UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s internal problems came to the fore during Diwali. As Yogi gathered in Ayodhya on October 19 to celebrate Deepotsav, the focus was not on festivities but the absence of his Deputy CMs Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya. It sparked talk of a rift in the UP BJP and differences between the bureaucracy and BJP legislators. While people close to Maurya said his busy schedule in Bihar, which goes to polls next month, for his last-minute cancellation — the Deputy CM is the party’s co-in-charge in the Assembly polls — party leaders blamed an administrative mix-up. “It is the first Deepotsav in nine years that Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak has missed. While no one is saying anything officially, the miscommunication has to be looked into. There was no mention of the Deputy CMs in the advertisement for the celebrations. Not just that, it was not clear which event they would attend and where they would sit, as per the protocol. The same was true of the Governor (Anandiben Patel), whose name was missing from the local invite. The BJP’s loss in UP in the Lok Sabha elections last year sparked speculation about differences within the party’s state unit. Several leaders in the state unit also took note of Maurya’s appointment as the party’s Bihar poll co-incharge in September, months after Union Home Minister Amit Shah referred to him as “mere mitr (my friend)”. It is being said Maurya’s involvement in Bihar polls would give a boost to him ahead of UP assembly polls. It must be mentioned that Yogi is the most sought campaigner in Bihar polls. Meanwhile, Ayodhya once again lit up the world stage with a record-breaking celebration of Deepotsav 2025, illuminating the sacred city with over 26 lakh oil lamps.

Tamil Nadu can only be shocked! Kerala’s ruling LDF is witnessing one of its fiercest internal flare-ups in recent times, with the CPI openly rebelling against its senior partner, the CPI(M), over the “discreet” signing of the MoU for implementing the Union government’s Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme. The CPI, caught completely off guard by the revelation that the agreement with the Union Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy was inked on October 23, accused the CPI(M) of breaching front discipline and keeping allies in the dark. In a dramatic policy reversal, on October 19, the CPI(M) — one of the fiercest critics of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — took that surprising U-turn. After years of vehement opposition to the Union government’s PM-SHRI scheme, which mandates the implementation of NEP, the Left-ruled Kerala decided to join the initiative. It’s learnt that on October 23, Kerala Education Secretary Dr K Vasuki flew to New Delhi to ink the MoU on behalf of the state. She was accompanied by Dr AR Supriya, Director of Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK), whose funds had earlier been frozen by the Centre due to Kerala’s refusal to join PM-SHRI. The decision could unlock nearly Rs 1,500 crore in central funds previously withheld by the Union government. The “secret manner” in which the MoU got signed has snowballed into a full-blown political controversy. The CPI has accused the CPI(M) of violating coalition etiquette and undermining collective decision-making. The Union Ministry of Education welcomed the Kerala government’s decision to sign the MoU, terming it a major milestone in transforming the state’s school education landscape. However, as the CPI and CPI(M) stick to their position, Kerala’s ruling front faces a crisis. Will the storm over PM SHRI shake the very foundations of the Left’s coalition experiment? 

Alleged suicide by a woman doctor working at a government hospital at Phaltan in Maharashtra’s Satara district has shaken the state since the name of a Member of Parliament is said to be connected with the development. There is no confirmation of this information from the police but the political undertones behind the drastic action are slowly becoming known. The deceased had written a note on the backside of her palm, clearly blaming a police sub inspector and another person. The PSI, Gopal Badne, has been suspended forthwith while investigations are underway to unravel different angles of the tragedy. The death occurred in a hotel room on October 23 night. In her suicide note, the victim wrote that Badne raped her four times over the past five months. The other individual, Prashant Bankar, had been mentally torturing her, she grieved. In view of the gravity of the incident, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called SP Tushar Doshi and ordered the suspension. As of now, the identity of the MP is unknown although it is whispered that he had spoken with the doctor on a couple of occasions though from the mobile handsets belonging to some other persons. It is also alleged that she had been resisting pressure from certain police personnel and political workers who were demanding favourable medical reports from her in certain matters. The police have not corroborated any such social media posts while her body has been sent for a post mortem.

