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The Sengottaiyan rebellion has been contained. But it was an image hit for Edappadi K Palaniswami who has been stubborn in keeping out his old benefactors in the AIADMK party that was once controlled by J Jayalalithaa and manipulated by her aide Sasikala. Having lost all relevance in politics after the death of their golden goose, Sasikala, her protégé O Panneerselvam, who was twice interim CM, and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran have been desperate to leverage what is left of the Jaya legacy in the party, but to no avail as Palaniswami has been sticking to his guns. The DMK may have been enjoying this from the sidelines, but it is known to have quietly been turning the screws in the belief that it may be the sole beneficiary of any split in the vote. While joining Vijay of TVK is an option, it is unlikely that the new entrant will want any of the old baggage to be associated with his fledgling organisation. The DMK will, however, be quite happy to encourage the rebel AIADMK brigade to stand on their own under the flag of the AMMK party founded by Dhinakaran. This will be a sure shot way of testing the loyalties of the AIADMK cadre and splitting their votes so DMK will remain ahead in any equation in the polls.
The Congress may be basking on the “success” of its Vote Adhikar Yatra in Bihar but one tweet by its Kerala unit on GST saw the party apologise. A political storm was kicked up by the controversial tweet drawing a parallel between Bihar and bidis in an attempt to mock the BJP over latest GST reforms lowering GST on bidi from 28% to 18%. The Congress’s Kerala unit wrote, “Bidis and Bihar start with B. Cannot be considered sin anymore”. The tweet was deleted soon after RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav phoned Rahul Gandhi to contain the damage following backlash in social media. The Congress issued an apology on X and said that the jibe was twisted. “We see that our jibe at Modi’s election gimmick with GST rates is being twisted. Our apologies if you felt hurt.” The now-deleted post, which appeared to deride the state, triggered sharp reactions from the BJP and its ally, the JD(U), who accused the Congress of insulting the people of Bihar, a state headed for polls before November. The government’s action on bidis was apparently inspired by the RSS-linked Swadeshi Jagran Manch which wrote to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying that the 28% GST had hit employment in the registered sector of bidi manufacturing. This had also caused hardships for workers in unregistered beedi production units. The GST on tendu leaves used to make bidis has been reduced from 18% to 5%.
An advertisement about a proposed real estate project in Neral in Raigad district of Maharashtra has triggered a fierce debate with its critics calling it “a Halal Township.” After a controversy snowballed, the builder has taken down the ad. Saying that it was planned to be developed around 100 km from Mumbai, the ad has invited various political and legal lashings. The controversy erupted after the promotional advertisement described it as a “Halal Lifestyle Township.” The audio-visual campaign features a hijab-clad woman. The project will provide an environment for like-minded families, with prayer spaces, community gatherings and a safe atmosphere for children, the developer has promised. However, there are adverse murmurs from within the Muslim community, too. For instance, All India Muslim Jamaat National President Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi has criticised the use of the word ‘Halal’ in the project and said that it was an attempt to “spread hatred” in society. By using such a name, an attempt is being made to send out a particular kind of message, and that the builders and people involved in this are not working to unite society, rather to spread hatred and create division, he complained. The video was first shared by Priyank Kanoongo, former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). The Maharashtra government has been issued a notice over the matter, he has said.
Once upon a time driving an auto rickshaw in Thane to earn his living, Maharashtra’s transport minister Pratap Sarnaik is today among the wealthiest politicians in the state. Sarnaik is the second rickshaw driver to reach dizzying heights in politics. The first is his boss, deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. He, too, is from Thane. But Sarnaik now has a unique distinction in India. He is the first Tesla car buyer in the country. The vehicle was handed over at the Tesla Experience Centre in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex on Friday (Sep 5). Soon thereafter, Sarnaik shared his photos with a gleaming white Model Y. The car’s ex-showroom price begins at around Rs 60 lakh for the Rear Wheel Drive type and nearly Rs 68 lakh for the Long Range RWD. “I plan to use this Tesla to drop my grandson off at school so that more people see it, learn about electric vehicles and are encouraged to adopt them,” Sarnaik says. He gained fame when he was in the Nationalist Congress Party in 2008. He presented his then leader Ajit Pawar, a diamond studded mobile phone, said to be costing Rs 15 lakh. After becoming an MLA in 2009, Sarnaik’s assets have increased by leaps and bounds. Over the years, he has travelled through different parties. It may be recalled that the ED were questioning him in a Rs 5,600 crore fraud at the NSEL and had even attached his assets worth Rs 11.35 crore. He crossed over to Shinde from Uddhav Sena and the probe is on the back burner since then. He flaunts his Bollywood connections and prominent film personalities make it a point to attend his annual Dahi Handi events.
