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Well, when National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on June 10 evening at his official residence in Mumbai, Fadnavis shared a picture with the ace sleuth on his X handle. Though the CM did not share details of his discussions, the meeting has set off speculation in Delhi political circles that Doval, who is 80 years old and has been the NSA since 2014, could be considered for a gubernatorial role. It is being said Doval could be moved to Raj Bhavan in view of his advancing years and somewhat indifferent health. Since he has done tremendous work in revamping the security set-up under the Modi regime, PM Modi is not keen to let go of him. It is being said Modi would like to accommodate him as Governor and Maharashtra Raj Bhavan could be an ideal place. BJP sources said governors reshuffle/appointment would be first in the series of changes in the Modi government that would come before the Monsoon Session of the Parliament. With the Governors’ appointments, changes will happen in the Union Cabinet and eventually in the election of BJP chief. Lot of administrative changes and changes in the party set up have been delayed because of a series of unfortunate events. As far as Doval is concerned what is working for him is that he is a much decorated IPS officer of the Kerala cadre (1968 batch ) who hails from Uttarakhand who has been overseeing sensitive security operations of the Modi Government in the past decade. In June 2019, when he was reappointed NSA he became the first NSA to get a Cabinet rank. In 2024, he got a 3-year extension as NSA.
The meeting of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with Raj Thackeray was a clear indicator that the Thackeray brothers are not fighting the local body elections together. It practically nipped in the bud all speculations of the reunion of Thackeray brothers that would have led to the consolidation of the Marathi vote bank particularly in the urban belts of Maharashtra like Mumbai, Thane and Nashik where Raj Thackeray’s party holds some influence. Currently, the loyalties of the traditional Marathi vote bank are split into three between the Thackerays and Eknath Shinde, who has thrown in his weight behind the BJP. Shinde’s key aides like Uday Samant have played a crucial role in getting Raj Thackeray to go with the ruling Mahayuti alliance. While the speculation of the reunion of the Thackeray brothers was received with much warmth and support from the cadres on either side, clearly the consolidation of the Marathi vote bank would not have suited all parties. Definitely not the BJP which is looking to decimate the Shiv Sena particularly the Uddhav Thackeray wing in Mumbai and would not have wanted him strengthened. The Raj-Fadnavis meeting, coming as it did in the wake of heavy speculation and lobbying from Shiv Sena’s vocal spokesperson Sanjay Raut left no doubt about Fadnavis emerging as the boss in Maharashtra politics. The entry of Raj Thackeray in the BJP-alliance could also prove to be a counterweight against Shinde, whom the BJP is not keen to let him grow stronger in Mumbai post the BMC polls.
Rain or shine, criticism of the government by certain Opposition leaders does not cease. The tragic air crash in Ahmedabad is no exception. This trait was seen after the suburban train accident in Mumbra (outskirts of Mumbai) a few days ago. Although it is known that aviation is a complex subject, these leaders do not hold back. They don’t stop even when it is the question of India’s defence, not caring that the military should be kept away from such wrangling. For instance, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has given sage advice that no politics should be made of the air tragedy. In the same breath, he has criticised the government by raising some questions. If this government can’t avert an air crash, train accidents or attacks like at Pahalgam, what can it prevent, he asked? In this connection, he has attacked Union home minister Amit Shah. NCP(SP) leader Jayant Patil, too, has made some comments. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has posed several queries. Frankly admitting that he does not possess any technical knowledge, he has pointed out that many leading newspapers around the world have asked pointed questions. He has also expressed apprehensions about the continuous use of the Dreamliner Boeing aircraft. Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLA Dilip Lande has warned the government that countless lives can be lost if such a mishap takes place in Mumbai since the international airport is surrounded by slums on all sides.
