All
Politics
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Celebrities
After having successfully decimated the opposition and weakened its allies, the BJP now seems strongly focussed on its target to achieve Shat Pratishat Bhajapa or cent per cent BJP rule in Maharashtra by 2029. Not content at this, there is buzz of Operation Lotus at work to poach Opposition MP’s to strengthen BJP’s government at the Centre. After successfully splitting and routing the opposition enough to be ineligible to get their own leader in the state assembly, the BJP’s own allies are now feeling the pressure to chart their own course in state. For starters, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already taken things into his own hands, including that of determining ministerial allocations of his alliance partners. Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde have been asked to share the names of their nominees with Shah to get his clearances for the same. Shah has rejected ministerial berths of two of Shinde’s nominees. The delay in distribution of ministries and portfolios in Maharashtra has been attributed to Shah personally overseeing all such decisions of the new government. Though Shinde has been putting up a tough fight to get good portfolios for himself and his party members, his body language continues to be that of a dejected soldier. The image of a sulking Shinde right next to a beaming Shah and Devendra Fadnavis is a symbolic picture of him not getting his way around and under duress in the BJP term. The second alliance partner, Ajit Pawar though seems happy enough for now, content at having trounced his uncle in his own backyard, to bag his party and legacy. It’s anybody’s guess if these alliance partners will be retained or tamed or simply engulfed in toto en route to the next state elections in 2029.
In a significant move, Sunetra Pawar, a first term MP of Rajya Sabha and wife of Maharashtra Deputy CM and NCP supremo Ajit Pawar has been allotted 11 Janpath as her official residence. With this allotment of Lutyens bungalow for the Sunetra Pawar, it can be said the extended Pawar family will be all sort of staying in the same neighbourhood. Family patriarch and former defence minister Sharad Pawar has been living in 6 Janpath since June 2004. His daughter Baramati MP Supriya Sule, as per Lok Sabha records, is also shown as sharing residence with her father. Janpath has always been a famous address because bungalow No 10 has been occupied by the Gandhis since the time of Rajiv Gandhi when he was out of power. It was allotted to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in 1991. Besides 10 Janpath, its immediate neighbour 12 Janpath has always been occupied by an important leader. First it was Ram Vilas Paswan who occupied the bungalow from1990 until his death in 2020. The bungalow has now been allotted to former President Ramnath Kovind. Besides her own Pawar family in the neighbourhood and famous people, Sunetra will also find home of another endearing Maharashtrian close by in 2 Motilal Nehru Marg – Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport & Highways Minister. BJP sources said the allotment of a bungalow to the NCP MP should also be seen as the kind of importance the party is giving to its Maharashtra ally. The NCP has been keen to expand its footprints across north India and it is being facilitated to do so.
Opposition INDIA Bloc’s move to submit a no-confidence motion to remove Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar seems more aimed at diversion from the ruckus over George Soros issue linking top Congress leaders — Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The opposition benches with about 60 MPs signing up for the motion indicates that it neither has the bench strength nor the time to follow through its intent. The anti-trust vote needs 14-day notice to be processed by which time the Winter Session would draw to a close (Dec 20). Congress leaders insisted that they had to go for a no-trust motion as the Rajya Sabha Chairman was “conducting House proceedings in an extremely partisan manner.” The party is reportedly upset that Dhankar allowed BJP members to raise Soros’s links with the Gandhi family — the treasury benches had raised the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s affiliation with George Soros’s FDL-AP Foundation as co-president, a foundation that had backed for independent Kashmir. The unusual unity to bring a no-confidence motion even as there are deep chasms within the INDIA Bloc surprised BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi. He wondered even as the INDIA Bloc were questioning Rahul’s leadership and wanted Mamata to lead it, how were they uniting to challenge the chair. After all Mamata’s TMC and the BJD had voted for Dhankar during the V-P election. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju condemned the notice against the V-P by 60 MPs. Continuing to hold threat to Parliament’s functioning even for a special discussion to mark the Constitution’s 75th anniversary, Jairam Ramesh wondered if discussions scheduled for 4 days from December 14 would happen given the impasse.
With elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly scheduled to be held by February, the incumbent AAP was first off the block to come out with its list of 20 candidates. Does this indicate confidence of a party ready to clinch a 4th term? Not quite. The curious bit about the list were massive changes in the list beginning with former deputy CM Manish Sisodia and former minister Rakhi Bidlan. The two top leaders had been asked to change their seats while18 fresh faces had entered the fray. The buzz is Arvind Kejriwal and CM Atishi could also switch their seats. Switching of constituencies after three elections for Sisodia — who had done a jail term for liquor scam — showed that he had perhaps lost political ground in his home turf — Patparganj. He opted to stand from neighbouring Jangpura, a seat which has a mixed population of Sikhs and Muslims. “In the last elections, our candidate against Sisodia gave him a good scare — he was from Uttarakhand and had brought down Sisodia’s margin from 30,000 to 3,200 votes,” pointed out BJP leader RP Singh. Sizeable presence of Uttrakhandi voters has now forced AAP to field Avadh Ojha, a UPSC coaching teacher. But does the move to change seats indicate AAP is on the wane in Delhi? Not quite, concede BJP sources. It is not that the AAP is unpopular. The party may have become weak in several areas. That is why many of their leaders are jumping ship and joining the BJP. “Many are joining us hoping to win an election. AAP stalwarts like Kailash Gahlot who recently joined us are so unpopular that they can’t win again. They are sheer dead weight,” says a Delhi BJP source.
Reel heroes don’t care about the media. That’s what came to light at the recent episode where a phone of a senior journalist was snatched by security personnel of actor Allu Arjun and no apology was offered either by the actor or his PR team. One has to wait and watch whether the journalist Vibha Kaul Bhat of ABP News will take the fight forward. More. Recently at the trailer launch of Kanguva, the bouncers of Tamil film’s popular star Suriya pushed the media who were waiting for the actor for over two hours. But, here one must say the actor had decency to apologise. Ranbir Kapoor now enjoys a good equation with the paparazzi but it may be recalled that the same actor in the past had snatched the camera of a paparazzi. A few years back Kangana Ranaut sent a legal notice to the Entertainment Journalists Guild of India and the Press Club of India for supporting PTI journalist Justin Rao. There are stories and stories about Dharmendra, Anupam Kher and other stars how they got into fights with journalists. In recent times Shah Rukh Khan was mightily upset with paparazzi for staking out his house when his son Aryan was arrested in connection with a drug-on-cruise case. Their overdrive saw King Khan carrying a green umbrella to hide his face making it difficult for paps to shoot him. During Ambani’s wedding the film fraternity went that extra length to pose for the paparazzi. Ironically, while the entire fraternity including Big B has had problems with paparazzi, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff have been their darling since the time they entered Bollywood. Time for other stars to learn their mantras.
Why was Washington Sundar dropped for the ‘Pink-Ball’ second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia at the Adelaide Oval? After his sudden recall for the second Test of the home series against New Zealand, the Tamil Nadu off-spinner, possessing a skillset as much as the left-arm all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja, had reasonably good outings, most significantly playing like an old-fashioned batter, digging his heels at the lower order and taking wickets, too. Sundar in all took 16 wickets, stealing the show from the senior pro in Ravichandran Ashwin. An automatic choice for the first Test against Australia in Perth, Sundar spent 20 minutes in the first innings and four minutes short of two hours in the second. In a Test that India won because of the individual brilliance of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, the 25-year-old conventional off-break bowler from Tamil Nadu took the wickets of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Based on these performances and his show of grit and determination, he should have been playing XI on the team sheet that India skipper Rohit Sharma exchanged with his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins. But Sharma, who was not part of the team in Perth, chose Ashwin for the pink-ball Test, obviously because of his 16 wicket collection at the `Adelaide Oval; in three Test matches, including a 4 for 55 in the first innings of the pink-ball Test four years ago. Sharma and the tour selectors may have a point going for Ashwin looking at past records, but Sundar had the momentum and enthusiasm going with him playing in the previous three Tests leading to Adelaide.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis (3.0) faces a problem of plenty, and may likely go the whole hog constituting a full strength cabinet of ministers touching the 43-member mark. Clamouring ensued within BJP itself, with ministerial aspirants seeking plum portfolios even as earlier phased plan ‘A’ of limited 30 to 32 strong cabinet ministers may now be enlarged under intense lobbying from alliance partners. Fadnavis retains the contentious home department, Shinde’s claim remains on urban development while Pawar’s sway over finance likely continues, even including the irrigation portfolio. BJP MLAs tussle for the revenue portfolio even as Ashish Shelar and NCP’s Aditi Tatkare flash credentials seeking the Housing department. Education will see new learning programs even as revenue assumes huge significance to launch BJP high command’s programs alongside emphasis on the Dharavi recast. