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Upon the official announcement of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the Congress’s candidate from Wayanad, Kerala for Lok Sabha by-election, Congress workers have started putting up her posters in the constituency. The posters featured the greeting “Wayanadinte Priyankari” (Wayanad beloved). The question is with the Lok Sabha bypoll for Wayanad on November 13, how much time will siblings Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi give for polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra on November 13 and 20? Since it will be Priyanka’s first electoral foray, it is quite likely that Rahul is likely to do much of the heavy lifting for her. The seat fell vacant as Rahul who had contested from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad, decided to represent the UP seat and wanted Priyanka to contest from Wayanad in a by-election. However, the ruling Left Front has made it clear that it would not be a cake walk for Priyanka. Kerala Minister MB Rajesh sought to remind how Rahul Gandhi has deserted Wayanad. “In August, when the state was reeling under floods, we had expected Rahul to deliver special help from the Centre. Wayanad is a constituency that gave RaGa refuge when he lost Amethi, but in the very next opportunity, Rahul Gandhi abandoned Wayanad, and now people of Wayanad will give him a befitting reply.”
Normally, questions about EVMs (electronic voting machines) and the Election Commission are raised after elections. However, the question of EVM was raised again soon after the EC declared the poll schedules for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Sanjay Raut said opposition parties do not trust the working of EVMs, and what happened in Haryana can be repeated in Maharashtra too. Congress leader Rashid Alvi alleged that EVMs could be manipulated just like Hezbollah pagers, which Israel hacked to carry out blasts in Lebanon. Rubbishing doubts, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, “Our EVMs are more robust than Hezbollah’s pagers, and they are 100% foolproof. EVMs cannot be hacked. Pagers are connected devices, but EVMs are not. “Those who are again questioning EVMs will have to answer many questions. Were EVMs working perfectly during the Lok Sabha polls but were hacked during the Haryana polls? Did EVMs work perfectly in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh but were tampered with in MP and Chhattisgarh? Who will believe such allegations? An electronic voting machine is just like a calculator, and it has no connection to the Internet via Bluetooth or any remote device. The battery usage of an EVM is written on the form when the EVM is packed and sealed. Candidates or their agents countersign it. Secondly, in a big country like India, where thousands of EVMs are used, and lakhs of government employees are involved in the electoral process, how can EVMs be hacked? And if some people tamper with the EVMs, how can the matter remain a secret? Victories and defeats occur during elections, but blaming the defeat on the EC or raising questions about EVM tampering is childish.
The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has been pounding Tamil Nadu with massive rainfall and flooding. Schools, Colleges and all public institutions are to remain closed with dire warnings of every hue…red, orange alerts to stay indoors and stay safe. But the government in its wisdom is keeping the state-run TASMAC outlets open for thirsty denizens. PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramdoss has lashed out at the TN government over this move. “Is it life-saving medicine or an essential that the public can’t live without? Is it an intrinsic part of the Dravida model to keep liquor sales open”? asked Anbumani in X. Significantly, Deputy CM, Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed the media even as the MET office warned about the heavy rain conditions to hit and assured that the DMK government was fully prepared to take on the threat of flooding. Having suffered severe losses in the past two cyclone hits with cars inundated, the public quickly resorted to parking cars on the flyover bridges….The Velachery flyover overnight turned into a parking lot. It’s another outrage that the police warned about big fines for such “parking”, adding insult to injury. YouTube podcasts on the rain caused flooding in Poes Garden, the hallowed precinct of power, politics and prestige turned smirk worthy. Ramadoss and his take on keeping TASMAC sales open as part of Dravida governance is seen as justified. Strange are the ways of “ideology” when it is business as usual.
Even as the Election Commission finalised polling date for Maharashtra as November 20, the Congress took a lesson from the BJP playbook and appointed senior leaders from other states to manage the polls in Maharashtra as observers. The high-profile team includes former CMs like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Channi. Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara, former deputy CMs TR Singhdeo and Sachin Pilot. The team also includes two Telangana ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Anasuya Seethakka. Deployment of a super team comes right after Congress’ debacle in Haryana elections where BJP won for the third time, securing 48 seats despite exit polls predicting a definite win for the Congress, which was able to secure only 37 seats. One of the reasons that was attributed to the party’s loss is leaving it all to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara have been assigned Mumbai and Konkan region while Vidarbha region will be handled by former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Madhya Pradesh MLA and former minister Umang Singhar. Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot and senior Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been deputed to Marathwada region while former Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo and senior Karnataka minister MB Patil have been assigned Western Maharashtra. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasser Hussain and senior Telangana minister D Anasuya Seethakka have been asked to look after North Maharashtra. For Jharkhand, the party has appointed a 3-member team headed by Tariq Anwar and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary. Meanwhile, the party has declared Priyanka Gandhi as Wayanad Lok Sabha candidate.
The Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra held over five cabinet meetings in the span of the first fortnight of October and took over 200 decisions. This was the sprint before the code of conduct got enforced on October 15, 2024. In fact, even the death of Ratan Tata, that had the state observe a day of mourning, did not dissuade Shinde from not holding a cabinet. There was rapid fire decision-making with two cabinet meetings witnessing almost 71 decisions and even 80 decisions each. The chief minister has been over-generous and liberal in doling out freebies, sops and financial allocations in a bid to earn brownie points in the forthcoming elections forcing the opposition to claim that the state treasury was being emptied to woo voters by Shinde. Maharashtra already has debts of over Rs 7 lakh crore and the Ladki Bahin Yojana is expected to bleed it further. Concerns are already being raised about the feasibility of Shinde’s schemes be it the launching of multiple corporations considering that CAG report had claimed that most corporations were not functioning well. In fact, Shinde’s generosity in financial disbursements goes beyond the confines of the state. Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP has got Shinde to fund elections in other states like that of Haryana and that each of the probable candidates were being doled out Rs 20 crore by Shinde. The average Mumbaikar is happy that the toll fee at the five entry points has stopped for now. Whether this will convert into votes for Shinde remains to be seen.
The BJP has finalized its polls strategy for the Maharashtra state assemblies for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will be the star campaigners. The troika will address 18, 26 and 26 public rallies respectively across Maharashtra in a blitzkrieg of public rallies. This carpet-bombing political strategy seeks to exploit the party’s recent success in the Haryana assembly elections where the BJP returned to power for a record third time and improved performance in the Jammu region of J&K where this troika delivered the goods so-to-speak in good measure. International political developments particularly, in neighbouring Bangladesh played a crucial role in consolidating the Indian voter base of the BJP. Additionally, the RSS had organized 16,000 public meetings in Haryana over the last four months encompassing 6,000 villages in the state through a targeted door-to-door campaign by deploying its Karyakartas in the run up to the state assembly elections with a message of Hindu unity that worked like a charm for the BJP. The RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat publicly announced that his cadre of Pracharaks has laser focussed its attention to the forthcoming state assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand just like it did for Haryana and the general elections of India prior to that through a micro-outreach program. “Our culture, country and (Hindu) religion must not only survive but thrive,” Bhagwat has stated in obvious reference to consistent international (deep state) efforts to undermine India’s growing economy and its cultural identity that has been re-established over the last decade.
Could Baba Siddique who was shot dead while he was bursting crackers outside his MLA son Zeeshan’s office on Vijaya Dashami lived if he had moved out of Maharashtra politics just as he had wished? The former Congress leader, who hailed from Bihar, was apparently wanting to return to his roots and had even met with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seeking a Rajya Sabha berth before making the switch to the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. It seemed he had enough of Mumbai politics and deals. Responding to Siddique’s tragic news, Tejashwi Yadav merely acknowledged how he had interacted with Siddique and his family during his recent visit to Mumbai. Siddique hailed from Gopalganj district. For some reason, Siddique was uncomfortable with the Congress and Shiv Sena(UBT) alliance, and had decided to opt out of the party in March this year. A three-time MLA from Bandra West assembly constituency, Siddique had served as a minister in the Congress-undivided NCP government in the early 2000.While his exit would be a big loss to Ajit Pawar ahead of the assembly polls, Sharad Pawar too hailed him as a leader who fought for the “minority community and championed secularism”. A close associate of actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who helped him secure his first Congress ticket in 1999. Siddique is credited for bringing to end frosty ties between actors Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan in 2013
India’s Twenty20 team — a new look team — after the Twenty20 World Cup win has been going full throttle, starting with the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Zimbabwe made India — led by Shubman Gill — trip in the first outing, but since facing that one-off reverse by 13 runs, the men in blue have won in a canter, almost every match. After the World Cup win — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the short format to make way for youngsters. The selectors made the biggest change, appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Twenty20 team, not Hardik Pandya. Yadav was rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but the ball-basher from Mumbai has been going great guns from the three-match series against Sri Lanka. The best though, India reserved it against Bangladesh, smashing them out of sight in the three matches that ended with the home team posting a mammoth 297 in Hyderabad. The team was without Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Out of 11 matches, India won nine of 10 matches with ease. The third and final match against Sri Lanka ended in a super over finish. Yadav, it appears has taken a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s Kanpur book — going after the bowling and taking the game forward. In all India struck 57x 4s and 44 x 6s in three Twenty20s accounting for 492 runs. Such was the annihilation of the Bangladesh attack, a significant pointer to hit sixes as a strategy to mount pressure and bring down the opponent.