Veteran leader Sharad Pawar and nephew Ajit Pawar will clash once more on their home ground. But for a different reason. Both have entered the fray to elect a new board of directors of the famous Malegaon Cooperative Sugar Mill in their backyard in Baramati. The factory has been the focal point in that wealthy sugar belt for several decades and every election for its control is marked by a battle between the Pawar family and its opponents. The election is fought without any party labels. The anti-Pawar forces unite under the leadership of Chandrarao Taware, a staunch foe of the elder Pawar. In the past, the Taware panel has wrested the factory’s control a couple of times though both Pawars were in power. This time, the suspense was heightened since Sharad Pawar had kept his signal to enter the election in abeyance. Now that he has asked his followers to file nominations, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has become extra cautious since his power base can be threatened if the factory’s reins are snatched by his opponents in Pune district. Sharad Pawar’s decision to take on his nephew has once again jolted his clan since talks of merger of both factions of the National Congress Party are said to be in an advanced stage. Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule has given such vague indications, especially after her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few days ago. All in all, another twist to the politics in Maharashtra will be witnessed soon.
In a rare and increasingly confrontational political climate within the West Bengal Assembly, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari has set an extraordinary record with multiple suspensions and breach of privilege motions against him over the past four years. From chief minister Mamata Banerjee labelling him as a “limitless opposition leader”, the Assembly passed yet another breach of privilege motion against BJP leader Adhikari, the eighth since 2021. Reminding that he had defeated the CM in Nandigram, Adhikari has already faced suspension from the Assembly four times over the past four years and maintains that the government would not be able to take any effective action against him as he had never claimed any medical bills since 2006 and had not drawn his salary during suspension periods. He argues that these motions are attempts to silence his voice. Dismissing the claim, TMC Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh and senior cabinet minister Chandrima Bhattacharya explained that the party had repeatedly approached the Speaker due to various statements made publicly by the LoP. Assembly records show that no previous LoP since 1957 has faced as many disciplinary actions as Adhikari. Former opposition leaders such as CPI(M)’s Surjya Kanta Mishra and Congress leader Abdul Mannan also faced privilege motions during Didi’s tenure but not to this extent. Veteran leaders noted that even former CM and CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu, who served as Opposition Leader from 1957–67 and again from 1971–72, did not face such a record. Congress leader Abdul Mannan viewed that the situation was unprecedented adding that while strong opposition is important, lawmakers must remain mindful of their language.
Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani was among the 240 who died in the Air India flight crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. The plane was headed to Gatwick airport, UK when it crashed in a civilian area near the airport. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board crashed within 32 seconds after its take off. One passenger – 40-year old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh — survived the crash while rest of the passengers including 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 1 Canadian national and 7 Portuguese nationals died. Rupani, the 16th CM of Gujarat (Aug 2016 –Sep 2021) was on the ill-fated aircraft. Known for his composed demeanour and firm administrative style, he steered Gujarat through a critical phase of post-Covid recovery. He was traveling to London to meet his daughter. He stepped down from the CM’s post in September 2021, making way for Bhupendra Patel. He was close to Home Minister Amit Shah. Which is why the incident has completely shaken the government, got Shah to rush to Ahmedabad as he is a local MP. Until then in the past few days Shah has been busy showcasing PM Modi’s 11 years’ in office to the national media. Meanwhile, a lot of theories are already floating about what may have led to the aircraft crash. There were speculations about engine failure. Aircraft engines are made by Rolls Royce or GE or Prat Whitney. While bird hit is quite possible at the height from which the aircraft fell, these planes are designed to fly with one engine when the other engine shuts off. But it is impossible for both engines ingesting birds separately. The other theory was that incorrect flap settings contributed to the Air India Flight AI171 crash.