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who raised illegal migrants’ issue on collector’s land in suburban Mumbai’s Malwani and Yogesh Sagar, briefly MoS of UDD department in 2019, are contenders in fray for Revenue portfolio taking BJP’s plan to ferret out Rohingyas and Bangladeshis ahead. Pilot project was launched in J&K where the LG cut off power and water to illegal migrants’ conclave only to be nixed by the Omar Abdullah government recently. BJP’s plan ‘B’ of 20 ministries with itself, around 12 for Shiv Sena, 8 to 10 for NCP tallies with Union Home Minister Amit Shah fresh target set for Shinde and Pawar of inducing remaining MPs, MLAs from Uddhav’s Sena and Sharad Pawar’s motley crew to elect themselves into the NDA fold.
For Congress leaders in Maharashtra it is no longer the question of dealing with outright rejection in the assembly elections. What is bothering them is that PCC chief Nana Patole continues to enjoy trust and immense confidence in the party’s supreme leader Rahul Gandhi. Patole, who barely managed to retain his Sakoli assembly seat by a narrow margin of 208 votes, had offered to quit, but has been reportedly persuaded to stay put and manage party affairs. Partymen were surprised that Rahul continued to back Patole and wanted him to lead the campaign against EVM in consultation with allies in the state. A former party MP, once part of Rahul Gandhi’s inner circle, has gone ballistic ever since the Congress meltdown in the state. While he credits much of it to the success of Mahayuti’s Ladki Bahin Scheme, he has been highly critical of the Congress’s electoral move to better the Mahayuti’s Ladki Bahin Scheme by promising Rs 3,000 pm against Mahayuti’s Rs 1500 and repackaging it as Mahalaxmi scheme along with free bus ride for women. “We did not expect this sort of public censure of our own manifesto from within. The Laadki Bahin money had reached the women in their bank accounts by Bhau Bheej (Diwali).That was the reason MVA promise of Rs 3000 and free bus travel found no takers,” said a Maharashtra Congress leader. It is learnt that Ladki Bahin will not be rationalised or moderated at least till the civic polls are held. That means MVA would continue to languish in the cold for some more time.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has issued a stern directive to her party’s MLAs and leaders, instructing them not to share any information with political consulting agencies. Instead, she emphasized that they are welcome to communicate directly with the party’s senior leadership. The move comes against the backdrop of rising tensions within the TMC, which, according to party insiders, stem from party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s growing influence. Abhishek, Mamata’s nephew is perceived to be transitioning into a more prominent role within the organization, causing unease among party veterans and Mamata loyalists. At a recent meeting with TMC legislators, Didi made it clear that she remains the party’s ultimate authority. She noted that some political strategists conduct surveys from afar and manipulate results, asserting that electoral victories depend on grassroots workers, not consultants. Mamata also reportedly cautioned MLAs about sharing sensitive information over the phone. The divide within the TMC has deepened, with party veterans accusing political agency I-PAC of creating a parallel structure within the organization. Party sources suggest that she is planning further steps to consolidate her control, including possible reshuffles in her Cabinet and the state police. This comes after a recent reorganization of her home department and a directive for strict action against corruption “irrespective of political affiliations.” Meanwhile, speaking about the constant speculation of her successor, Didi has stated that the decision regarding her successor as the leader of the party would be a collective one, emphasizing that the party is not just about her.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is now engaged in performing a balancing act between the Shiv Sena led by deputy CM Eknath Shinde and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) founded by Raj Thackeray. Keeping in view the coming local body elections, it will be a priority for Fadnavis to prevent any fissures in the Mahayuti alliance and to enhance its electoral might at the same time. As part of this strategy, MNS can become a crucial factor in bigger municipal corporations like Mumbai, Pune and Nasik. The Sena (UBT) still has considerable clout in these areas and any split in the Mahayuti vote bank can prove decisive for the outcome since the winning margin can be very narrow, given the possibility of multicolour fights. MNS chief Raj Thackeray had taken a unilateral decision to contest the assembly election for which he had fielded 125 candidates. But not a single victory came his way. Immediately after the BJP’s spectacular score was announced, Raj announced his unconditional support for the new government led by Fadnavis. On the other hand, the Sena led by Shinde is insistent that no decision about MNS should be taken without first holding consultations with him. Therefore, Fadnavis will have to wield his political skills to the hilt to keep the flock together. Shinde’s uneasiness in accepting the deputy CM’s post is no secret. Hence, placating and persuading him to accept the MNS will be the next priority for Fadnavis.