A public admission by senior BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankhule that mobile and WhatsApp communication of BJP cadres in Buldhana were under surveillance, has sparked much uproar in Maharashtra. Though the senior leader later clarified that he was simply referring to the one lakh WhatsApp groups of their party’s booth leaders which are linked to their party’s war room. These WhatsApp groups, he claimed, were monitored to gauge public sentiment and determine party policies and were the sole mode of communication between the party and its cadres, it gave ample ammunition to the Opposition which raked up the party’s link with Pegasus and even suggested that the Opposition and coalition leaders too were under watch. The admission comes at a time when the disciplined party has been agog with internal rifts threatening to embarrass the party and its senior leadership. In Solapur, the party cadres held public protests opposing the entry of Dilip Mane, an ex-legislator from another party. In Pune, the party’s senior union minister of state for civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol has been at the receiving end with allegations of corrupt deals. Though the sustained attack is from a Shinde-aide Ravindra Dhangekar, the general buzz is that the allegations are being fed from his own party. All this comes at a time when the party’s senior most leader in Maharashtra, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been emphasizing regularly that he would be very much around in the state till the next elections in 2029. He has been trying to nip a strong buzz that he would be shunted to the Centre from the top post in the state. The BJP has also been battling friction within its coalition partners emphasising that partners must follow coalition norms.

Even when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was completed in Bihar, amid opposition protestations that died down soon enough, Maharashtra has held off its own electoral roll revision. Officialdom confirming this said, “We have informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) that we are unable to carry out the SIR in the state being seized of imminent polls to be held for 28 plus municipal corporations, councils and other local self-bodies in Maharashtra. We have already drawn requisite government personnel (mostly teachers drawn from educational institutions run by the state government) who cannot be redeployed for the purpose of conducting the SIR.” While Opposition political formations led by the Congress chief Rahul Gandhi launched protests over alleged impropriety in the electoral revision process, the large number of ineligible voters and subsequent expose over illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingyas being identified in Bihar saw the Opposition protests being muted soon enough. Maharashtra, for its part, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told newspersons over a Diwali lunch that the state electoral rolls did in fact exhibit individual voters being registered at multiple locations, the incidence of the same voter exercising her/his franchise more than once was not evident. “Address changes and the proliferating migrant populations often caused the changed residential addresses, resultantly in multiple entries in electoral rolls and yet, no double voting incidence has been found to exist…Our priority is to hold the local self-bodies’ elections on pain of inviting public ire over the inordinately delayed civic elections across the state for over three years now.”

The ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra is facing some tough moments at present. Those at the receiving end are alleged to be related with certain questionable matters. The latest ‘expose’ in this series, by state Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal, has created a sensation. Sapkal has alleged that 21 MLAs have received a Diwali gift of a Defender SUV each from the same contractor. The price of a Defender SUV is said to be around Rs 2 crore. The genesis of the charge is the Defender in which Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLA Sanjay Gaikwad was found moving around. When the MLA’s pictures in the SUV became viral, he explained that the vehicle belonged to one of his relatives, who is a contractor. “He is first my kin and then a businessman,” Gaikwad defended his position. It later transpired that Gaikwad was exposed by certain Mahayuti leaders. However, even before the dust over the matter had settled, Sapkal had burst a political bomb. He has raised many questions. For instance, he has demanded that the identity of the contractor and the beneficiary MLAs should be revealed by the authorities. Similarly, he has asked if the Defender SUV used by Gaikwad belongs to the fleet of the 21 vehicles or is it the 22nd. That SUV had become a centre of attraction in Buldana town which is Gaikwad’s constituency since it was flaunting MLA stickers. A response from the Mahayuti is eagerly awaited by its supporters and detractors.

With less than a year to go for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the anticipated alliance between the CPM and Congress remains in limbo. Despite the recent Kaliganj by-election, where Congress contested with CPM support and improved its performance, the absence of a structured coordination mechanism has left both parties drifting. Party insiders suggest that CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was the key in maintaining crucial communication with Congress’ national leadership. But after his sudden demise in 2024 not much progress has been made. CPM sources indicate initial movement to create space for Congress, which has now stalled, with no confirmed timeline or structured plan for resuming discussions. Earlier this year, tensions between the CPM and ally RSP over seat allocation led to Congress being handed the Kaliganj seat. At the national level, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir had urged the Bengal unit to prepare for at least 90 assembly seats, signalling both independent strength and the option of alliance-building. This is in respect to the outcome of the 2024 Lok Sabha election where CPM led in just one assembly segment, while Congress held leads in 11, mostly in North Dinajpur, Malda, and Murshidabad. On several occasions symbolic unity has been absent between Pradesh Congress and CPM where state president Subhankar Sarkar and CPM leader Mohammad Salim separately organise protest programmes against the ruling Trinamool Congress. Further, internal frictions persist, including discomfort between CPM leaders and former Congress state chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, while AICC organisational chief KC Venugopal’s focus on Kerala is seen as affecting Bengal alliance efforts. With no talks between the two parties, the 2026 Assembly elections could once again see a direct fight between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.  

