As the BJP prepares for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections, a shortage of leaders with experience in civic administration has emerged as a challenge for the party, forcing it to weigh organisational loyalty against electoral and administrative competence. The party has invited applications from aspirants through a dropbox. However, state president Samik Bhattacharya and poll strategy in-charge Sukanta Majumdar have ruled out tickets for former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, narrowing the pool of candidates with governance experience. The challenge has become more pronounced following delimitation, which increased Kolkata’s wards from 144 to 209 and Howrah’s from 50 to 68. Several of the BJP’s experienced hands have links to the TMC or civic bodies outside Kolkata. State minister Tapas Roy and MLA Sajal Ghosh have TMC roots, while Meena Devi Purohit served as KMC deputy mayor from 2000 to 2005 under a TMC-BJP alliance. Other leaders with municipal experience include former Bhatpara municipality chairman Arjun Singh, his son Pawan Singh, and Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh, who served on the mayor-in-council of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation. Meanwhile, speculation over possible defections has added another layer to the contest, with at least 44 former TMC councillors, including Ananya Banerjee, Jui Biswas and Devlina Kumar, daughter of former councillor Debashis Kumar, are reportedly seeking BJP tickets. Despite Majumdar’s insistence that the party has enough credible leaders, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s meeting with Sudip Bandyopadhyay has fuelled political speculation. For the BJP, the KMC polls will test not just its electoral strength but also its ability to build a credible urban governance team without alienating its grassroots base.

Superstar Rajinikanth and ‘Baahubali’ actor Prabhas are among the prominent names expected at the 32nd Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), scheduled from December 17 to 23. The festival, one of the biggest events organised during former chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s tenure, is set for a major makeover under Suvendu Adhikari government, with the inauguration planned on the Victoria Memorial grounds. It may be recalled Mamata had transformed KIFF from an event largely confined to the state-of-the-art Nandan complex into a grand affair extending to venues such as Netaji Indoor Stadium, inviting Bollywood superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan as its icons. Actor and West Bengal government adviser Mithun Chakraborty said the committee was discussing invitations to prominent Indian actors, including Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal and Kangana Ranaut. It is also exploring the possibility of inviting a leading Hollywood star to make this year’s edition memorable. Rajinikanth’s possible visit is expected to generate considerable excitement. The committee plans to give Kolkata a festive makeover by decorating and highlighting several iconic locations across the city. The The committee is focused on promoting the film bazaar, an industry platform aimed at strengthening Bengali cinema and creating opportunities for filmmakers, producers, distributors and other professionals.  There are proposals to institute an Uttam Kumar Lifetime Achievement Award, increasing prize money in the Bengali and Indian Panorama sections, and finalising the festival’s official logo and Royal Bengal trophy. This year also marks the birth centenaries of Uttam Kumar, Bhupen Hazarika, Shakti Samanta, OP Nayyar and Marilyn Monroe. Discussions are underway to curate special screening sections celebrating these icons.

Questions have emerged over coordination between the CPI(M)’s national leadership and its West Bengal unit following reports party’s Kerala leaders reaching out to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Delhi. The reported outreach has triggered speculation over whether the Bengal unit was kept in the loop. The issue has brought the party’s internal communication and decision-making process under scrutiny, particularly given the sharply contrasting political positions adopted by the CPI(M) at the national level and in West Bengal. In Bengal, the TMC remains one of the CPI(M)’s principal political rivals. The Left party has consistently campaigned against it. However, the need for coordination among Opposition parties at the national level to counter the BJP also remains a significant consideration. The reported contacts have therefore highlighted the challenge of balancing broader national political objectives with the distinct electoral and political realities of individual states. Most importantly, party’s national general secretary MA Baby had written to all Opposition leaders including TMC chief Mamata Banerjee recently on the SIR and ECI chief Gyanesh Kumar issue. He even had a telephonic conversation with Mamata after she reciprocated on the issue. Close sources to Mamata confirmed that Didi is in touch with the Keralam unit ever since the SIR issue has taken shape. However, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty sought to draw a distinction between the two political contexts, making it clear that efforts to build unity among anti-BJP parties at the national level should not be interpreted as an indication of an alliance with the TMC in West Bengal. The developments have brought the question of organisational coordination within the CPI(M) into focus. While the party may need to engage with other Opposition forces at the national level, its Bengal unit continues to view the TMC as a key political opponent.