Is the DMK government in Tamil Nadu planning to get into the low cost airline business? When many governments world over including private enterprises have pulled out of this business, this plan is hotly debated as kamikaze. How did this idea take wings? Apparently, TRB Raja, chief of DMK’s IT Wing tweeted that an airline named after the Dravidian Icon, Periyar (EV Ramaswamy Naicker) would soar high. He punned on the name Periyar and came up with Peri Air (not to be confused with global brand Perrier bottled water). Chief Minister MK Stalin, anchored in intense Dravidian ideology, is rumoured to have latched onto the airline enterprise with gusto. Raja buttressed his idea with a hard core business plan. As expected, the BJP and other parties are coming down heavily on this yet to be ratified venture as TN’s debt burden is a staggering Rs 650,000 crore. There is talk about cousin Marans encouragement. It may be recalled that Marans had sold their majority stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh. DMK may have inhouse expertise in Maran but headwinds or tailwinds running an airline is a risky business. Stalin’s government should focus on education, healthcare, unemployment and infrastructure issues not get into airline business.
While Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra is just taking off, the BJP has appointed campaign chiefs and co-chiefs in 15 states, with leaders from Maharashtra being entrusted with major responsibilities. According to an official announcement from the BJP headquarters, former Union minister Prakash Javadekar will be in-charge for Kerala. The state that has been on the BJP radar for many years. An accomplished organization veteran, Javadekar will face a formidable challenge, it is felt. BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde will begin mobilizing support in Bihar, the state that was under a coalition of the JD(U) and BJP till recently. Known for his strategy skills, Tawde will be assisted by party MP Harish Dwivedi. Former minister Pankaja Munde has been appointed co-chief for Madhya Pradesh, a state under prolonged BJP rule with a brief interruption. Another senior BJP leader, Vijaya Rahatkar, is made co-chief for Rajasthan. She was chairperson of the women’s commission in Maharashtra. Javadekar was regarded highly by the media as an ace spokesman when the BJP was out of power. A find of Pramod Mahajan, he has handled various portfolios at the Centre. Javadekar was dropped in the latest cabinet reshuffle. He has maintained a stoic silence since. Pankaja had been expressing her dissatisfaction time and again. The new responsibility is expected to keep her busy and away from Maharashtra.
While all of India is understandably going ga-ga over another desi rising to the top of a global company, the people of Pune have particular reason to celebrate: Laxman Narasimhan, the new CEO designate of the U.S. headquartered Starbucks Corporation is an old Puneri. Narasimhan, now based in London, will join Starbucks on October 1, 2022 after relocating to the Seattle area and will work closely with Howard Schultz, interim CEO, before assuming the CEO role and joining the Board of the world’s largest chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves on April 1, 2023. The first outsider to be tapped to lead the company, he was born in the city of the Peshwas, where he finished his studies and graduated from the COEP (College of Engineering Pune). Twitteratis are asking whether Narasimhan’s ascension will bring a new culture into Starbucks: the midday break. “Starbucks ek te char band rahil” is the most commonly tweeted quip, reflecting the Pune tradition of all shops being closed from 1 pm to 4 pm. Legend has it that the staff of a leading saree shop have asked customers to leave in the middle of making large purchases for weddings. “Come back at 4,” they were told. The rumour got so persistent that another user tweeted that Starbucks had clarified that this would not happen at their stores in the city.
