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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s secret political agenda, at work since assuming national power in 2014: Empowerment of one lakh non-political dynasts across political spectrum of India from local self-bodies right up to the topmost constitutional post of President of India. Common man and Dalit Ramnath Kovind became India’s president followed by tribal BJP grassroots worker Draupadi Murmu in the last presidential elections. Latest entrant to big ticket politics is Navya Haridas, international software professional from Kerala, blooded for the Kozhikode civic elections in 2015, now fielded for prestigious Lok Sabha byelections from Wayanad relinquished by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. According to a BJP insider, “PM Modi consciously and overtly launched a broadside against the all prevalent dynastic politics on the Indian political landscape first. He covertly also launched his personal mission for introducing meritorious people into active politics having little or no prior political backgrounds to empower one lakh such candidates across the nation. Navya Haridas is only the latest candidate introduced into national politics to fulfil this endeavour.” Haridas has already served as a two-term civic councillor from Kozhikode and was pressed into service by PM Modi for relief efforts when floods and landslides visited the Wayanad region in Kerala recently. A humble RSS worker’s daughter, relative newcomer to politics, Navya is tasked with taking on Priyanka Gandhi, a political heavyweight ironically being tested for the first time in national politics herself. The result may be a foregone conclusion to many but, for Navya her national political journey has just begun.
Not being white washed — losing all Test matches of a 3-Test series — was a rare record India held for 91 years and that’s starting from the Douglas Jardine-led England in the winter of 1933. India had played 87 Test series at home, won 54, drawn 17 and lost 16 and played 293 Tests, won 120, lost 57, drawn 115 and tied 1. After winning the first two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune, New Zealand created a chance to inflict a first white wash on India. The home team has been led by 28 captains including Rohit Sharma and the outcome of the series against New Zealand on Sunday — third day of the concluding Test — confirmed the fears of a white wash for the first time at home in nine decades and Sharma became the first captain to get into the ‘bad’ book. India has lost Test matches in a series, but not all that was played in a particular series with a cap of three Tests. Almost 25 years ago India played a two Test series against South Africa and lost both in Mumbai and Bengaluru by four wickets and 71 runs. And in the last 25 years India lost a series 1-2 to England and Australia each. India was described as the last frontier by the Australian captain Steve Waugh. But he was not successful in India; that honour went to Ricky Ponting in 2004. Alastair Cook was the captain when England won a series 2-1. Tom Latham became the first New Zealand captain to win a series in India with a clean 3-0 sweep. Will heads roll?
The age-old trick of misrepresenting by displaying a similar name is rampant this time as well in the Maharashtra assembly electioneering. This charade had played havoc for some prominent leaders in the past. For instance, NCP (Ajit) leader Sunil Tatkare lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Raigad by a mere 2100 votes since another namesake, also Sunil Tatkare, polled over 9000 votes. Influential Congress leader and former chief minister AR Antulay, too, lost from Raigad in the past since another AR Antulay received more than 21000 votes. This time, such instances are quite a few in the district. In Panvel assembly constituency, there are three candidates with the same name, Balaram Patil and also three Prashant Thakur contestants. While the real Patil is in the fray for the Shiv Sena (UBT), sitting BJP MLA Thakur is testing his luck for a second time. Karjat’s present MLA Mahendra Thorve of the Sena (Shinde) has to take on an adversary of the same name. In Alibaug, Sena (Shinde) nominee Mahendra Dalvi is engaged in a battle with three more Mahendra Dalvi names. Moreover, an independent candidate in the constituency, Dilip Bhoir, is facing another opponent of the same name. The district was in the news in 2004 for the first time when Peasants and Workers Party leader Meenakshi Patil was poised against seven independents bearing the same name. Eventually, the PWP bagged the seat, but only after a bitter fight. How many of these aspirants remain in the ring will be clear only on 4 November, the last day for withdrawal.
