinh Vaghela (Gujarat). They have all floundered. Meanwhile, the ruling DMK is also welcoming into its fold former AIADMK leaders such as PH Manoj Pandian, son of former Speaker PH Pandian. Pandian charged AIADMK of “functioning as an extension of the BJP.”
Political controversy has intensified in West Bengal over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls after a report in Jago Bangla, the official mouthpiece of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), claimed that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had personally accepted the SIR Enumeration Form. In response, Didi clarified that she had not personally received the form. In a social media post, she explained that the designated Booth Level Officer had visited her neighbourhood and residential office, made routine inquiries about the number of voters in the household, and left the forms accordingly. She added that she had not filled out her form and that she would do so only after every eligible person in Bengal had completed theirs. Earlier this week, Didi led a protest march from Red Road to Jorasanko Thakurbari, terming the ongoing process “SIR terror” and urging citizens to remain cautious. The Opposition BJP criticised Mamata’s clarification, accusing her of double standards. Former state BJP president and Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumder stated that the CM’s actions contradicted her public position and claimed that she had accepted several forms despite urging people not to cooperate with the process. Senior TMC leaders rejected the allegations, describing them as politically motivated attempts to discredit the CM’s campaign against the SIR. Party functionaries said the report about Didi personally receiving the form was misleading and aimed at undermining the ongoing movement. According to party sources, Mamata is planning to take the issue beyond Bengal and raise it at the national level. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has already indicated that the party will intensify its protests in the coming weeks.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is finding himself in hot water following the allegations against his son Parth in connection with a massive land deal in Pune involving hundreds of crores of rupees. Noted social activist Anna Hazare’s spirited attack against the Pawar clan has added another dimension to the suspicious deal. The web of doubt around the father-son duo is becoming thicker since Ajit has claimed that he is unaware of the transactions conducted by his son, “an adult and running his own business.” As chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a thorough enquiry into the serious charges, Ajit has gone on the defensive. Hazare’s stinging statement about the ‘culture of Baramati’ has an indirect past reference to the developments when then chief minister Sharad Pawar was facing grave allegations regarding several land deals under the civic development plan for Mumbai. Later, the allegations were declared unfounded by an inquiry committee. Incidentally, Hazare was at the forefront of levelling the allegations, along with controversial municipal officer GR Khairnar. Obliquely referring to those events, Hazare has remarked that the family and the culture of a particular place are responsible for occurrence of such deeds. In a guarded response, Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, MP, has sided with Parth. The DCM is finding it difficult to defend or criticise, given the perceived role of Parth. The scandal’s fallout will have a bearing on the strategy for the upcoming local body elections in Maharashtra, weakening Ajit’s bargaining stakes.
Top BJP leader Ashish Shelar has been entrusted with the responsibility of the coming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election by the BJP, underscoring the importance of the electoral fight considered the decisive battle for the existence of the Shiv Sena (UBT). Although Andheri MLA Amit Satam was appointed Mumbai BJP chief just a month ago, his predecessor Shelar has been reassigned this assignment given the enormity of the challenge. Of late, Shelar has been mounting one attack after another against Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and the Congress party, main partners of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The BJP is determined to wrest the BMC’s control from the arch rival Shiv Sena, which is not joined by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray. The two organisations are trying their best to lure the Marathi-speaking population’s vote by constantly harping on the ‘outsider’ tag against several BJP bigwigs, who are from Gujarat or north India. This has put the Congress party in a quandary, given the Bihar assembly election voting, forcing its top leaders to stay away from a joint morcha taken out by the two cousins. By next week, the picture is expected to be clear on this count. Nonetheless, the BJP is going ahead as the main constituent of the Mahayuti under the stewardship of Ashish Shelar, who knows Mumbai like the back of his hand.
In a major political development in Odisha, senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) strategist and former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik has quit BJD after serving it for seven years and joined the BJP ahead of the prestigious Nuapada assembly bypoll slated on November 11. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of BJD’s Rajendra Dholakia, four-time MLA and a former cabinet minister. In an interesting twist of turn, the late Dholakia’s son Jay is fighting from his father’s constituency on a BJP ticket. Naveen Patnaik headed BJD has fielded Snehangini Chhuria. BJP which is keen to win this prestigious seat has given a carte blanche to Amar Patnaik to campaign for Jay Dholakia. Amar Patnaik’s decision to join the BJP is more than an individual move, sources say—it’s a signpost of a deeper realignment in the state’s power structure. His exit lays bare the widening cracks within the BJD, sources say. His joining BJP is now seen as a fresh blow to BJD as the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi is determined to win the three-cornered BJP-BJD-Congress battle where BJD’s Naveen Patnaik and Congress Bhaktahari Mahatab’s are campaigning.