Vikrant Massey who bagged the Filmfare Critics Award winner for 12th Fail, and after his lead role in the sensitive political film The Sabarmati Report, had declared in December 2024 that he would retire from films. He said he would probably do just one film a year, and he would focus on his family life, spend time with his young child and recalibrate himself. Recently, Vikrant and his wife Sheetal visited Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s International Art of Living Ashram in Benguluru. Reason: he is playing the role of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in an international thriller titled White. So the visit to Bengaluru must be both to seek Gurudev’s blessings and closely observe him. The film White which is based on the real-life story of spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, will be a largely untold chapter of modern peace-building that will show how Sri Sri helped end Colombia’s 52-year-long civil war, and how ancient Indian wisdom played a pivotal role in resolving one of history’s longest-running conflicts. The film shooting is scheduled to begin in August 2025 and is expected to release in 2026. The makers intend to bring in an international cast and crew from Los Angeles to depict the true story of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s life. Directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Mahaveer Jain, the film aims to bring a lesser-known story of peace and humanity to the big screen. The film will be produced in Hindi, English and Spanish.
Sunil Gavaskar has hit the nail on its head saying that performances in the BCCI’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament should count a lot for the IPL franchises’ talent scouts to look at than the Twenty20 Leagues run by the States. The former India batting maestro and commentator for around four decades shared his thoughts in a Sunday Column for Midday on the basis of some players’ performances in the Tata-IPl-18. His visit to the Wankhede Stadium during the T20 Mumbai League (TML) enthused the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officials, but the Champion association of domestic cricket may do well to energise its multi-day tournament structure. Revived after a long gap of six years, the rain-marred TML may have served its purpose to the extent of keeping the local talent busy and happy too because of the financial compensation they received, but what good hope is there for a 38-year-old replacement medium pacer Rohan Raje who became the first to pinch a 5-ver in the league! The big haul cheered him up; he spoke happily at the press conference sitting by the side of his captain Siddhesh Lad of the Mumbai South Central Maratha Royals that would vie for the title with the Shreyas Iyer led SoBo Mumbai Falcons. The TML lost Mumbai and CSK’s new kid on the block Ayush Mhatre because, as batter and captain, he has to focus on the India under-19 tour to England. Mhatre was a talent that flourished in the Ranji Trophy and so the MCA could mull over a meaningful multi-day league to run parallel with the Ranji Trophy tournament of which it’s the winner 42 times. As an idea, the TML is good, but an MCA multi-day professional league is the need of the hour.
On June 9, BJP national president JP Nadda addressed a spirited presser to mark PM Modi’s 11 years in office – which he called a transformative period that should be “written in golden words”. The best part of the presser was that Nadda had marked his targets. He wanted to highlight the achievements of the government. It may be recalled that at a meeting with his ministers recently, PM Modi had shared a sense of disappointment that achievements of the government had not been adequately showcased. That is why even as Nadda attempted showcasing some of Modi government’s achievements such as reduction of Naxalite-affected districts from a high of 126 to just 18, he also settled political score with Congress leader Jairam Ramesh who was mocking PM Modi for not addressing a press conference in all these years. Nadda reminded Jairam, a Rajya Sabha MP, that he would never have spoken to the public as much as PM Modi does. Nadda credited the BJP government with bold decisions like the repeal of Article 370, abolition of triple talaq, Waqf amendment, demonetisation, and the women’s quota bill. He said PM Modi had changed the country’s political culture by making the government more responsive and accountable. Reacting sharply to LoP Rahul Gandhi’s remarks questioning Operation Sindoor and EAM Jaishankar, Nadda dismissed the LoP’s charges with a prayer that “may God give them true wisdom” because it’s very difficult to understand their objective. “When they attend an all-party meeting, they say they stand with the country. But when they step outside, they start raising questions, questions that are completely baseless. That’s why I can only say they are playing the role of an irresponsible opposition.”
