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As soon as India’s military confirmed for the first time that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in clashes with Pakistan in May, while saying the four-day conflict never came close to the point of nuclear war, there was some jubilation and relief in the Congress. The party without going into the nuances of what Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of Indian Armed Forces Anil Chauhan had made in his conversation with Bloomberg TV saw it as a vindication of what Rahul Gandhi has been asking from Day One about Operation Sindoor– which is about loss of jets. To amplify the admission made by the CDS in Singapore, it rushed Telangana Minister Uttam Reddy, a former IAF officer, to brag before the media how Rahul had been right all along. In the TV interview, CDS Anil Chauhan made it clear that it was not that important jets being down,”but why they were being down.” The CDS was attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. At the same time, Chauhan called Pakistan’s claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes as “absolutely incorrect” though declined to specify how many jets India lost. “Why they were down, what mistakes were made…that is important” General Chauhan said. “The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,” he added. The comments are the most direct yet from an Indian government or military official. Elated with Gen Chauhan’s disclosures, Uttam Reddy said, “As it appears very clearly, Rafale aircraft were shot down in the 4-day operations…CDS General Anil Chauhan confirmed this. The government of India should now stop denying this…”
Legendary freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is back in focus since mixed responses are surfacing in relation to his historic contribution to the freedom struggle. The Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi had been the most vocal critics of Savarkar and his ardent Hindutva philosophy. Of late, there is silence on this front though stray adverse comments are heard. In a bid to rekindle its earlier policy, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has started singing the Hindutva tune. To pay homage to Savarkar, the Maharashtra government has decided to make efforts to restore his legal degree, Barrister, which the British had withdrawn after his arrest and conviction in 1910. The then Bombay University had withdrawn Savarkar’s graduation degree but it has now been restored. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced that a study and research centre in the name of Savarkar will be opened in Mumbai University’s Kalina campus. He said a provision of Rs 100 crore will be made for the purpose. Moreover, a statue of Savarkar will be erected in the premises as well. These decisions have been announced in the wake of the visit of Union home minister Amit Shah a couple of days ago. Owing to the BJP’s initiative, the other parties are compelled to fall in line. The Hindutva agenda had benefited the BJP-led Mahayuti in the assembly election held late last year by giving it an unprecedented mandate. The same formula is being used with Savarkar in focus.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has started following in the footsteps of veteran leader Sharad Pawar, it seems, since it is becoming difficult to predict his next steps. His many statements are such that they can be interpreted in different ways. The latest instance is the fulsome praise he has heaped on Pawar while at the same time indirectly taunting his both deputies, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. In a media interaction, Fadnavis said that Pawar keeps on working even at this age, never bothering about victory or defeat. There won’t be any match to him, the CM said. Replying to a question about his both deputies, Fadnavis remarked that neither was good in communication. But he hurriedly said he was speaking in the lighter vein. The CM’s observation assumes significance against the backdrop of the all-out support of the Modi government by Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, who is heading an all-party MP delegation abroad to propagate India’s stand on Operation Sindoor. At the same time, the more frequent dialogue between Ajit Pawar and his uncle is also sending another set of signals. To top it all, BJP leaders have been declaring at every opportunity that their party will fight the coming local body elections in tandem with Ajit’s NCP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena. One definite angle that is emerging is that the Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray is most uncomfortable. It has blamed Fadnavis for this situation.