The Rs 1000-crore Sub Inspector Recruitment Scam in Odisha seems to have put the former chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his party, Biju Janata Dal on the backfoot. The mastermind Shankar Prusty (32), who is the leader of a syndicate involved in leaking the SI recruitment question papers, has been arrested by the Odisha state crime branch near Nepal border. Brought back to Bhubaneswar he is singing like a canary. According to him “this scam is worth at least Rs 1,000 crore” So far, BJD has denied any connection with this scam. However, the BJP terms BJD’s denial saying “chor machaye shor”. BJP says the contract for the recruitment process was signed during Patnaik’s tenure. But, the general public is asking what prevented BJP which was making big changes in the state to deep dive into Sub-Inspector recruitment issues and procedures immediately when they came to power? So far, the initial investigation report however says the scamsters collected original certificates and blank cheques from aspirants in exchange of leaked papers, wherein the aspirants were charged Rs 20-25 lakh per candidate. The main accused Prusty has been interrogated in the presence of Munna Mohanty, his close associate to unravel the truth. Sources say both Mohanty and Prusty had reportedly amassed significant assets through recruitment scam. The SI scam gained further momentum after the arrest of Odisha’s Silicon Tech owner Suresh Chandra Nayak.
The electoral rolls for the forthcoming local self-government elections in Maharashtra will be updated up till two days before the elections. Since the state election commission is not equipped to delete duplicate names in the electoral rolls, it has devised a completely new system to identify and pinpoint duplication and try to nip instances of duplicate voting in multiple constituencies by
voters. Maharashtra’s electoral department has been at the receiving end with complaints of large-scale duplications and discrepancies in electoral rolls by almost all political parties including the ruling BJP. There have been shocking claims of 127 names listed against the official address of the commissioner of the Navi Mumbai municipal corporation and also voter’s address registered as a public toilet block. Incidentally, the recent parliamentary and assembly elections were held with these discrepancies in the electoral rolls and the EC hopes that this new affidavit system will hopefully prevent the corrupt practice of voting duplication. There has been open admission of grave mistakes in rolls. Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad had also claimed that there were over a lakh bogus-voters in his home constituency including 20,000 bogus voters which had not been deleted despite official complaints. Ruling party legislators like Vilas Bhumre had boasted from political dais about how they managed to get the winning edge thanks to voters being brought in from outside their constituency. The Opposition parties had been demanding that local polls be postponed and held only after cleaning up the electoral rolls. However, the state election department has chosen to go ahead with their schedule and stick to the Supreme Court deadline of January, 2026.
The Tata-Shapoorji Pallonji corporate saga 2.0 cost Mehli Mistry, a confidant of late Ratan Tata, twin seats at the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust as board member exposing corporate India’s disruptive ruthlessness. “Morality, friendship, ethics, middle-class values hold no seat at India Inc’s boardrooms particularly, its upper echelons. Power and ego rules. Familial ties notwithstanding, Tata-SP’s corporate saga 1.0 witnessed Cyrus Mistry’s removal from Tata Sons by Ratan Tata himself. Now 2.0 bears witness to Mehli Mistry being deboarded by Tata’s brother Noel, with concurrence by his own fast, thick buddy as well, to likely be followed by more boardroom exits. Cash-strapped SP engaged in bid to marginally dilute rightful stake of 18.37% in Tata Sons, nudged for public listing, thus far stymied since the late Ratan Tata’s reign. Another source noted, “Ambiguity between charitable vs business operations of Tata group companies needs clarified settlement. Mistry may not legally challenge removal over prolonged litigation involved as PM Modi’s advice for stability, communicated through Amit Shah, may see Noel Tata assume topnotch positioning, clear authority making shareholders breathe easy. Probability of a happy ending for both prominent stakeholders – Tatas and SP – is on the cards. One thing is clear: decisions by consensus on Tata boards are a thing of the past. With Noel Tata’s ascension, one can expect more changes at the boardroom level.
There was a hue and cry when Sarfaraz Khan was not picked in the India ‘A’ squad for matches against South Africa ‘A’. The Mumbai right-hander displayed a fierce determination to prove his class in Test matches against England and the first Test against New Zealand at home in 2024. The doughty middle order from Mumbai cut loose to make a brilliant 150 against fast bowlers Tim Southee, Matt Henry and William O’Rourke in the second innings of the first Test in Bengaluru. But in Pune and Mumbai, he, like majority of the Indian batters, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, did not have answers to ward off the left-arm spinners Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel. Khan was tried in the India middle order after Rajat Patidar failed to get going against England. The selection committee picked him for the tour of Australia where India played five Tests for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The team played left-hander Devdutt Padikkal in the first Test in Perth, but Khan warmed the bench in all five Tests. Unfortunately, he was dropped for the five-Test series in England where the selection committee played Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan. For no rhyme or reason Khan was dropped from the squad itself. Left in the lurch, Khan suffered further when he hurt his quadriceps in Chennai and did not return to play competitive cricket until the Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir. Batting at No 6 and 5, he has not set the tournament on fire. Should he not bat at No 3 is what the critics are asking. As the Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur said, not being considered for the India ‘A’ team should not be seen as a setback to Khan’s career!
