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In an informal interaction with journalists in Delhi, his first since Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi exuded a sense of satisfaction over the results. He seemed satisfied that he had been able to ensure reduced numbers of the treasury benches. Yes, he accepted that he had the satisfaction of seeing a once powerful PM Modi now handicapped, and is dependent on NDA allies like the TDP and the JDU to survive in office. Rahul who has made up his mind to retain Raebareli and give up Wayanad, is likely to field his sister Priyanka from the Kerala seat. Of course, some party sources suggested that the Congress may be tempted to field a local leader if Priyanka is reluctant. Rahul also indicated that he would continue to keep up his agitational politics against the government by undertaking a state-wide yatra. Party sources, however, are still not sure who will be the next Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Will Rahul wait until his sister gets elected or will it be one of his close aides? The only worry for the Gandhi scion is that the ED cases in National Herald case could continue with the same vigour.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar is now at the receiving end for varying reasons. On the heels of the criticism published in the RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ against the BJP’s decision to take him along, the NCP led by him decided to field his wife Sunetra for the lone Rajya Sabha vacancy from the state. As her’s is the only nomination, she will be elected unopposed. The disapproval of the decision emanates from the fact that Sunetra was defeated in the Lok Sabha election by Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule. Despite this, Ajit has prevailed upon his party leaders to grant the seat to her. The absence of chief minister Eknath Shinde and DCM Devendra Fadanvis at the time of filing of the nomination by Sunetra has added to the political speculation against Ajit. His clarification that he had not invited anyone for the filing, which was attended by only NCP(A) leaders, is seen as a lame defence. Ajit also did not respond to the ‘Organiser’ criticism, which had observed that the BJP had lessened its brand value by including Ajit in the state government. He said different people expressed their opinions after elections and they had a full right to do so. “I have concentrated on development. We have to face the coming assembly election with fresh vigour,” he said, declining to be drawn in a new controversy.
Newly elected Lok Sabha member Nilesh Lanke will like the public to believe that he accepted felicitation and refreshments from an unknown individual without knowing that the person was a dreaded gangster. “I realised what had happened only the next morning,” was Lanke’s explanation after his pictures with recently released don Gajanan Marne in Pune became viral. The clarification is laced with scorn and suspense since it is difficult to accept that a MP can be stopped by any unfamiliar person anywhere along any road and that he responds to such an invite with his presence without asking any questions. Interestingly, Lanke was with the NCP of Ajit Pawar till the eve of the Lok Sabha election. He switched over to the NCP under Sharad Pawar at the last moment and was fielded promptly against Sujay Vikhe Patil, a scion of the powerful sugar baron family. The feud between Sharad Pawar and the Vikhe family is well-known. Lanke has been elected by a comfortable margin. His unplanned visit to Gajanan, known as Gaja, raises many eyebrows. Gaja leads a gang which has about two dozen serious offences registered against it. Only recently, he was in Yerawada jail. The suspense has been created since Ajit Pawar’s son Parth, too, had met Gaja last year and the resultant furore had seen Ajit disapproving this meeting. All eyes are now on what Sharad Pawar says about Lanke’s explanation.
In a surprise move, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai dropped by Chennai South candidate Tamilisai Soundarajan’s house in Chennai and briefly chatted up with her. The interaction follows furore in the social media over home minister Amit Shah publicly censuring her for her comments against lack of alliance between AIADMK and BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls; Tamilisai blamed Annamalai for severing ties with the AIADMK. Tamilisai, who belongs to the influential Nadar community, had resigned as Telangana Governor, as she was hoping to get elected as MP and become a central minister. She was aware of the effort made by Annamalai to build the BJP in the state and was hoping to capitalise on the goodwill created by him. She had polled as much as 2 lakh votes, which is sizable. However her remarks against Annamalai were not liked by the BJP top brass as it was the AIADMK which had walked out of the NDA fearing loss of minority votes in September 2023. It was Annamalai’s effort that had helped the BJP increase its vote share to 11.24 %. Meanwhile, Annamalai also hit back at DMK’s K Kanimozhi after she mocked him for not winning any seat in Tamil Nadu. The NDA, which comprised 7 parties besides the BJP, could not win any seat even though its vote share went up. Kanimozhi said Annamalai’s loss in Coimbatore showed that there was no place for the BJP in TN. She also said that Annamalai’s continuation as BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief was not good. Responding to Kanimozhi’s remarks, Annamalai said: “If my father was Karunanidhi, I too would have won all elections easily in Tamil Nadu. My father’s name is Kuppuswamy. He is a farmer and nobody in my family has got any smell of politics.”