King Charles along with his wife Queen Camilla were on a secret trip to Bengaluru around Diwali, and underwent a wellness treatment at Whitefield’s Soukya International Holistic Health Centre (SIHHC). According to media reports, the royal couple flew directly from Samoa after attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting between October 21 and 26. As the trip was subject to secrecy, the Karnataka government did not formally receive the royal couple when they landed at HAL airport. King Charles and Camilla had early morning yoga sessions and rejuvenation treatments at SIHHC. Although this was his first visit as a monarch, King Charles had visited the centre on nine earlier occasions in the past decade and celebrated Diwali on three occasions there. The health centre, founded by Dr Issac Mathai, is located in Samethanahalli, Whitefield on Bengaluru’s outskirts. This integrative medical facility combines traditional systems of medicine, including Ayurveda. This was Charles’s first international trip after being diagnosed with cancer. It also underscored his preference for integrative and eastern medicine approaches. SIHHC is touted as the world’s first integrative health destination, with many celebrities like Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and royal families from the Middle East and Europe visiting it. Founded by Dr Issac Mathai and his wife in 2011, Soukya offers a package for holistic health. Dr Mathai, who has served as Charles’s holistic physician for years and attended his coronation, oversees the retreat.
The first phase of Rs 2203 crore Odisha’s Puri International Airport, a public-private partnership initiative which was supposed to start five months ago is delayed for a number of reasons. First, it is learnt that the state government is yet to collate 221 acres of private land for the airport project. Second, the three potential bidders Adani Airports, Fairfax and GMR group, who first expressed serious interest in the project did not bid for it on June 4. Reason: It seems the airport’s business viability model is not clear to the investors. Upon checking the ground situation the bidders found that its business model did not guarantee handsome returns. Besides, sources say, for a greenfield international airport at Puri there are no base case traffic numbers to start with, so quantifying investment return for the Puri airport project is an issue. Also, bidders were not comfortable with the Puri competing with next door Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneshwar. Aviation experts say traffic volume success lies in de-bottlenecking Bhubaneswar airport and progressively expanding passenger traffic at Puri airport to make it commercially viable. Contrary to this view, a source from the aviation sector said “A few days back the Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu declined permission to build a new terminal at Bhubaneswar airport thereby indicating that they are keen to develop the Puri project.” Industry watchers say in spite of Lord Jagannath temple attraction there is no immediate commercial viability for two airports — Bhubaneswar-Puri — to co-exist within a distance of 60 km radius unless the Union government makes a provision for viability gap funding.
Tamil Nadu political parties put up a brave face after watching the response to Vijay’s entry into their charmed circle. While some minor players were dismissive of the actor, the ruling DMK tried to convey the message that it was business as usual. Except that they too are worried not even about the zeitgeist of young people seemingly attracted to the fresh player on the scene. What bothers the DMK the most is its rival AIADMK would be able to tie up with Vijay, in which case they sense a more formidable rival may be at hand to threaten the future of the mostly family concern that the DMK is. The AIADMK, sensing an opportunity, has asked its leaders and cadre not to attack Vijay in the media as they sense a soulmate in the greenhorn who mostly toed the AIADMK line when Vijay spelt out some of his political ideologies and plans. In boldly putting forth his views on the corruption in the DMK, he has become most attractive to the AIADMK. They sense that Vijay, a Christian, may not fit the BJP plans and hence believe they are in a better position to woo him into an alliance for the 2026 Assembly polls. The DMK is, however, happy at the arrival of a new player who can further split the public vote if his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is to contest the polls alone and not in any alliance. The 2026 Assembly polls of Tamil Nadu are going to be fun and games.
