December 7, 2022 - Short Post

All Politics

Kejriwal Sober After MCD Win As BJP Retains Presence In Stronghold

In the fiercely contested elections to Municipal Corporation of Delhi which saw the Aam Aadmi Party edge out the BJP after 15 years of presiding over the civic body by winning 134 out of 250 municipal wards, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal came across as a humble man. Maybe the results had a sobering effect on him — for a party that had vowed to restrict BJP to 20 wards, AAP fared poorly in Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and his jailed minister Satyender Jain’s assembly segments. The BJP went on to secure 104 wards. “We need cooperation from all, especially the help and blessings of the Centre and PM to improve Delhi,” he said. For a start, these words may have been enough to soften bruised ego but the BJP is unlikely to fall for it. In fact it doesn’t view the civic poll results as a setback. “We wanted an honourable exit from the MCD. That is what we have got”, conceded a top BJP poll strategist. In fact the idea of getting high profile campaigners for street corner meetings was to ensure that the party has an adequate presence in the MCD. “If our senior leaders hadn’t made this effort, AAP could have restricted us to 50-60 wards. At least we managed to reach three-digit”, pointed out a leader.

Post By Lakshmi Iyer

All Politics

Maharashtra-Karnataka Border Dispute Deliberately Incited By Bommai, Feels Raj Thackeray

There is a growing feeling in Maharashtra that the border dispute has been instigated purposely to facilitate BJP’s victory in the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections, to be fought under the chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. Karnataka CM raked up the contentious feud all of a sudden some days ago, taking opposition leaders in Maharashtra by surprise since they were busy attacking governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over his remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji. Just then, demands by people in several villages along the border to be included in Karnataka added to the overall concern. To add to the tension, violent outbursts by pro-Kannada elements forced their hand. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray articulated this doubt while warning that Bommai must not complicate the situation further. “It is clear who is fuelling the dispute from across the border with an eye on the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections,” he has stated in a written communication. Violence against the Marathi-speaking population must stop, he has warned. While Raj has worded his missive cautiously, Shiv Sena (Uddhav) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has alleged that Union home minister Amit Shah is behind the imbroglio. The opposition’s theory is that Bommai has failed on all fronts and hence is in search of a sentimental issue to whip up pro-Kannada sentiments. Moreover, he is worried because of the huge response to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka.

Post By Dilip Chaware

All Politics

Politics Divide West Bengal Entertainment Industry Three Ways

There is a clear three-way divide in the West Bengal entertainment industry. While a section of the stars continue with their allegiance with the CPI (M), a majority of actors (TV and cinema) are with Trinamool Congress and some are with BJP. Significantly, the allegiance factor has hit the stars in the opposition camp real hard as no work comes their way. The change started when the West Bengal’s entertainment industry sided with the then Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee’s movement against Singur Land Acquisition and Nandigram massacre. The successful agitation saw Didi’s TMC dethroning the Left Front government and effectively, the entertainment industry changed its colour to green from red. With the entry of BJP into the state, some prominent stars embraced saffron and joined the BJP as allegations of corruption and “cut-money” plagued Didi’s party. But they had to pay a price. Noted actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Rudranil Ghosh, Rupa Ganguly, and Locket Chatterjee have been openly saying that the attitude of their industry colleagues have changed ever since they joined BJP. Rudranil claims he has been out of work for the last 18 months, while Mithun says he has been getting negative vibes. The heartthrob of Bengali films and TMC MP Dev however said, politics should never come in the way of personal ties and professional work. Dev’s latest film ‘Projapoti’ features Mithun.

Post By Tanya Bagchi

All Politics

Refinery In Konkan Will Materialise Asserts Fadnavis, Taunts Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has emphatically reiterated that the proposed green refinery will materialise in Barsu-Solgaon belt of the Konkan region of the state. Castigating the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime for delaying the massive project for political considerations, Fadnavis said the project will generate one lakh direct and five lakh indirect employment opportunities. The latest technology will ensure that there will not be any harmful emissions due to the refining process, so no pollution. Lamenting the disinformation spread about the project, he said Konkan people were misguided by telling them that the unique Alphonso mango would not survive because of the refinery. In fact, even after the Jamnagar refinery had been operating for years, the quality mango produced there was exported like the one from Konkan, he pointed out. Fadnavis alleged that the various schemes he had launched as chief minister for Konkan had been discontinued by the MVA government. All such and many more developmental activities would be started now, he said, reminding the audience at the Konkan Festival inauguration that he was making this promise as finance minister of the state. Taunting Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray in his speech, Fadnavis wondered how the electorate which had supported the Sena had been deprived of development by the leadership which had benefited due to this backing.

Post By Dilip Chaware

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.

TRENDS & VIEWS

Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack

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