The war of words between BJP leader and actor Mithun Chakraborty and TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh has now escalated into a full-blown legal battle, with Mithun slapping a Rs 100-crore defamation suit on Ghosh. The BJP star accused Ghosh of launching a politically motivated smear campaign by linking him to chit fund scam, alleging he joined the BJP to escape investigation, dragging his son into a rape case, and even questioning his wife’s financial dealings. Mithun said the remarks were “false, baseless and malicious,” tarnishing his image as a Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke awardee, while also costing him film and advertising projects. Seeking damages and a bar on future comments, he has deposited the maximum Rs 50,000 court fee. Ghosh, however, remained defiant. He retorted that a person with true honour would not switch political sides repeatedly and added that the matter would be settled in court. He claimed he too has filed a case against Mithun, vowing to expose the actor’s alleged connections with four to five chit fund companies and demanding a CBI probe. Taking the fight a step further, Ghosh invoked the “Rajeev Kumar model,” referencing his face-to-face grilling with the former Kolkata Police Commissioner during the Saradha probe in Shillong. He announced he would ask the court to similarly confront Mithun under CBI supervision. Once close allies, the duo’s relationship soured after 2011, and today their personal fallout has turned into a high-stakes political slugfest.
It may seem odd that the 56th GST Council meeting headed by FM Nirmala Sitharaman and state FMs which met for nearly 12 hours could clear the two-slab GST 2.0 reforms on a single day, but will be rolled out only from September 22 (Navratri begins)? Is the Modi government waiting for an auspicious start? The government is not waiting out the austere period of pitru paksha. Official sources say that the government was not really following a Hindu calendar and explained that the roll-out would need preparation of about 150 circulars and this would require working on the details, It was for this reason alone FM Sitharaman had refused to give any media interviews. And ironically, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who had more to do with the failed Indo-US trade deal, was all over TV talking about it. Meanwhile, some details have emerged about how Sitharaman and her team fought and won the September 3 high-stakes late-night battle, with Opposition-ruled states digging in their heels. According to sources, opposition-ruled West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, and Karnataka strongly opposed rate cuts, citing fear of revenue loss. The meeting, slated to end by 7 pm, dragged late into the night, stretching beyond 9.30 pm. While Punjab and West Bengal eventually softened their stance, Kerala and Karnataka held firm, insisting on concrete assurances from the Centre on compensation. Some even pressed that the decision be postponed till the next day. At this point, Sitharaman told the gathering she was ready to sit through the night if needed, but relief for the people could not wait another day. It was the idea of voting if consensus wasn’t possible that made Kerala and Karnataka eventually climb down.
The BJP central leadership is apparently running out of patience with former Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai. He was among a handful of leaders — nearly all past party chiefs of Tamil Nadu — who were asked to reach Delhi for a meeting this week with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda for a discussion on TN assembly elections next year. Barring Vice-President candidate CP Radhakrishnan, who was also TN BJP chief, all were expected to join the meeting. Nadda had apparently phoned Annamalai to ensure he attended the meeting. However, Annamalai, who has been sulking since the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, seemed to have other plans. Not only did he fail to show up, but also shared on X how he was preoccupied with some wedding receptions rather than attending party work. During a recent visit to TN, Shah had advised him to focus on party work. So had FM Nirmala Sitharaman, who had suggested that he give up factionalism and take everyone along. Annamalai had resented Nirmala’s suggestion so much that he had even launched a campaign against her for poking her nose in TN affairs. Delhi leaders were shocked as the FM had no stake in TN and had acted only on Shah’s behalf. BJP sources now feel Annamalai is so upset with the AIADMK-BJP pact, he will now do anything to emerge as a spoiler, halting the AIADMK-BJP in its tracks. Annamalai is aware that AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami’s tours are a big draw now and can’t tolerate a fellow Gounder (a OBC caste) doing so politically well. BJP feels he may try to bail out the DMK or Vijay’s TVK as a vote spoiler.
At the GST Council Meeting, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman bust the myth that the Centre would continue to prop up states for revenue loss while rolling out GST reforms. The minister who had at the start of her media briefing thanked every member state for making it possible to roll out the two slab GST — 5 % and 18 % — made it clear that as far as “loss of revenue” was concerned it wouldn’t be just the states that would lose revenue, even the Centre would see a drop in earnings. “The Centre may be a one-third partner. The states put together can be two-thirds partners. But we are all in it together. So, anything that is gained or lost is for everybody. It’s not as if states have lost. If all of us have lost, all of us have lost…In the GST Council, the Centre and the states are together in it. Nobody is a donor and nobody is a done…” The new GST slab would be effective from September 22, the first day of Navratri. Sin goods will continue at the existing rates of 28% GST and compensation cess, where applicable, till the loan and interest payment obligations under the compensation cess account are completely discharged. Once it is cleared it will be40% GST for sin goods. All states unanimously voted in favour of GST rationalisation, as the collective intent was to provide relief to common man. When mocked about the 40% tax on sin goods by the Congress, Sitharaman couldn’t help asking if the Congress was demanding 5% GST on tobacco and gutkha? She pointed out how the Congress could not implement GST while in office as it was not trusted by anyone.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has emerged unscathed and stronger post the Maratha agitation that disrupted Mumbai and challenged his leadership. The Maratha stir for reservations was seen as an attempt to embarrass Fadnavis’ government and it did falter badly initially attracting even the ire of the Mumbai High Court. The Maratha stir did test the Mahayuti government’s resilience, its stability and coalition strength as fears arose about the stir being pitchforked to destabilise Fadnavis government on the verge of upcoming local self-government polls. The chief minister seemed to lack vocal support from his own coalition partners who clearly chose to weigh in with the politically influential Maratha lobby. The Opposition too was unsparing with its jibes. Supriya Sule of the NCP-SP chided him for having broken her party and her family, while Sharad Pawar kept pushing the ball to the Centre recommending amendments. But, Fadnavis managed to end the stir, bring Mumbai back to normalcy and save his own leadership by giving away very little; the demanded government resolution may not withstand legal scrutiny, suggest legal hawks. Fadnavis may have faltered in handling the stir but he did manage to end it well on his own terms. He refused to meet the agitators and went about attending to Amit Shah on his two-day visit, attending to his duties and even visiting Ganesh pandals in Mumbai during the stir. Fadnavis managed to take the credit for facilitating reservations for the Marathas while his Maratha deputies were relegated to the sidelines. While giving up his fast, Manoj Jarange Patil meekly did mention his wish to withdraw stir in front of the CM and two deputy CMs. He gave in after realizing the government was in no further mood to entertain him.