Looks like the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi is on a mission mode to attract big investment into his state. Majhi’s target is to secure a total investment of Rs 5 lakh crore in five years. He had already secured Rs 45,000 crore when his government completed 100 days in September 2024. Now, he has managed to convince South Korea steel major Posco to re-enter India via a joint venture with Sajjan Jindal’s JSW. It may be recalled that the Posco project was mired in red tape and was hanging fire that finally led the Korean major to pull out from Odisha. Now with 50:50 JV with JSW the chief minister has promised iron ore mine allotment for its 5 lakh MTPA Integrated steel plant at Keonjhar which also happens to be the hometown of the CM. Apart from this, both Posco and JSW will also be exploring synergies in battery manufacturing for the EV market and also renewable energy options to sustainably power the new steel plant. Analysts now view the JSW-Posco collaboration as a new power play and a win-win strategy bringing in fusion between JSW’s manufacturing expertise and Posco’s advance steel making technology supported by India’s growing market backed by the Odisha government. It is still early days now, sources say at JSW but a detailed stepwise action plan will surely evolve through a work-in-progress schedule.
The Eknath Shinde era marks the ushering in a cash-rich governance period in Maharashtra. Shinde’s term has been marked by huge disbursements from the state exchequer at a time when the state faces debts of Rs 7.8 lakh crore. His government rolled out social welfare schemes worth over Rs 90,000 crore including the flagship program of Ladki Bahin Yojana that is set to cost Rs 46,000 crore per annum. His government is also known for generous land allocations; be it of 1080 acres across Mumbai to the Adani group for Dharavi’s redevelopment, or even to random groups like Jain International Organization, who were allocated prime land near Mantralaya despite finance ministry objections. The huge cash seizures in this election needs to be viewed against this backdrop. Already, over Rs 180 crore worth of drugs, gold, liquor including cash have already been seized by the election department. Uddhav Sena’s Sanjay Raut, known for his daily morning commentary, claimed that the Maharashtra chief minister has committed to providing Rs 75 crore to each Shiv Sena candidate. Police seized cash of Rs 5 crore cash on October 21 from a car at Khalapur toll point (outskirt of Mumbai) which Raut alleges were meant for a Shinde legislator’s election campaign. Sharad Pawar claims that police vehicles are being used to distribute cash for election campaigns. In a state facing agrarian crisis and rising unemployment numbers, Shinde has launched a strong election pitch that his welfare schemes could be scrapped by the opposition if they get voted in. Will the pre-election carrots work in favour of the common man’s CM, as Shinde likes to be known, now remains to be seen!
He is a simple man. He commands respect across the spectrum. He follows Carnatic music. He loves mathematics. He has gone on to establish the Shriram Group which has now become a household name in Tamil Nadu, especially. R Thyagarajan, popularly known as RT, is a visionary. According to him, “all science converges into mathematics and it is now increasingly the language of science.” The Shriram Group is synonymous with RT. Recognising his tall stature, Shriram Group has established the Shriram Group RT Chair in Computational Mechanics at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. The establishment of the Chair is significant for the group, as it reiterates its resolve to make significant contributions to the society through academic excellence and research advancements. The Chair will be awarded to distinguished faculty conducting frontier research in computational mechanics, supporting cutting-edge research across various fields within mechanical, electrical, electronic and computational sciences. The appointed Chair, a distinguished faculty member at the associate or full professor level, will focus on pioneering research that applies computational methods to address real-world challenges. “Areas of research may include the development of novel numerical methods, data-driven modeling of physical phenomena and the exploration of emerging computing paradigms such as quantum computing,” says a note from the Shriram Group. Well, RT the thinker is cut above many.
It’s a tricky tightrope walk when a true life event and sacrifice is transferred on to the medium of cinema … .the creation has to more than match the extraordinary bravery of an army Major, his supreme sacrifice and the family’s sorrow filled pride in him. Kamal Haasan and his Raaj Kamal Films International production house has hit the high emotional spot with Sivakarthikeyan as Amaran. The film, applauded by both audience and critics, raked in Rs 42.3 crore worldwide on Day One. And deservingly. Amaran is the rendition of late Major Mukund Varadarajan leading the Rajasthan Rifles in Shopian, who fell to terrorist bullets while defending his team and the country –he was just 31. Even as people exited the cinemas, many were shedding tears and paying heartfelt emotional salaams to this brave son of India. Rajkumar Periasamy, trained in the creative environs of Kamal’s cinema, has done faithful research on the life of Major Mukund, and created his character for compelling screen performances. Sivakarthikeyan, according to Kamal has raised himself to a new cinematic level that is bound to leapfrog his status as an actor. But it is Sai Pallavi, as the hero’s wife Indu Rebecca who has garnered equal admiration as the “iron” army wife who does not shed tears of weakness but carries her head high, saluting her husband’s bravery. Good cinema is still appreciated amidst the cacophony and glitz of mindless offerings aimed at padding up jaded stars.