The noble game of cricket thrives on numbers — scores and statistics. In any format, cricket is a team sport, but its legion of fans are fascinated by individual feats… centuries, wickets, etc! On the first day of the third round of the Ranji Trophy Elite League, Mumbai opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored his maiden first-class century against Haryana at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s facility at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The tall right-hander, who turns out for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, had been in and out of the MCA senior team, getting chances in the absence of Yashasvi Jaiswal (in New Zealand now) and Ayush Mhatre (ruled out with a serious hamstring injury). Raghuvanshi played a typical opener’s role and took 180 balls to make 114 with 13 x 4s and 1×6. He was capped two years ago, and in five Ranji matches, he had nothing big to show for it, just two 50s. The country’s leading cricket statistician, Mohandas Menon, WhatsApped in a jiffy that Raghuvanshi was the 119th Mumbai batter to score a century in the national championship that the MCA has won 42 times. The Delhi-born has a long way to go, but a few more centuries this season may get him a place in the India ‘A’ team, just like Shikhar Mohan of Jharkhand following his 1109 runs in 12 Ranji Trophy matches with 4 x 100s. The MCA centuries list in the Ranji Trophy is humongous, starting with Vijay Merchant in 1935. The MCA list includes some illustrious names; well, almost everyone on it is. Raghuvanshi has joined that list, but with the domestic competition so intense, he will have to log in “daddy 100s” to catch the national selectors’ attention. 

Maharashtra wants Navi Mumbai to emerge as a major data-centre hub. Yet, as around 15 data centres move through development, the state’s power ambitions are running into a rather prosaic obstacle: land for the transmission infrastructure needed to keep these electricity-guzzling facilities running. The projected connectivity requirement is a staggering 4,000–5,000 MW, comparable to Mumbai’s power demand. Against this, only around 1,500–2,000 MW has been sanctioned, leaving a substantial requirement to be met. A proposed 765-kV substation and associated transmission infrastructure are critical to bridging the gap—and could take three to five years to establish. The Maharashtra Energy Department has sought 25 acres from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation to set up the substation for the project. Four formal communications over approximately 18 months have allegedly failed to secure a response. Repeated attempts to contact Principal Secretary Dr P Anbalagan, including through office visits, SMS messages and voicemail failed to elicit a response. The irony is hard to miss. Maharashtra has tied up more than 85,000 MW of power, and data centres are being promoted as engines of investment and digital growth. But generation capacity on paper cannot substitute for transmission infrastructure on the ground. Nor can private investment in power infrastructure move at the speed required if a crucial land allocation remains unresolved. The consequences extend beyond bureaucratic inconvenience. Delays in transmission infrastructure could constrain the very data-centre expansion the state is courting. Maharashtra wants to power India’s digital future. But before the servers go live, will its government machinery manage to connect the dots—or even allot the land?

It has been barely six months since the TVK rode to power on an anti-corruption plank against the DMK in Tamil Nadu. Yet, chief minister C Joseph Vijay has managed to keep his poll promise of penalising the corrupt; he put the corrupt DMK leader — Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi — behind bars soon after he lost his anticipatory bail plea. Anbil, former TN Education Minister, was arrested by the Greater Chennai Police in connection with an alleged Rs100 crore private schools scam. The DMK claimed Vijay’s government arrested Anbil to clinch a by-poll in Trichy East. The complaint against Anbil was lodged by DC Ilangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, alleging that money was collected from private school managements on the promise of securing government approvals, including permanent recognition, school upgradation, clearances and other permissions. According to the police, around 177 private schools were linked to the alleged collection of more than Rs 100 crore. Several prominent people including techies like Sridhar Vembu of Zoho fame had spoken about difficulties in getting permission to open schools under the DMK regime. Four months back, Vembu had posted on X how the DMK “ecosystem” had made it difficult for him to run/ manage schools in rural TN. “We run two rural schools, both free NIOS schools under the Kalaivani Kalvi Maiyam umbrella. The Theni school was originally started and run by a retired IPS officer, an honest and upright man. He built very nice facilities but had to shut down his CBSE school because the state government demanded too much money to issue the NOC.” Today, Vembu must be happy. So must be many others like him. Also, Vijay’s approach to fighting corruption starkly differs from PM Modi’s who has so far not acted against the Gandhis!

The Mohan Charan Majhi-led government in Odisha now faces a new dilemma. There is no settlement on the territorial dispute with Andhra Pradesh has been reached even after BJP came to power in the state three years back. The territorial dispute relates to Kotia villages which has been historically recognised as part of Odisha since 1936. Resolving the territorial dispute with Andhra was the poll promises of the BJP. Now it is learnt that Andhra Pradesh has announced Panchayat Elections date for three villages in the controversial Kotia will be held on November 3. This festering issue has now rekindled the decades-long territorial claim against Odisha, for which a solution has not been found even at the Supreme Court level. While historically Kotia was recognized as a part of Odisha since 1936, the region has been contested by Andhra Pradesh since 1971. Can the Odisha government resolve the issue without escalating into inter-state conflict? Odisha’s Opposition party Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik has targeted CM Majhi for his failure to resolve the issue.