Tamil Nadu Congress MP Sudha Ramakrishnan is much relieved to have got back the chain that was snatched from her during morning walk in Chanakyapuri’s diplomatic enclave early August. It took the Delhi Police two days to crack the case and nab the culprit. However, the process of recovering the stolen ornament via Patiala court was a bit long drawn. Reminiscing about the special place the chain had in her life she said she always wore it only because of the Tirupati Balaji pendant. She had bought it with her hard-earned money when she started out as a lawyer “I hold the pendant very close to my heart. I bought it from Vummidi Bangaru in Chennai.” It is the same place from where the Modi government had got Sengol for the Lok Sabha in 2023. “In fact, soon after I lost it, friends were telling me that I will never find it as the chain-snatchers normally melt the ornaments. I was so disheartened that I had promised myself never to bother praying to Balaji if I didn’t get my pendant back. Next day, I received a call from Delhi Police, asking me to reach the court.” In Patiala House she was apparently shown an array of different gold chains and pendants. “That’s when I realised, I was probably blessed as an MP.” As per Delhi Police data, 2,503 cases of snatching occurred in the Capital in the first six months of this year.
When Rajya Sabha terms of 7 Union ministers recently ended and they were not renominated, there was an expectation that they would be asked to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Significantly, at least 5 of them figure in the BJP’s first list of 195 candidates for 2024 Lok Sabha elections along with PM Narendra Modi (Varanasi) and Home Minister Amit Shah (Ahmedabad). Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is contesting from Porbandar, junior IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been pitted against incumbent MP Shashi Tharoor (Thiruvananthapuram), Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav will face-off in Alwar, Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala in Rajkot and junior EAM V Muraleedharan will contest from Attingal (Kerala). The party has also tried to fortify its foray into Kerala by fielding actor Suresh Gopi(Thrissur.) and Anil Anthony (Pathanamthitta). What clearly showed that PM Modi is not taking challenges of AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi lightly was the way the party dropped 4 of the 5 sitting MPs. In Chandni Chowk the party decided not to experiment and opted to field Praveen Khandelwal; he heads the traders’ body. Yet, the biggest surprise of course was in fielding a very young and energetic Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Sushma Swaraj for the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat. The complaint against incumbent MP and Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi was that she remained aloof and inaccessible most of the time. She was known to be rude to the demands of her voters and direct them to councillors. If PM Modi gave a fresh face for New Delhi, how did Hema Malini pushing 76 managed to get the Mathura Lok Sabha seat? Was it an endorsement of her work in Mathura? Ought to be.
Tamil Nadu is where power packed deals are taking shape for seat sharing talks with DMK cracking the whip. To deal with pouting allies and demands. Take veteran Vaiko heading the MDMK. He insists that this time, his party wants to contest on its own symbol. Vaiko is also insisting on the coveted Trichy Lok Sabha seat. Stalin agreed for the first condition, but was not budging on the demand for one Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha seat. Vaiko’s six-year Rajya Sabha term ends in 2025, and he wants son, Durai to move in seamlessly. The DMK is challenged to accommodate CPI, CPM and other allies. The Congress has a new leader, Selvaperundagai who is keen to show that the new boss has his own agenda and perception. After two rounds of high decibel negotiation with DMK, he is bent on getting the nine seats, the same number it contested in 2019. Kamal Hasaan who has also aligned with DMK is bent on getting either Coimbatore seat or south Chennai but incumbent Marxists MP is refusing to budge. Will Stalin accede to Kamal’s request or promise him Rajya Sabha seat? But Annamalai is the Trojan horse in this alphabet soup as it is his untiring image building which has turned this election to a three cornered fight for the first time in TN. As for the AIADMK, which has cut loose from the NDA fortress, it is very clear that only those with deep pockets (deep enough to register their claim at Rs 15 crore a pop for a seat) need apply.
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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.
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