A day after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reprimanded Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivkumar over statements suggesting a possible review of the Shakti scheme, which provides free bus travel for women, PM Modi through social media thread highlighted inability of Congress-ruled states like Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka to fulfil its guarantees. He took to X to warn people how the Grand Old Party is “realising the hard way that making unreal promises is easy but implementing them properly is tough or impossible.” Coming ahead of Maharashtra and Jharkhand polls, Modi’s warning that voters must check the fiscal health of the Congress governments in HP, Karnataka and Telangana urging people of the country to be vigilant against the Congress sponsored culture of fake promises. Modi pointed out how people in Haryana had rejected their lies. Taking full advantage of the public spat between Kharge and Karnataka Deputy CM over review of free bus ride for women that has now become unsustainable, Modi noted. “There is a growing realisation across India that a vote for Congress is a vote for non-governance, poor economics and unparalleled loot.” Accepting difficulties in fulfilling some guarantees Kharge highlighted the role of financial responsibility, saying that if the government is unable to deliver upon its guarantees, it will lead to bad reputations and hardships for the communities. “I advised Maharashtra Congress to make promises that align with your budget”. So now it seems the Congress has begun to talk about grounding its guarantees in the budget ever since BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis made it clear that their Ladki Bahin Yojana Scheme was not a shot in the dark. It was all provided for in the state budget!
In a perfect rebuff to the Centre that has been replying to Tamil MPs in Hindi, a DMK MP shot back in Tamil demanding that the Rail Ministry communicate with him in English. Articulating popular suspicion that the Centre was pushing use of Hindi in Tamil Nadu that did not accept it as official language, DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Pudukkottai MM Abdulla protested when he received a reply from Union Minister of State, Ravneet Singh Bittu in Hindi. It was in reference to a special mention he had raised about food quality and cleanliness in the railways in the Rajya Sabha in August. He shot back a note to Singh in Tamil that he did not understand the contents of his letter and suggested that he communicate to him in English. “This is not the first time that I’m receiving a letter in Hindi from the Rail Ministry. They have done it twice before –once responding to a zero hour mention and again to department related query”, pointed out the MP. Was he blaming the new MoS Bittu? Abdulla feels that the minister has no role. “Maybe it is the agenda of Modi-Shah to impose it on a state like Tamil Nadu where Hindi is not acceptable.” Abdullla shared copies of both the letters in social media sometime back. A first term MP, Abdulla says “I make it very clear to people that I do not know a word of Hindi”. He has been a MP since 2021.
