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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.
Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique’s tragic death in a shooting attack has once again churned the state politics on the eve of the coming assembly election. A former Congress leader, Siddique had only recently joined the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Incidentally, but for a handful pockets, the party has no political space in Mumbai. Hence Siddique’s loss will be felt by it intensely. His son Zeeshan is a Congress MLA from Nirmal Nagar in Bandra. Siddique’s death just outside his son’s office and despite having ‘Y’ grade security has put the three-party Mahayuti alliance in the dock. The focus, however, is on deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as he handles the home portfolio. His critics have once again trained their guns against Fadnavis, perceived as the main challenger for the opposition-led Maha Vikas Aghadi. The demand for his resignation had started no sooner than Siddique was being moved to hospital. Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is among the prominent politicians to castigate the state government for the tragedy. Even some NCP (Ajit) functionaries, too, have joined the chorus. The police are investigating various possible connections behind the killing in the congested busy locality. A popular figure among politicians and Bollywood, the image of the Mumbai police has suffered but the fallout will have to be faced by the political leadership. The embattled Mahayuti will need a herculean effort to emerge from the situation.
Women’s safety is an often-spoken subject. Yet, the assault on women finds constant notice in the media. Has there been a practical way to end this? Not really. But, this UAE-based organization is coming out with a unique campaign. In a first of its kind initiative, Secure Cam, a security surveillance and IT solutions provider, will be launching the “Secure Our City” campaign. A novel effort, this will see Secure Cam organize a charter flight by 100 women from various walks of life at the Chennai International Airport. The DGCA has reportedly approved the in-flight introduction of the “Secure Our City” campaign on December 10. The flight will take off at 11:35 am and return at 13:05 pm. Ostensibly, the flight is intended to raise awareness of women’s safety. Rijoy Thomas, Chairman and CEO, is of the view that an unconventional launch method will spread the message to a wider audience effectively. An opportunity will be given to women from various BPL social groups to take a plane. As a part of the campaign, Secure Cam plans to provide free installation of security surveillance systems (CCTV) for more than 10,000) buildings across a city. Chennai will be the first city, and the firm plans to cover five cities in all. To begin with, Secure Cam will be honouring 100 women by offering complimentary CCTV installations. One small step towards a giant effort, it appears.
Former Maharashtra minister Harshvarrdhan Patil has decided to join the NCP under Sharad Pawar, his traditional family foe. Patil had joined the BJP in 2019 and had said, “Now I can sleep peacefully, no worry about the ED or the Income Tax department.” His candid admission had provided much cannon fodder to the opposition in general and to Sharad Pawar in particular. Patil’s family elder Shankarrao and the Pawar clan had never seen eye to eye because the Patil patriarch always complained that their empire in Indapur was deprived of development as funding was diverted to Baramati next door. In the last assembly election, Ajit Pawar had held a public rally in Indapur to declare that Harshvarrdhan Patil will be trounced. Ajit’s close follower Dattatray Bharne was elected there. Since then, an exasperated Patil had mounted scathing attacks against Sharad and Ajit Pawar. According to the present Mahayuti formation, the Indapur seat will go to the NCP(Ajit) and Harshvarrdhan will stand little chance of getting a BJP ticket. Maharashtra’s Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had been trying to persuade Patil to stay on but to no avail. Unwilling to wait any longer, Harshvarrdhan Patil has decided to enter Sharad Pawar’s party. Quizzed by the media about his past comment and asked if he will be able to get a sound sleep now, Harshvarrdhan quipped, “No comment.”
The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra has taken a record 71 decisions within a week, most of them with an eye on the coming assembly elections. The three-party government is already under fire due to opposition’s criticism that huge funds are being squandered on various sections of the population to gain their votes. The “Laadki Bahin” scheme, for instance, is mostly targeted by the critics since it has evoked unprecedented support from women, each eligible beneficiary getting Rs 1500 per month. Similar benefit schemes have been announced for the youth and farmers, among others. Although the opposition is screaming about the possible economic burden due to them, it has promised to enhance the provisions if it comes to power. According to another decision, an economic development corporation for the Jain community will be set up in the state. This will be the first such body for Jains in the country. As the community is viewed as affluent, by and large, many eyebrows are raised owing to the decision. Earlier, an economic development corporation for the Brahmin community was announced. Similarly, financial provision will be made for the cultural or academic institutions of the Buddhists. Each such body will be paid Rs 10 lakh by the government. A major decision has provided for abolishing the non-agricultural tax throughout the state. Several institutions are to be renamed, considering the social sensitivities of the individual areas they are operating in. No stones will be left unturned to win the election, the Mahayuti has indicated.