If in Dubai the cricketing faithful must visit Shyam Bhatia”s Cricket Museum. Dubai along with the Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah is becoming a favourite neutral venue for tournaments like the ICC Men’s World Twenty 20 held here last year and the recent DP World Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament. But the Emirate is also famous for the cricket museum that Bhatia, now 80, has put in place in his Villa. Bhatia’s family relocated to Ajmer in Rajasthan after partition, and it did not take much time for the young Bhatia to develop interest in the game. He played for Rajasthan and Saurashtra. He was transferred to Dubai by the New India Assurance Company in 1965, but he set up his own business in 1979 in building materials. He could not be far away from the thick of action in cricket though and he chose to found a magnificent Cricket Museum that many of the top cricketers have appreciated, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Bhatia has an affinity for Test cricket and all his memorabilia collection and own creative ideas reflect this facet in his museum in Jumeirah. He met Gavaskar in 1971 when he was having dinner with Salim Durani and Ajit Wadekar at the Taj, Mumbai and since then they have been thick friends.
With the public issue of one of the oldest private sector banks in the country oversubscribed, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank (TMB) is set for an historic moment on September 15 as its shares get listed. TMB is, perhaps, among the last of the community-led private banks in the country to get listed. Indeed, TMB has come a long way since the quarrelling Nadar community members sold over 65% stake to the Ruias of the Essar Group in mid-90s. In the face of a strident RBI, the Ruias were forced to palm off TMB shares to serial entrepreneur C Sivasankaran in exchange of cellular licence for the Delhi circle. But Sivasankaran had to face hostility from the Nadar community and had to give in because it became a political issue with warring parties jostled among themselves to woo Nadar community, which is a crucial component of electoral politics in Tamil Nadu. Nearly 33% were bought back by the community members after a deal brokered by the then deputy prime minister LK Advani. After several twists and turns the TMB is on the cusp of making history. That could herald a new beginning for the over century-year-old private sector bank. Even post the public issue, the Nadar community will have controlling stake in the bank – though a distributed manner among members.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack
It is the Third Anniversary of Short Post and as a news media startup launched during the Covid-19 pandemic it certainly feels better than good to find ourselves where we are today. Here, I must cite the unstinted support of our seasoned contributors, all senior editors in the country, who brought a great degree of maturity and sagacity to the Short Post newsroom. But for them, our tagline “Authentic Gossip”, an Oxymoron, would not have matured viably. Our user numbers may be small but our stories have created the desired impact among people who matter — decision makers and influencers. We offer a big punch in a small pack and Short Post with its 225-word stories has been punching above its weight category. Having posted close to 3,000 stories in the last 36 months, Short Post, I feel, is an idea whose time has come.
And this is vindicated by our two marquee advertisers – IDFC FIRST Bank and ICICI Lombard. Both believed in our story and have supported us from Day one. A big thank you to both.
If you look at the media landscape – print, TV and digital — it is a mixed bag. There are job losses as some outfits have closed down while a lucky few were bailed out by large corporate houses. Yes, there is a lot of action in the digital space. However, the entry of corporate houses has raised the question of independence of news media outfits. Sadly, there are just a handful of independent media outfits in the country that are highly respected for their neutrality. At Short Post, our credo is not to take sides, prejudge issues or be biased but, informing readers of behind-the-scenes happenings. In essence, Short Post strives to be a neutral editorial platform — neither anti-establishment nor pro-establishment.
As I said last year, disruptions in the media world are moving at a fast and furious pace. Technology is playing a very big role in how content is generated and consumed. But, we are neither alarmed nor perturbed as it is all a part of the evolution process. What gives us comfort is that AI is unable to create original gossipy content. And that is the news arena where we have achieved a distinction.