As the nation is gung ho about Operation Sindoor, there is a major political battle about who carried out the first surgical strike on Pakistan? Was it done when the Congress was in office? Or when PM Modi took charge? Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sparked off a controversy with his remark that India’s first across Line of Control (LoC) surgical strike occurred in 2016 after PM Modi came to power. The Indian Army’s records also seem to support Tharoor’s assertion, the Congress quickly distanced itself from his statement. In 2016, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, the then-Army Northern Command Chief, stated that the September 2016 surgical strikes were a “first” of their kind. According to Tharoor, the Uri strike in September 2016 marked a significant shift in India’s approach, where the country breached the LoC to conduct a surgical strike on a terror base. He further noted that the Balakot strike in February 2019 took it a step further, crossing not only the LoC but also the international border to target terrorist headquarters. Tharoor is leading an Indian delegation to the U.S. and four other countries as part of the Centre’s global outreach in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has been posting on X about how surgical strikes were carried out during the UPA era too and tagging Tharoor on these posts. He also cited Tharoor’s book The Paradoxical Prime Minister published in 2018 where he had questioned the “shameless exploitation” of the 2016 surgical strikes along the LOC with Pak by the Modi government which the Congress had never done. Strongly disapproving of Tharoor, Jairam Ramesh responded to one of the posts by Khera with a poetic swipe at Tharoor saying,”Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive… “
In a sharp counterattack to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent address in West Bengal’s Alipurduar, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has challenged the PM to a live TV debate—teleprompter and all—and dared the BJP to call early elections in the state. Modi’s address, widely seen as the start of the BJP’s campaign for the 2026 Assembly elections, took aim at Mamata, branding her “Nirmam” (merciless) while highlighting recent communal violence in Murshidabad and Malda, the Supreme Court’s scrapping of teaching posts which left over 25,000 teachers jobless, and accusing her government of blocking Central government’s schemes. Hitting back, Didi accused the PM of engaging in “political Holi” at the expense of national interests. She dismissed his “Operation Bengal” remarks as an insult to the people of the state and pointed out that her nephew, TMC National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, was part of an MP delegation meeting global leaders—signalling her party’s commitment to protecting the nation’s interests internationally. Didi also slammed the Centre’s political motives behind naming the post-Pahalgam operation. She mocked Modi for his transformation from a self-proclaimed tea-seller to what she described as a “sindoor salesman,” a dig at his remarks that she interpreted as disrespectful to the women of Bengal. Mamata claimed that she had instructed her leaders to avoid commentary on “Operation Sindoor” despite its provocative nature. She accused the PM of spending more time on foreign trips than on India’s pressing issues and criticized what she called the erosion of federalism under Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s watch, branding him the country’s “acting Prime Minister.”
This is a common evolution in India. The Mahabharata has chronicled numerous such succession feuds as the forerunner of family groups. The latest feud is in the party of Dr S Ramadoss, founder of the Vanniyar caste party, PMK in 1989. His son Dr Anbumani’s action has made the patriarch lament in Shivaji Ganesan style “…the very son whom I loved and groomed is now kicking me on my chest”. Thanks to his father Dr Anbumani became the youngest Health Minister in Dr Manmohan Singh’s cabinet in 2004. But, in the past one year the internecine strife in PMK has come out in the open. The bone of contention seems be to Dr Ramadoss succession plan. He appointed his grandson (daughter’s progeny) Mukundan as the Youth Wing General Secretary. But Anbumani had other plans; he wanted to take over the party in toto and call the shots. It’s the same old story …a father wanting undiluted power over the progeny, and a son wanting to inherit the party which he has grown with his network. Of late, Anbumani (who has perennially ached for TN CMship) has become restive and influenced many cadres to not attend formal party meets called by the father. Add to this his wife Sowmya’s proximity to BJP and the political alchemy has turned explosive. The final nail in the coffin, Ramadoss senior alleges that in one of the family fights, the son hurled a bottle at his mother. The PMK has held sway in North Tamil Nadu and as a force cannot be ignored by any political parties for alliances. But could this family discord dismantle it. Will Dr Anbumani make amends with his father to salvage PMK? Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra.