The incidence of cyber cheating is repeated over and over again, despite the cautionary messages circulated by the authorities. Even those conversant with online trading are no exception. In a latest shocking disclosure, it has been reported that a 36-year old woman from Panvel near Mumbai has ended her life after she was deprived of over Rs.5.30 crore by a Gujarat-based fraudster. Anagha Patil, the unfortunate victim, committed suicide owing to the frustration allegedly caused by Ravi Hareshbhai Bhadka, whom police teams are tracing. The two met in Delhi three years ago while attending an offline course. He assured Anagha of handsome returns through forex transactions. She invested some amounts and the returns lured her to pay him more and more. Soon, her other family members also started investing. But the return inflow dried up and Ravi started rejecting their telephone calls. By this time, the total remittance to him was over Rs 5.38 crore. Under stress, Anagha hanged herself on October 8. The police are trying to nab Ravi ever since. In another case that has surfaced from Nasik, a retired government officer has lost nearly Rs 2.25 crore despite his knowledge of online trading. He was assured by a woman, who claimed her name was Anjali Mehta, that he will stand to earn Rs 4.50 crore against the investment. The victim trusted her and went on sending the money. Finally, the inevitable happened. A case of cheating has been registered against the dupers.
The decks are clear for Edappadi K Palanisamy to take over the AIADMK party as its General Secretary at the July 11 meeting to be held in Chennai. A division bench of the Madras High Court on July 7 dismissed a contempt application seeking to punish the former CM and AIADMK leader and his supporters for alleged non-implementation of its earlier orders. The bench of Justices M Duraiswamy and Sundar Mohan also dismissed the applications to stay the general council meeting and the one against Tamil Magan Hussain, who had been nominated as the permanent presidium chairman of the party at its June 23 general council meeting. Since their orders passed in the small hours of June 23 had been stayed by the Supreme Court on July 6, the judges said they were dismissing the applications and petitions. OPS has lost the battle because EPS was able to gather a brute majority favouring a “single leader” rule that had been in force till the death of party supremo and CM J Jayalalithaa in 2016. EPS ran a sustained campaign in the background to woo all important party functionaries to his side. His clever portrayal of OPS as a “double agent” leaning towards Sasikala as well as the ruling DMK helped swing support. Only the anointing of EPS as leader of the principal Opposition party in TN remains to be completed now.
Kerala’s capital city of Trivandrum is not quite a place of shopping frenzy like Mumbai, Bengaluru or Delhi. But Yusuf Ali’s Lulu Mall has done the impossible by introducing a midnight shopping concept in Trivandrum. What started on a trial basis has ended in a resounding success. The Mall owners have now promised to conduct the night shopping spree on a frequent basis. Huge crowds started milling around the Mall hours before the official opening at 11.59 pm (July 6). The roads nearby were chock-a- block and so were the parking bays. “Our intention to encourage midnight shopping was to offer a new and peaceful shopping experience,” said Joy Shadanandan, Regional Director, Lulu Group. To ensure the success of midnight shopping, there were many firsts like 50% discount on all purchases, a pink parking area exclusively for women customers. The security was upped with more personnel in mufti to ensure women safety at night. The Kerala Government also helped in with more policing and traffic management. Special bus services were introduced by the public transport provider, KSRTC. Lulu Mall in Trivandrum has crossed the one-crore-footfall mark since its opening in December 2021. With the success of the night shopping the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom could well attain the tag of “a City which never sleeps”.
In the middle of a net session before the second Test in Galle, Australian batsman Steve Smith suddenly shouted “Bazball”. He was mocking the new buzzword to enter the cricket dictionary. But the English are mighty proud of having invented it to name it after their revolutionary new coach Brendon McCullum. He has taught them this method of a fearless approach to Test cricket in which they go after the bowling regardless of how tough or challenging the conditions or the state of the match were. Smith believes Bazball may not work when there is green in the pitch or the ball is turning square. But, in four remarkable fourth innings chases, England have rewritten the rules of batting and it has made cricket entertaining to watch. Bazball may not apply to all conditions but it is one hell of a way to play modern Test cricket, which would otherwise descend to chore-ridden cricket that even less people would watch than now. Many of the modern batsmen do play their own versions of the Bazball – like Pantball that Rishabh Pant plays. Team India may have been at the receiving end of Bazball but it was exhilarating to watch and they could adapt it too provided they can get over the superstardom of some of their greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and play more like a team with a positive approach.
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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.