A new political formation is shaping up in Maharashtra, indicating the possibility of a novel social engineering experiment. Maratha caste reservation’s chief proponent Manor Jarange Patil has roped in leaders from Dalit and Muslim communities to create this force, which he feels will impact the outcome in the coming assembly election. It is presumed that Dalit and Muslim voters had supported the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi for the Lok Sabha election, resulting in the ruling Mahayuti’s Waterloo. At the time, Jarange was given credit for this spectacular success of MVA in a few pockets in Marathwada. Now, he is trying to recreate the experiment on a larger scale. It will be called MMD, meaning Marathas, Muslims and Dalits. Jarange will declare the names of the candidates supported by MMD on Monday (Nov 3). Alarmed by this stance, his ardent opponents, the OBC leaders, have drawn up their own counter strategy. Their spokesman Lakshman Hake has announced that the OBCs, too, have prepared their own list and will reveal it soon after Jarange’s list is out. The list will identify Jarange’s supporter candidates and Hake will appeal to the voters to defeat them. The Marathas and the OBCs are two major vote banks in the state. The Muslims can decide the outcome in certain constituencies where their population exceeds 15%. On the other hand, the OBCs are considered sympathetic to the BJP. Jarange’s MMD equation was finalised after his meeting with Buddhist and Muslim clerics at his village in Beed district on October 31.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will sound the bugle in Maharashtra assembly electioneering on 8 November. Modi will hold a total of nine rallies across the state within a week’s time. The BJP strategists have decided not to take any chance this time after the drubbing received by the party for the Lok Sabha election. Accordingly, Modi’s rally route is meticulously planned. The first two public meetings of the PM will take place in Nashik and Dhule in north Maharashtra. The region is by and large favourable for the ruling saffron alliance and no efforts will be spared to exploit this sentiment. Senior minister Girish Mahajan is pulling out all stops to make both the rallies a grand success. The meeting venue in Nashik has been named as Modi Ground and Mahajan says it will be overflowing with lakhs of people. Modi’s blitzkrieg will be followed by visits of BJP’s star campaigners, many of whom are Union ministers. According to initial planning, Modi will be in Akola and Chimur in Vidarbha on 9 November. His next public meetings will be in Solapur and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra on 13 November. He will round off his whirlwind campaign on 14 November with rallies in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. The six geographical regions have seat distribution as follows: Mumbai 36, Thane and Konkan 39, north Maharashtra 47, western Maharashtra 58, Marathwada 46 and Vidarbha 62.
Maharashtra’s state assembly elections will witness, for the first time, a third front of politicians predominantly comprising rebels and independent candidates in the fray after failing to secure official nominations from their respective parties. This third front of rebels will effectively ensure a triangular fight in around 25 assembly segments for Mahayuti and a higher number for Maha Vikas Aghadi and likely to impact government formation, post polls. The BJP indirectly settled the issue of its Chief Ministerial candidate taking over helm of Maharashtra’s political affairs post state assemblies by effectively fielding candidates in close to 170 constituencies. While 148 official BJP contestants sport the lotus, nine party MLA aspirants wield the bow-and-arrow (Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena) while another five sync time with the clock symbol (Ajit Pawar’s NCP). Another four smaller allies include RPI that fielded a BJP leader as its only candidate in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar’s national spokesperson Brijmohan Srivastav rationalizes, says, “If 25 constituencies out of 288 witness rebel candidates, it is not a dire situation. Most will likely withdraw from the fray by November 4. Internal shopping of candidates within Mahayuti is based on winnability, exposing our sharp political coordination.” BJP’s Mahendra Jain says, “Our party always benefitted by triangular fighting in Maharashtra, securing 122 MLAs in 2014 and 105 MLAs in 2019. The large number of rebels, independent candidates has effectively created a similar circumstance for ensuing state assemblies even as 80% of our own rebels will be satiated enough to withdraw.”
Jasprit Bumrah did not appear in the team sheet for the third and final Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. The BCCI issued a statement that the fast bowler with 173 wickets in 40 Test matches — 47 in India and 126 overseas — has not recovered from a viral illness. This bit of information surprised one and all because two senior members of the team — Head Coach Gautam Gambhir and Assistant Coach Abhishek Nayar — did not utter a word leading to the Test match that Bumrah had anything like being stricken by a bug. In fact Nayar said that Bumrah is important, he bowled only (he had sent down 41 overs) in the first two Tests, that the duration of the two Tests each was under five days, but workload will always be a factor with regard to Bumrah’s selection. On the eve of the match Gambhir said all players are available for selection. But when the team was made known at the toss, skipper Rohit Sharma said that Bumrah is not well and Mohammed Siraj comes into the playing XI. Bumrah has not featured in 25 Tests after his debut against South Africa in Cape Town in 2018, much of it because of an injury. There was an odd occasion when he was released from the squad because of his wedding. He has never been sidelined on the count of ability. Bumrah has played five series in India and his best (19 wickets) was against England early this year. In the ongoing series he played in Bengaluru (3 wickets) and Pune (none).
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.