Even an in form batter – Virat Kohli- has been unable to find his feet in the ongoing ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup. The leading run-getter in the Twenty20 internationals before the start of the competition amassed 741 runs in 15 innings of the Tata-IPL_17, all as an opener, but in the three innings of the preliminary stage in New York, Kohli has been off-colour, making one run off five balls against Ireland, four off three balls against Pakistan and 0 off one ball against the USA. So he goes into the fourth match of the tournament – against Canada at Florida — facing a mere 10 balls and eager to get going before the start of the Super 8 stage phase of the World Cup in the West Indies. He has hit one boundary shot at the 34000-capacity Nassau County Stadium that’s dismantled after India’s third straight match there. The team’s think tank’s call to pair Rohit Sharma and Kohli as openers – to find balance in the playing XI — has not worked well so far. The champion batter has scored 405 runs as an opener (from 12 innings, including the three at Nassau) with one century and two fifties, but 3076 runs at No 3 with 32 fifties at No 3. He has also batted at numbers 4,5 and 6, but one-drop is his most productive position. His single-digit scores in the World Cup are the fourth in a row, dismissed as he was for 0 by Afghanistan in Bengaluru in January 2024. Kohli has disappointed New York, and the Pakistan captain Babar Azam has dislodged him from the top spot in the game’s shortest form.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the entire environment upside down. Globally, AI has created a big dent in sectors, especially involving people. The AI-led disruption is bound to have reverberations across the industrial canvass. Given this, the coalition government led by PM Narendra Modi has an onerous task on hand. The MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) is already at the edge in the wake of technological advancements caused by AI and the like. With the proverbial sword hanging over the heads of job-goers, a sense of uncertainty is fast spreading among the working class. Given this, the expectations are that the Modi government will give priority to MSMEs to boost jobs. Given the fast-evolving AI-led scene, a lop-sided focus on the service sector will do no good to the employment ecosystem in the country. Coming as it did against this backdrop, the allocation of the MSME portfolio Jitan Ram Manjhi, 79, has come as a big surprise. Top sources in MSMEs aren’t quite sure of the way ahead for them. What MSMEs require at the moment is a fresh mind, new vigour and right incentive to prevent them from slipping into the pages of history. An existential crisis of serious nature caused by metamorphosis in tech space is worrying the MSMEs. Is New Delhi listening?
At a time when Trinamool Congress is celebrating its second best Lok Sabha poll results there is a manifestation of simmering discontent within the party’s top leadership. The trigger seems to be a tweet by the party’s national general secretary and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee about taking a short break from politics. The timing seems to have given grist to the rumour mills about the real reason for this break. Abhishek stated that he is going for medical reasons. But, a section of party insiders say Abhishek is unhappy on several fronts. First, with the functioning of the state government as it fails to deliver the promises made by the party to the people. Second, he has expressed his displeasure over the names of the candidates nominated for the bypoll elections for four Assembly seats. One of the high profile seats of Maniktala is going to be contested by the former state minister Sadhan Pandey’s widow Supti Pandey. Since this does not meet his approval, he is likely to keep away from canvassing for her. Third, he seems miffed that his selected candidate Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, an Oxford scholar lost Malda south seat. He blames this loss on party workers not doing their best. Fourth, there is a continuous undercurrent between old vs new guard. For instance, Didi’s close aide Firhad Hakim has been sent to Siliguri to look into reasons for the poll defeat of North Bengal which was overseen by Abhishek. Finally, despite the fact young candidates selected by Abhishek won the elections, the party Supremo has once again reposed her faith in Sudip Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee by making them chief whips of the party in the Parliament.
Forty-six year old Vijay Sethupathi, who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, is an actor who never fails his fans. This director’s delight, bankable hero has none of that “chikna charm” of a stereotype film hero — brawn, Greek God profile, towering personality and a deejay’s baritone. But he comes alive on screen as a wholesome, dependable artist who carries off the entire film with his performance. Those who have seen his debut movie Thenmerku Paruvakaatru in 2010 remember his goatherd character to this day. Sethupathi has crossed many milestones and is confident that his 50th movie, Maharaja will get acclaimed just like his earlier hits Vikram Vedha, Sundarapandian, Pizza, 96 to name a few. His calm and controlled nature rarely kicks up cinematic storms…though recently he refused to co-star with Krithi Shetty for DSP. Reason: “In an earlier movie Krithi acted as my daughter. I made her feel really secure…even told her to think I am your real father. So I am not going to act with her as my female lead,” he said. In the film 96, which was a hit, he was paired with Trisha and critics did talk about a winsome youthful Trisha teaming up with an overweight Sethupathi as a classmate. His Vikram Vedha with Madhavan and Naanum Rowdy Dhaan with the lady superstar Nayanthara zoomed up the charts. Sethupathi has none of that ham handed heaviness in his portrayals. Fifty films old Vijay Sethupathi is as genuine as American Apple pie or South Indian Filter Coffee …no glamour but guarantee.
Celebrated author-writer-filmmaker Amish Tripathi, Bollywood star Nawazuddin Siddiqui and actor-producer-author Vani Tripathi Tikoo are meeting in London to participate at the Manoj Ladwa-led Indian Global Forum’s Pathways To A Limitless Future to be held between 24-28 June. The 3rd Culture & Creativity Forum at IGF London will draw leading voices from film & TV, fashion, literature, sports, economy and more. What new pathways for growth can creative innovation unlock? How can culture help organizations diversify their reach? How can we revitalize the global creative economy are some of the topics the brightest minds converging in London will debate, discuss and deliberate. It is learnt that Amish Tripathi while in London will use this opportunity to announce his creative tie-up with Lord Jeffrey Archer, a successful novelist who has written scores of best-sellers like Kane And Abel, Only Time Will Tell, The Prodigal Daughter to name a few. Kane and Abel remains one of the best-selling books in the world, with an estimated 34 million copies sold worldwide. All his novels put together have sold more than 320 million copies worldwide. Tripathi’s best kept secret project with Lord Archer will be unveiled on June 24.
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.