Sixty-year old popular star Jayaram Subramaniam has created a soft and stylish spot for himself in Kerala films despite Mammootty and Mohanlal’s reigning supreme as evergreens. His performance in the hit period drama Ponniyin Selvan (as Alwar Kadian Nambi, the articulate comic Brahmin) was as much the highlight of this epic drama as the pivotal characters of Ponni and Karikala Chozhan. His 26-year old son Kalidas Jayaram has created a niche for himself in the film industry. Recently he was cast in the Dhanush film Raayan, and showed his mettle in the Tamil OTT anthology Pava Kadaigal in which he played a transgender. Kalidas is all set to marry Tarini Kalingarayan, a former Miss Tamil Nadu 2019, well known model and alumnus of MOP Vaishnav College. Jayaram and wife Parvathy had just celebrated daughter Malavika’s wedding in grand style , and it came as no surprise that they announced Kalidas ‘ wedding too in quick succession. The only surprise was that Jayaram, Parvathy and Kalidas honoured MK Stalin, TN CM with the first invite. Not surprising it created a buzz as why had he not given the first invitation to the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan? In the world of politics and cinema events occur not according to the logic of mundane society. Celebrities have their own exalted status or political predilections. Superstar Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salmaan’s was an arranged marriage in 2011 to Amal Sufiya whose family is from North India. Mohan Lal’s son, Pranav Mohanlal’ marriage with Kalyani Priyadarshan has remained an enigmatic topic.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Dussehra address in Nagpur is seen as an endorsement of the BJP’s policy of Hindu consolidation. It is like a green signal for the party to proceed with its agenda, the insiders feel. Bhagwat’s remarks will be helpful in boosting the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election since there is no ambiguity in his message. The tone of the address, delivered at the beginning of the centenary year of the RSS, will be interpreted severally but the RSS will continue its work undaunted, its veteran members say. The BJP had suffered in the Lok Sabha election since the RSS had not immersed itself fully in the contest. The BJP took due note of its displeasure and took corrective steps. The result was that it bagged Haryana, though with a nominal margin. The same formula will now be emulated in Maharashtra where the BJP lost 16 Lok Sabha seats due to minority collective vote in favour of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates. Learning a lesson from the debacle, the ruling Mahayuti partners have been implementing their strategy in an organized manner. Still, there was uneasiness in the saffron camp given the clout of NCP founder Sharad Pawar. The announcement of the election dates and the candidates of respective parties is expected to occur at any moment now. Hence, Bhagwat’s clear call has come as a welcome breather for the Mahayuti.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s nomination has been rejected by the returning officer on technical grounds for the prestigious Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. However, this decision will not impact the fierce electioneering or the outcome. Ajit had filed papers as a precaution in case his wife Sunetra’s nomination was rejected. Now, her paper has been found in order like that of her sister-in-law Supriya Sule, her main challenger. Citing a rule which stipulates that if a political party candidate’s nomination form received first is found valid, the other forms on behalf of the same party are rejected. Due to this provision, Ajit’s form has been unaccepted. Applying the same rule, the nomination form of Sachin Dodake was rejected since he had filed as a dummy for Supriya. However, Sachin’s nomination as an independent has been accepted. Interestingly, one Sharad (Ram) Pawar has also entered the Baramati arena. His nomination as an independent has been found valid. He belongs to a local autorickshaw union. His presence will only be a token. The real fight will be between two titans – NCP founder Sharad Pawar and nephew Ajit Pawar — through Sunetra Pawar and Supriya Sule. Baramati will go to the polls in the third phase, on 7 May. The constituency has remained loyal to the Pawar family since 1967. This is the first time that two factions of the family are taking on each other.
Maharashtra is hyperventilating over Elon Musk’s plans to invest US $2 to $3 billion, in the state, probable announcement during his visit to India. According to informed sources, “Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri (Konkan belt) or Vidarbha region (in north) may find precedence over Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) that boasts an automobile cluster near Pune city. Tesla’s plan to manufacture electric vehicles by itself is not news as much as the resultant disruption in the new technology for batteries these EVs will use. Already, Tata Motors enjoys first mover advantage in this specialized automobile sector within the conventional technology batteries, with its Exon and Punch EV models enjoying advantage of competitive pricing also.” Additionally, recent discoveries of lignite deposits by the Neyveli Lignite Corporation NLC, a private limited company of the Union Government of India, may also synergise with the forward foray in India’s EV segment. There is also a sharp political inclination to house the Tesla EV project within Maharashtra that recently lost out to Gujarat on the mega Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductors investment. A BJP source insists, “The then MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray had set a pre-condition of government primacy over appointing contractors related to the project that soured the deal. Subsequently, after heading into Gujarat Foxconn parted ways with Vedanta but the project moved towards financial closure.” The BJP leader says that with state assembly elections scheduled in Maharashtra in November 2024, the entry of Tesla in the state, would help to enthuse industrial growth and progress while dissipating any residual bad aftertaste over the Vedanta exit two years ago.