If Rajeev Shukla, senior vice president of BCCI, goes on to become the president of BCCI in the elections to be held in September at the annual meeting, it will be unique as he is a veteran politician from the Congress fold. In the last 15 years or so, BCCI had presidents like Jagmohan Dalmiya and N Srinivasan who were industrialists taking the honorary role of cricket administrators. But, after the Lodha Committee ruling on the board, no administrator who reaches the age of 70 can continue. With Roger Binny attaining 70 in June, it is 65-year old Rajeev Shukla who will take over as the interim president. If the old liaison man, political survivor and acceptable personality across the spectrum can convince the ruling party BJP — which has been in total control of BCCI through the Home Minister Amit Shah’s son — that he can be a consensus candidate, he would be achieving quite a feat in cricket administration of today. Of course, Shukla had been useful to many top administrators when the UPA was ruling till 2014, and he had access to Sonia Gandhi when she was the Congress president and all-powerful figure in the country. A brother-in-law of senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shukla had also been IPL chairman for a few years. Of course, he would have to cash in on all his old cards if he is to convert his interim presidency to a more permanent one at the AGM. The political survivor would then have achieved quite something as cricketers Sourav Ganguly and Roger Binny were the last two BCCI presidents who had served the game as players.
The recent strike by the 1800-odd water tankers operators in Mumbai (May 9-13) showed how Mumbai city gets its way despite contrary stipulations. The operators had stalled supply of non-potable water to the city following restrictions introduced by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), effective from April 1, 2022. The new stipulations cap ground water extraction by commercial water tankers to 15 tankers full water per well. Tankers must also fill water within a 200 metres radius of a borewell, set up a digital water flow meter with telemetry and get no-objection certification for water extraction. The water tanker lobby also provides non-potable water for various critical projects in the city like the Coastal Road project (300 tankers of water daily@ 10,000 litres per tanker), Mumbai Trans Harbour project (80 tankers), railways (150 tankers). They also supply water to various building construction sites and hospitals and even residential societies. Not surprisingly, Mumbai was badly hit and the state government intervened assuring them of taking up the issue with the Centre. While CGWB introduced the regulations, it does not even have an office in Mumbai and the penal/ legal action is to be executed by local Collectors, under state government jurisdiction. So, while the regulations stay on paper as of now, the tankers are back on the streets where life goes on as usual.
Mumbaikars facing an intense heat wave are scrambling for the comforts of air-conditioned local trains but, shying away from taking to the AC metro network, particularly new Metro lines between Goregaon and Dahisar. Buoyed by the generous 50% drop in AC train fares from Rs 65/ km down to Rs 35 per km, the fare cut has bolstered daily passenger footfalls from an average of 3385 daily passengers in April 2022 to 9116 AC passengers on May 5. This is in complete contrast to the almost-empty AC Metro trains running between Goregaon and Dahisar. A month since its inception, daily average footfalls recorded are around 27,000 passengers — 10 times lower than its carrying capacity of 3 lakh passengers daily. It registers maximum footfalls only on Sundays. Plagued by issues like last mile connectivity, technical glitches and less frequency has meant that the office-goers find it unreliable. Failure to link with the existing popular Metro line between Andheri and Ghatkopar is also a major drawback. Activists like Vidyadhar Date attribute its lacklustre response to poor planning by planners who never use public transport. It is evident. Metro rakes are running with a thin crowd right above the congested Western Express Highway with packed BEST buses, both AC and the non-AC ones. The issue seems to be regarding intermodal passenger connectivity.
Looks like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) run schools are going for an image makeover. A team of officials and private citizens are designing a new set of uniforms with a brief to spruce up its tardy image of being a poor man’s school. This is not exactly an image makeover or brand building exercise; it is more of a perception change that would reflect the overall upgradation taking place at the educational, technological and infrastructural levels in our civic school education system, explains joint municipal commissioner Ajit Kumbhar. About 103 BMC buildings are being renovated to refurbish its dull and drab settings. Enrollments in BMC schools have registered a sharp rise since introduction of CBSE syllabus. Schools of Cambridge and the International Baccalaureate curriculum are also in the offing. Every academic year 27 items are given free to all students right from uniforms, school books, shoes to even school bags and water bottles. With an annual education budget of Rs 3,370 crores, digital classrooms, tablets for learning and plans to set up 25 astronomy labs are also in action. Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray personally leads his party’s education initiatives. His push for more English medium schools met with criticism from his own party’s core vote bank of Marathi middle class. Is this exercise being done with an eye on the BMC elections?
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.