Did Sarfaraz Khan and Shreyas Iyer get a raw deal for the five-Test series in England? Both have been given the short shrift. The set-up of Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Shubman Gill and the Selectors have sent across a message that in the present circumstances, both do not fit into the scheme of things for a challenging seven weeks tour of England. The gifted Sarfaraz scored 150 in the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand last year after his team was skittled out for 46 in the first innings. He has scores of 62, 68 not out and 56 against England at home for a tally of 371 runs in six Tests. On the turning tracks at Pune and Mumbai, he, like the full Indian batting line up, came a cropper against the Kiwi spinners. He was made to cool his heels in the five-Test series in Australia. Iyer began his Test career with 105 against New Zealand and he has played 14 Tests, his last two being against England in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in January-February 2024. Iyer has had serious issues with the BCCI, as a consequence of which he was taken off the central contract. Times have changed and he has returned to the big stage and given the central contract. He played a big part in India’s Champions Trophy win. But the selectors have gone back to Karun Nair who played his last Test in March 2017. Nair, now 33, had scored an unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai in December 2016. Khan has been unlucky, and Iyer has “no room” in the team according to Ajit Agarkar, the selection committee chair.
Trust TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to invest in Opposition politics and keep the INDIA bloc going. In fact, the Congress which fancies itself as the natural leader of this grouping may not even know what is quietly happening in the backyard. Well, the West Bengal CM took time off from her hectic schedule to catch up with her old friend Lalu Yadav, who was celebrating the birth of his grandson — born to RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and his wife Rajshree on May 27 at a private hospital at Park Street in Kolkata. Mamata dropped by to congratulate the happy parents on the birth of their second child and also catch up with happy grandparents – Rabri Devi and Lalu Yadav — who had shared the happy news on X. “This is such happy news for the family…I wish them all the very best for the upcoming (Assembly) polls (in Bihar) as well…. I am quite certain that the child will bring good luck to them,” Mamata was quoted as saying in the media. Lalu shared pictures of family members with the newborn on X. Tejashwi and Rajshree have a two-year-old daughter, Katyayani. Mamata and Lalu — both former Union railway ministers — have been close since their time together in Parliament. Tejashwi was among a select few in the INDIA bloc whom Mamata trusted as an ally, and the RJD and Trinamool have firmly endorsed each other politically on most key issues in recent memory. “Tejashwi’s wife has been here for nine months. We have been in regular touch with the family. Tejashwi texted me at 6.14am with the good news,” Mamata was quoted as saying.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was up and quick as it unveiled its list of candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu, confirming that Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief and veteran actor Kamal Haasan will be among the nominees. It also extended to the veteran actor the courtesy of allowing him to contest on his party symbol. The DMK’s other candidates include senior advocate and sitting MP P Wilson, renowned Tamil poet-writer Salma, and party leader SR Sivalingam. Interestingly, poet-writer Salma is believed to be close to DMK Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi. Allocating one of its four Rajya Sabha seats to accommodate Kamal Haasan of MNM by the DMK is interesting as it shows that it kept the promise it made to the actor. Haasan, who had floated MNM, had campaigned extensively for the DMK alliance in the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission had declared that biennial elections to fill six vacant Rajya Sabha seats from TN will be conducted on July 19. These vacancies arise due to the completion of the terms of six incumbent members — Anbumani Ramadoss, M Shanmugam, N Chandrasegharan, M Mohammed Abdulla, P Wilson, and Vaiko—whose tenures end on July 25. Of its retiring MPs, the DMK has chosen to retain only advocate P Wilson and brought in at least three fresh faces –SR Shivalingam, writer Salma and actor Kamal Haasan.
With the Election Commission announcing elections for six Rajya Sabha seats in the MLA quota from Tamil Nadu to be held on June 19, the race for bagging party nominations has apparently heated up in Chennai. Though the DMK and AIADMK alliances are expected to retain the same number of seats they currently hold in the Rajya Sabha, political circles are abuzz with speculation about who will succeed the outgoing members. Sources claim that since DMK had promised actor Kamal Haasan a Rajya Sabha seat before Lok Sabha elections, it may accommodate him this year. No official announcement has been made so far but the only hitch seems to be a race of sorts between Kamal Haasan and former editor of The Hindu N Ram for one of the four seats the DMK alliance is guaranteed to win. With Ram emerging as the contender, it is being said, things could be tricky as both are Iyengar Brahmins. In an election year the DMK can’t be seen giving RS seats to Brahmins. Ram is viewed as being very close to the chief minister MK Stalin. Ram is seen walking with him in the morning. As for the remaining two DMK-alliance seats, sources indicate that the DMK may continue to allot Vaiko’s seat to either Vaiko himself or another senior leader from the party. For the last seat, currently held by R Shanmugam, who represents the DMK-affiliated Labour Progressive Federation, sources say it might again be given to a trade union representative. It will also be interesting to know who will get nominated from the PMK seat given the internal rift between PMK Chief S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani Ramadoss, political observers say the chances of Anbumani being renominated are slim.