In the latest episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show (Season 5, Music Ke Dhurandhar streaming on Netflix from 24 October 2026), Kapil Sharma hosted a musical night featuring Dhurandhar’s composer Shashwat Sachdev, singers Satinder Sartaaj and Jasmine Sandlas, and sitarist Rishab Rikhiram Sharma. While introducing a saxophone player who had contributed to the iconic 1978 film Don, Kapil stated that the musician had played the saxophone piece from Don and attributed the film’s music direction to RD Burman. This is a clear and basic factual error. The music of the original Don (starring Amitabh Bachchan) was composed by the legendary duo Kalyanji-Anandji, not RD Burman. Songs such as “Khaike Paan Banaras Wala,” “Yeh Mera Dil,” “Are Diwano Mujhe Pehchano,” and the film’s unforgettable theme music all carry Kalyanji-Anandji’s signature. Crediting RD Burman instead is not a minor slip of the tongue; it is a fundamental misattribution of one of Bollywood’s most recognisable soundtracks. What makes the mistake especially unacceptable is the context. Kapil was hosting working musicians and singers closely associated with a current film’s soundtrack. When professionals of music are on the stage, casual ignorance about classic film music becomes more jarring. Don is not an obscure title; it remains one of the most quoted and sampled films in Hindi cinema. Confusing its composers with RD Burman (whose own body of work is distinct and equally celebrated) shows a lack of basic preparation. The Great Indian Kapil Show has a team of writers. Attributing the music of Don to the wrong composer is precisely the kind of error a writers’ room should catch. This was a needless blunder on a stage that otherwise celebrated music.

Actor Trisha Krishnan generated a lot of political interest as she visited Coimbatore on a private engagement over the weekend.  There were fangirl moments among TVK supporters as the actor arrived   at the airport. She also pulled crowds when she went on a brief roadshow after opening a mobile store. Her sway over the crowd naturally led the media to wonder whether she would enter politics just as former AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa had done. Would Trisha enter Rajya Sabha? Trisha merely smiled and walked away without responding. Did Trisha deliberately make a public appearance just a day ahead of actor Dhanush’s possible launch of a political party? At this stage, it is not clear if the TVK is merely hoping to take attention away from Dhanush’s political entry via Trisha. Visuals of Trisha in a bright red sari waving to an enthusiastic crowd on a roadshow could briefly cloud out some serious political stuff. Yet that may not be enough. It must be said that the TVK is under pressure to perform and deliver.  More so because ever since chief minister C Joseph Vijay had the courage and imagination to end the rule of duopoly of the DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu,  a number of Tamil film stars are reportedly planning to enter politics. In the forefront is actor Dhanush, former son-in-law of Rajnikanth. He held a meeting with his fan club office bearers in Chennai on October 25. Dhanush made many trips to Delhi and has been consulting political pundits on how to launch a political party. Another Tamil film star who also imagines he can make the transition is Shivakartikeyan. Like Vijay, he too has been invoking MGR’s legacy in his public utterances.

Cinema fans, corporate czars, and political heavyweights are buzzing about the upcoming destination wedding of Kavya Maran (net worth ~Rs 500 crore) — daughter of billionaire media tycoon Kalanithi Maran (net worth ~Rs 30,000 crore)—to turbo-charged music director Anirudh (net worth ~Rs 60 crore) in Barcelona, Spain. The private ceremony will bring together four major celebrity families. Anirudh’s aunt, Lata Rajinikanth, is married to superstar Rajinikanth, who played Cupid to the famous duo…the groom’s parents are celebrities too, Ravichander and Lakshmi. Ravichander,  a co-founder of  YES Bank, is a popular TV star, while Lakshmi comes from a well-known family too…niece of Bharatnatyam exponent Padma Subramaniam, a successful event planner, and the driving force behind Anirudh’s rocking career. Naturally, the bride’s stellar pedigree is dialing up the curiosity quotient. The Maran brothers are great-grandnephews of Kalaignar, with Murasoli Maran serving as the patriarch’s lifelong political alter ego. Growing up in this high-octane ecosystem of wealth and influence, Kalanithi Maran inherited a ringside seat to power. Building the Sun Network empire took immense grit, but the Midas-touched media mogul expanded aggressively into Sun Pictures and beyond. Daughter Kavya, born with multiple gold spoons, effortlessly transitioned from her MBA into her role as CEO of the IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. With this high-voltage mix of media, political, and cinematic DNA, it’s no wonder public necks are craning to catch a glimpse of the spectacle. Barcelona is officially setting a new benchmark for ultra-rich Indian weddings.