Tamil Nadu is probably the most star and film crazy state. Here, films and politics mesh and meld. Even on polling day, watching these superheroes and the media feeding frenzy they generated was evident at the polling booths. TN is probably one of the best organised states in terms of election logistics and arrangements, meticulously planned and executed for hassle-free voting. But such well-oiled execution often gets overshadowed, even unacknowledged, by the entry of stars, with the media in droves praising the star for casting his vote. Stella Maris College and Eldams Road polling stations garnered much attention as the two superstars descended to cast their votes. Action, camera and buzz levels rose, though it must be said that these two took their turns in the line to get their fingers inked and ballot papers verified. Apart from Kamal and Rajini, Karthik, Vijay, Ajit, Vijay Sethupathi, Vikram, Suriya Trisha and a host of stars made a splash today by turning up early in the day. Surprisingly, most of them were dressed in white? Except Kamal who came in a white and teal green T or Vijay Sethupathi. The penny dropped when a media smart said, “They wanted to avoid speculations about party affiliations. So white was the best option”. The terrible heat and overwhelming humidity could well have been the reason for cool white. Does it matter what the stars wore..it was not a fashion ramp …just your neighbourhood polling booth.
Sunil Gavaskar is a big draw wherever he goes in India and abroad; thanks to his splendid deeds with bat right from the debut series against the West Indies in 1971, he has a massive fan following across the cricketing world and beyond. In recognition of his yeoman service to cricket and other walks of life for half a century and more, the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal (BMM) in the USA has chosen him for the Jeevan Puraskar, an award that will be conferred upon him at a four-day function in San Jose, California from June 27 to 30. The BMM represents 54 marathi organisations in North America. Apart from his achievements in the cricket field, he has been the face of Indian cricket via the media expert route. He is quietly doing charity work for a number of NGOs and other organisations especially for the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital. The BMM’s biennial event in California is likely to be attended by other personalities from India and people from Maharashtra who have settled in the USA. During the four-day social gathering Gavaskar will get a chance to interact with the local milieu, and the champion orator that he is, Gavaskar will regale the audience with his terrific wit in Marathi and English. Of course Gavaskar is likely to be in the USA for cricket’s major show there; for the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in New York and Florida — the two cities the Indian team will play in the group stage matches.
In Maharashtra Angry Cadres Fail To Turn Up For Coalition Candidates Campaign In Many Constituencies
Coalition politics has come under major strain in this election, with party workers either boycotting or refusing to campaign for candidates of coalition partners. The most prominent example is clearly Sangli, where Congress workers are clearly out in support of rebel candidate VIshal Patil and Uddhav Thackeray had to urge his coalition partner to urge the Congress rebels to withdraw, and workers to campaign for his official candidate, Chandrahar Patil. Congress workers were also initially missing in action from Mumbai South Central constituency, where Congress city president Varsha Gaikwad was keen to contest but Uddhav Thackeray got the seat for his aide Anil Desai. This trend isn’t restricted to any particular party and is evident across many constituencies. Chief minister’s son Shrikant Shinde, too has been struggling to get workers of his coalition partners, the BJP, to campaign for him in his Kalyan constituency. Reportedly, Ajit Pawar’s workers were missing even during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden campaign rally at Chandrapur. Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party fresh inductee and candidate from Dharashiv, Archana Patil, whose husband is a BJP legislator, wondered why she had to work for the growth of the NCP over that of her parent party, the BJP, where her husband Rana Jagjitsinh Patil continues to be legislator. She was made to change her party from BJP to NCP to accommodate seat sharing adjustments. An uproar later, Ajit Pawar’s face and symbol was on her campaign posters. These poll results could well be a determiner about the way coalition politics could play out in the future.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s decision to contest Assembly election from two constituencies — Kantabanji which falls under Bolangir Parliamentary constituency in Western Odisha and Hinjili in Ganjam, has set the tongues wagging. Everyone is asking what’s HIS compulsion? Well-placed sources say Patnaik’s objective in one word is to stymie both BJP and Congress hold in Western Odisha. In a way, he is not only signalling his commitment to develop western Odisha but also challenging BJP in five Lok Sabha and eight Assembly constituencies besides wiping out Congress in Bolangir. Congress sources say Naveen babu is rattled that Congress is supporting the creation of a separate State of “Koshal”. And this is why he has decided to contest from Bolangir District. Be that as it may, Patnaik seems to be serious about nursing western Odisha Kantabanji and may finally opt for this constituency in his sixth term, instead of Hinjili which he has represented five times. Sources say he may opt to give away Hinjili constituency to his eventual successor. Odisha goes to poll in four phases starting May 13 to June 1. Most opinion polls predict that BJP could win nearly 14 Lok Sabha seats out of 21 and this victory could impact BJD in Assembly elections.
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.
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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.