In the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 25, West Bengal is headed for a dramatic showdown in eight seats — Bankura, Jhargram, Purulia, Bishnupur, Medinipur, Tamluk, Kanthi and Ghatal. Significantly, five of these seats are held by BJP and the remaining three — Tamluk, Kanthi and Ghatal are with ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). However, Kanthi and Tamluk were held by Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari’s father Sisir Adhikari and his younger brother Dibyendu Adhikari who have also moved from TMC to BJP. While BJP has fielded Soumendu Adhikari, another brother of Suvendu from Kanthi, the saffron camp has given a surprise ticket to retired judge Abhijit Ganguly. Ganguly has been the fiercest critic of Didi who gave ruling against the TMC government in the Teacher’s Recruitment Scam. Both Kanthi and Tamluk have special attention as former being the hometown of Adhikaris and Tamluk also has Nandigram Assembly segment which is held by the Opposition leader. It may be recalled that Didi was defeated by her former ally Suvendu in the 2021 Assembly election at the Nandigram seat. Meanwhile, BJP is up for Ghatal seat, where TMC’s star candidate and incumbent MP Dev Dipak Adhikari is contesting against BJP’s MLA Hiranmoy Chatterjee. There was a war of words when Adhikari accused Dev of taking money and expensive gifts from a relative of a cattle smuggling accused. Dev, however, denied these allegations stating that he had only taken a loan from a firm for his film production in 2022, which he has repaid, and denied receiving any gifts from third parties. It is clear that this penultimate phase of polling is a matter of survival for Didi while for Suvendu it is all eight wins.
There was excitement in political circles when BJP president JP Nadda first made a statement in a TV interview and later to English daily, The Indian Express that broadly meant that his party had “grown from the time it needed the RSS and was now ‘saksham’ (capable) to run its own affairs”. According to Nadda, BJP’s parent body Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was an “ideological front and does its own work”. Nadda’s assertion coming in the midst of elections made a Congress spokesperson wonder why there was no public debate on the “strained relationship” between the BJP and Sangh. The moot point is that BJP and Sangh have maintained their own separate identity even during Vajpayee era. Sangh leaders have always maintained that the RSS is not a political party but a socio-cultural organisation involved in nation-building. They claim that the RSS does not take part in elections nor its office-bearers are supposed to become office-bearers of any political party. RSS sources said what Nadda said was not off the mark. The BJP has grown and expanded under PM Modi’s leadership in the last decade only with inclusion of several non-RSS leaders in the party.” Take the case of Assam where with inclusion of former Congress leader Himanta Biswas Sarma, who is doing a fantastic job in the spread and growth of the BJP in the North East. Such inclusions are happening across India. In Odisha we have some BJD leaders joining us, “pointed out an RSS leader. Meanwhile Nadda’s tenure as party president was extended till June 2024. Lots of speculations about who will succeed him. Whoever it is, she/he will be PM Modi’s choice tasked to implement delimitation and women’s reservation by 2029.