The sudden demise of CPI(M) National General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has left the Left party grappling to find a suitable replacement. In a recent politburo meeting Prakash Karat was appointed as the ‘coordinator’ instead of naming him as ‘Acting’ General Secretary, indicating the party’s hesitance to rush into appointing a successor. Sources say, the CPI(M) is considering West Bengal State Secretary Mohammad Salim as Yechury’s replacement. Salim is reportedly being given time to consider the role ahead of the party congress in April 2025. Salim, who took over as the state secretary in 2022, has been instrumental in revitalizing the party in Bengal despite its diminishing grassroots presence. He played a key role in forming an alliance with the Congress in Bengal. Yechury’s demise has created a leadership vacuum, but Salim’s experience makes him a strong contender for the national post. A two-time Rajya Sabha MP, two-time Lok Sabha MP, and former state minister, Salim’s parliamentary experience is invaluable. Additionally, his fluency in Bengali, English, Hindi, and Urdu positions him well for the national role. With CPI(M) adopting a new age policy of 75 years, Salim, now 67, could potentially serve three consecutive terms, making him an ideal candidate to steer the party through its current crisis. If Salim ultimately accepts the offer, Bengal is likely to choose Sridip Bhattacharya, who is also the choice of present patriarch of Bengal CPI(M), Biman Bose to head the Bengal unit.
Amid the political chaos stemming from the RG Kar rape-murder incident, the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is now facing a fresh crisis from within her own party. It is learnt that TMC party leaders are shocked that Abhishek Banerjee, National General Secretary and second-in-command, has lodged a police complaint against the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Firhad Hakim, the Mayor of Kolkata and a senior cabinet minister, alleging misappropriation of funds. Party insiders believe the timing is significant, coming shortly after the TMC’s lacklustre performance in several Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) wards during the Lok Sabha elections. Some sections within the party view the move as Abhishek’s way of pushing for the “one person, one position” policy which he has long advocated. Others see it as an effort to cleanse the party of corruption and enhance its image in the wake of mounting public criticism. According to sources, the complaint from Abhishek’s office alleged that the OSD has been extorting money by misusing Abhishek’s name. The allegation has led to an unprecedented escalation of tensions between Abhishek and Hakim, where both have reportedly voiced their displeasure to the party leadership. Hakim, widely regarded as one of Didi’s closest confidants, has expressed his willingness to resign from Mayor’s post but Didi has rejected it. Reportedly she conveyed her displeasure to senior party leaders as to how the situation spiralled out of control. Hakim’s dual role as the Mayor of Kolkata and Minister for Municipal Affairs and Urban Development has long made him one of the most influential figures in the state’s political landscape.
Thirty-seven year old Samantha Ruth Prabhu was married to Nag Chaitanya, Telugu film’s enduring star Nagarajuna’s son for just 4 years before the couple filed for divorce in 2021. Already Nag Chaitanya’s closeness to fast rising Shobhita Dhulipalia is buzzing around. But it is Samantha who has been hit the hardest in the past few years, despite her rise to stardom in both Tamil and Telugu films. The OTT series Family Man brought her much acclaim. But her personal life was hit in a serious way when she was diagnosed with myositis, a medical condition that has punched her psyche hard, understandably. But Samantha was not prepared for the latest turbulence in her life…Telangana Minister for Environment and Forestry, Konda Surekha recently made downright derogatory remarks about the cause of Samantha’s divorce ….alleging that BRS leader KT Rama Rao is the cause for the rift and divorce. Surekha further insinuated that this BRS leader has a knack of intervening and interfering in the lives of celebrities. Telugu cineworld has erupted in anger at this kind of malicious loose talk, and superstars Chiranjeevi, Allu Arjun, Jr.NTR, Nagarajuna have condemned the Congress leader for this unsavoury talk. KTR of course has warned this minister to apologise immediately and retract her slanderous allegation or face a defamation case. The Minister has tended an instant apology on X, especially to Samantha that she had no intention of dragging her into the muck…she just wanted to vent her venom on politicians for their derogatory attitude to women. Samantha may be rueing her bad times…stars too have to cope with Star struck times.
Looks like Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s efforts to build himself up via media interviews have landed him in a political soup. Eager to build himself up in the national media, the Kerala leader got a PR agency to arrange for media interactions. Unlike the state run PR department, enthusiastic private PR, not only arranged for media interview but also seem to have got a reputed South publication to attribute a few lines to the CM about how “seizure of 150 kg of gold and Rs 123 crore of hawala money by the state police” in the last five years were made from Malappuram. Reference to Malappuram, with its overwhelming minority population, was enough to lead to sparring between the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). UDF alleged that Vijayan was insulting the residents of Malappuram by referring to seizures. The CM’s Office denied making any reference to Malappuram. While CM may be technically correct, the newspaper denial gave away how PR agents were present during the interview. Vijayan now denies using even a PR. His political detractors are quick to point out that the CM was targeting PV Anvar, a MLA, who was recently expelled from the CPM Legislative Party after he unleashed sharp allegations against Vijayan and his Political Secretary P Sasi. CPI(M)considers the Opposition’s attacks as a fabricated move to diminish its growing popularity among minorities in the wake of the LDF government’s “uncompromising stand” on a number of pro-Muslim issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act and Wakf Amendment Bill 2024. Meanwhile, PA Mohammed Riyas, Kerala minister, and son-in-law of Pinarayi said that Jamaat-e-Islaami and SDPI are the ‘sleeping partners’ of UDF.
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.