On Thursday (Oct 23) the International Cricket Council (ICC) put out a release that a record 25166 spectators showed up to cheer the women in blue team at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai for its crucial league match against New Zealand. The BCCI (India) is the host of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup along with Sri Lanka (to facilitate Pakistan’s matches in the competition) and according to officials the turnout at Guwahati for the inaugural match between India and Sri Lanka was around 23000 and that big turnouts were seen at Visakhapatnam and Indore for matches featuring the women’s team looking to win its first ever ICC tournament. Once Bengaluru was ruled out of the World Cup itinerary because of certain shortcomings following the death of many people during RCB’s IPL victory celebrations, the ICC awarded five matches to the DY Patil Stadium created by the sports-loving Vijay Patil. The venue in the outskirts of Mumbai has been a popular one from 2008 when many IPL matches including the final was held there. Thereafter the locals demonstrated massive support for women’s internationals and the Women’s Premier League. No wonder the ICC chose the venue with good infrastructure for five World Cup matches including a semi-final and the final. A large turnout is expected for India’s last league match against Bangladesh. Harmanpreet Kaur’s team qualified for the semi-final with a resounding win against New Zealand with Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal hammering centuries. Two years ago, the men’s team drew massive crowds for its World Cup matches in India, including one lakh plus at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for the final against Australia. Much the same is happening for the Women’s team, although the numbers are less.

Nothing has hurt DMK ego or the Dravidian model more than the announcement of the Google’s decision to create the AI hub in Andhra .AIADMK leader and former minister Thangamani criticised the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government for failing to attract Google’s investment to the state, “Despite Google CEO Sundar Pichai being a Tamil, Google has gone to Andhra Pradesh and not Tamil Nadu,” he said on the floor of the Tamil Nadu assembly. Responding to the jibe, Tamil Nadu Minister TRB Raaja said the state was set to receive Foxconn’s investment worth Rs 15,000 crore which will create several jobs. He also highlighted that 14,000 engineering jobs were generated under the DMK government and urged parties to stop ridiculing ongoing efforts. Most people however feel foreign investments are moving away from TN as the DMK first family – particularly – chief minister MK Stalin’s son-in law’s is known to seek a partnership with firms wanting to invest in the state. This has hindered investment from coming into the state. Sources point to impediments faced even by committed entrepreneurs like Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu. It is in this light PM Modi during his visit to Andhra this week congratulated the people of the state for Google’s massive AI Hub investment, hailing CM Chandrababu Naidu’s visionary leadership. Modi noted the hub will position Visakhapatnam as a global AI and connectivity centre, serving not just India but the world. Google is set to invest $15 billion to build a massive data centre cluster in Visakhapatnam—a project that could mark its largest direct investment in India’s digital economy, according to a ET report. The 1 GW-capacity data centre hub will comprise three campuses and the facilities are expected to become operational by July 2028.

GenZ may not be familiar with this metamorphosis in the film world of South India. But old timers and mid-gens do remember the scorn and dismissive attitude of the North for Southern heroines …fat, frumpy, matronly and of course “dark”. But, Vyjayanthimala, Padmini, Hema Malini, Rekha, Sridevi changed all that…turned this perception into sheer adoration.…Bollywood geniuses threw open not just their talent but their classic beauty and striking sexuality. Today, this change into sleek, sexy and sophisticated much in demand femme fatale stars has churned up more. Fifteen south Indian actresses lead the roster in terms of the number of brands and products they endorse, pan India. The reach of these cinema influencers only highlights their talent and striking looks to launch any product, from red hot jewellery to shimmering sarees and tech gadgets, even start-ups — any product that needs the absorbing presence of a woman of sustenance. The list is headed by Rashmika Mandana , the national crush, with Nayanthara and Kajal Aggarwal not far behind. Nayanthara’s Tanishq ad is a lesson in sleek jewellery that embellish Nayan …or is it Nayanthara’s exquisite presence launching a line of temptations? Hema Malini gave new meaning to Shudh Pani in her Kent Ad. Walk on Cathedral road, the Fifth Avenue of Chennai and Tamannaah Bhatia easily makes traffic stop with her jewellery ads. The brand success of Idhayam Nallennai is a testimony to graceful Jyothika whose calm and classy looks launch products as diverse and coveted as Diamond Jewellery to mundane ones like kitchen products. Trisha Krishnan has launched many jewellery brands. But behind these influencers who are so compelling, there must be an ethos, a work ethic, a professionalism. These stars have awesome linguistic skills to relate to customers …their regional and pan India filmi identity have launched them as ideal influencers for brands.