The Pune car crash tragedy is taking a political turn as different angles connected with the police station concerned and the family of builder Vishal Agarwal are coming out, one after another. The latest is about veteran leader Sharad Pawar. A picture of Pawar with the lawyer of the accused family members went viral on social media. When Pawar was asked about it on Friday, he lost temper and said connecting any past meeting with this episode was not fair. He retorted that it was not necessary that he should express opinion on every issue. The Pawar family is facing criticism on several counts about the deadly car crash. His daughter Supriya Sule, MP, broke her silence over the incident after she was repeatedly attacked for not saying a word for four days about it in her hometown. When Pawar was asked why his nephew and now adversary Ajit Pawar was not seen handling the investigation as guardian minister of Pune district, he snapped, “Ask this question to Ajit.” Even as the furore continues, local Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar has levelled serious allegations of corruption against Pune police force. The Lok Sabha candidate has circulated a couple of pictures of constables from a police station in inebriated mood and has threatened to expose such elements from different police stations every day from today. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has condemned politicisation of the sorry incident, saying that Pawar and I.N.D.I.A bloc are facing depression.
Gautam Gambhir is hogging all the limelight mentoring Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, into the final of the World’s most acclaimed Twenty20 league for the third time. The former Delhi left-hander, who played pivotal in India’s splendid 2011 ICC World Cup win against Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium, led KKR to IPL title triumphs in 2012 and 2014. So it is happy tidings for KKR, which has entered the title match in grand style, disposing of Rajasthan Royals in the qualifier 1 in Mumbai. While Gambhir deserves all the accolades, the team’s Chief Coach, Chandrakant Pandit, has, without making all the noise, guided the team’s Indian component and also shared knowledge with the overseas players. After playing, Pandit plunged into coaching; having learned the art of leadership and coaching from the former Mafatlal and Mumbai captain Ashok Mankad. Likeable but tough, Pandit has shown cricketers from Mumbai, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh how to play a long multiple-day Ranji Trophy league and win the title. He has also coached the teams of Maharashtra and Kerala. Last year, KKR finished seventh in the league, but this season, it has stunned one and all, topping the leaderboard and winning the first playoff with Shreyas Iyer at the helm. Pandit is 62 and cannot even think of a role with India’s national team. But the smart cricketer raised in the Mumbai maidans and in the Mumbai dressing room filled with legends of Indian cricket would be a happy man. Winning the title on Sunday (May 26) will make him doubly happy and bring joy to his dear and near ones.
Tamil Nadu’s never-ending fight for river waters has taken several new turns in recent times. Kerala, once a regular supplier of water including in diverting west-flowing water east to TN through the Mullaperiyar dam, has started placing its own priorities first in applying for a new Mullaperiyar dam to replace the limestone wall dam built 128 years ago. Kerala has also been charged with building a dam across the Silanthi River, a tributary of the Amaravati that may lead to less water flow into the Amaravathi Dam that serves Tamil Nadu. Badgered by the Opposition and an ally like MDMK, chief minister MK Stalin swung into action to activate the state’s appeal process in the Cauvery water management authority. He also shot off a letter on the Silanthi River being tapped by Kerala, an issue the state may have raised earlier but was brought into the open only by Edappadi Palaniswami raising it in the media. The State is being blamed for keeping quiet due to I.N.D.I.A bloc coalition compulsions as both the Congress that rules Karnataka and the LDF that rules Kerala is part of the umbrella national coalition fighting the polls. With Karnataka hell bent on a dam in Mekedatu across the Cauvery and Kerala wanting a new Mullaperiyar dam, the DMK supremo Stalin is between a rock and a hard place.
This fourth-generation entrepreneur is just 23 years old but is already a global trotter promoting his company’s brand Suhana Masala in over 65 countries. Vishwa Chordia, it is learnt, has chalked up aggressive expansion plans to consolidate his company’s overseas presence. The Pune-based Suhana masala which makes a range of homemade masalas, papads, and pickles among others is investing in a new plant to meet the rising global demand from the Indian diaspora. The company already has five plants. The new plant is fast coming up near Bholi, Satara Road in Maharashtra and is expected to go on stream by end 2025. The 3-lakh square feet plant — part of the 17-acres — is designed to meet international standards. This 3000 MT plant will cater to both domestic and global markets.
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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.