Two days ahead of PM Modi’s public meeting at Madurantakam, Chengalpattu district on January 23, the BJP stepped up its campaign to expand the NDA ahead of the assembly elections. On January 21, AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, rejoined the NDA alliance in the presence of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in Chennai. He had moved out of the NDA in September 2025. This was six months after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that AIADMK chief Eddapadi K Palaniswami would be the CM face and lead the AIADMK- BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu in April 2025. In a reversal of events early this year, Dhinakaran flew into Delhi, met Amit Shah to pave the way for his return into the NDA fold. It is being said the AMMK commands considerable influence among the Mukkulathor community or Thevars in southern TN. Dhinakaran rejoining the NDA could spell trouble for the ruling DMK. So too the joining of Anbumani Ramadoss-led PMK. It is being said Amit Shah was very keen that all anti-DMK votes in the South, particularly the Thevar community votes should not be fragmented. Dhinakaran described the past differences as merely a “family feud”. On his part, AIADMK chief Palaniswami also welcomed Dhinakaran.  The only person acting pricey is DMDK leader Premalatha, widow of late actor Vijayakanth. She is bargaining for two Rajya Sabha seats, a ministerial berth for her son in Modi Govt and some 20 assembly seats. It is her demand to accommodate her son in the Central Govt that has spooked Delhi. Meanwhile, it is learnt that DMK has asked Congress to scale down its demand for seats to 28 and has offered instead to bankroll poll expenses of Assam assembly elections. This simply shows how desperately DMK needs Congress — that is why it is trying to keep it away from actor Vijay’s TVK.

Nitin Nabin was formally declared as the BJP national president, succeeding JP Nadda, in a brief ceremony at party headquarters in Delhi on January 20. All party stalwarts including PM Modi were present. Even as he received a certificate of election from K Laxman, returning officer for BJP organisational polls, Nabin at 45, became the youngest ever to occupy the top party post. The BJP was founded in Mumbai — then Bombay — in 1980 — the year Nabin was born. Emphasising his youthful background, PM Modi went all out emphasising his “millennial background” and “Gen Z connect”.  “Nitin Nabin is a millennial. He is from a generation who has witnessed the country’s economic transformation”, the PM said introducing the new party chief. Outlining Nabin’s task, Modi felt his “youthful energy and long experience of working in organisation,” would help in expanding the party’s footprint across the country. Emphasising that he would always be a worker of the BJP, Modi said “And when it comes to party matters, I am a worker, and Nitin Nabin ji is my boss.” He also added that Nabin would have responsibility to coordinate with NDA allies. Meanwhile, Nabin’s sensitive millennial side was revealed in a video that was shared of Modi’s meeting with Nabin’s family at party headquarters…it showed Nabin as a caring father even as he was with PM Modi. Interestingly, PM Modi also shared why BJP is not into celebrating its wins whether in Mumbai’s BMC or even in Gujarat 2022 assembly polls when everyone had expected him to lose. “We are always into analysing our results/ mistakes. Or preparing for the next polls.”

A section of the Tamil Nadu BJP leadership is completely disappointed with the line-up of people arranged by Union Minister L Murugan for Pongal festivities organised at his residence and presided over by PM Modi. While it might all be very well for Murugan, who is Minister of State for I&B, to flaunt the presence of makers and cast and crew of the DMK-backed film Parasakthi, some BJP leaders were not comfortable with the presence of producer Akash Baskaran. He is related to late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and his late first son MK Muthu. His wife Dharini is MK Muthu’s granddaughter. Her dad is CK Ranganthan who owns Cavinkare. Her mother is Thenmozhi, Kalignar Karunanidhi’s granddaughter. The issue with Akash Bhaskaran’s presence at PM Modi’s event was that he had briefly figured in the TASMAC scam probe. Of course, the ED had to apologise to Bhaskaran as directed by the Madras High Court. Some TN BJP leaders feel a section of party leaders are always hell bent on bringing “not very desirable characters” into the party and thereby putting off genuine voters. Incidentally, neither PM Modi nor Murugan shared any pics of their interaction with Parasakthi actors on their timeline. It was done by the National Award-winning composer GV Prakash to share a photograph of his interaction with PM Modi as well as reveal the presence of Sivakarthikeyan and Ravi Mohan. Prakash also performed a track from his Tamil pride album Thiruvasagam for the first time at the event. Meanwhile, it is being said the real problem with TVK leader Vijay’s film Jana Nayagan, one hears, is that the protagonist is seen making a direct pitch against “political leadership” that it is communalising politics. Two, he is also seen speaking against “atma nirbhar bharat”. If the Congress has issues with Parasakthi because it is critical of Indira Gandhi, Jana Nayagan has clearly irked powers that be in Delhi.

Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai may be bristling at MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s “rasmalai” jibe at him and may have even dared the MNS leader to break his legs when he visits Mumbai next. While it may be all very well for the cop-turned-politician not to be afraid of Thackeray’s empty boasts, not many in Maharashtra BJP leadership are happy with Annamalai’s foot-in-the-mouth utterances. In fact questions are being asked about the need to even call Annamalai for canvassing  for BMC polls. That too at a time when the civic polls seemed nicely tied in ruling Mahayuti’s favour. “What was the need to ask Annamalai to campaign? This is a needless controversy. Annamalai has turned the media attention on himself. In any case we have very small pockets of influence of Tamil voters, whom we have been regularly reaching out to. Annamalai’s utterances on Mumbai have only been twisted to give an issue to the Opposition,” says a senior BJP leader. The only saving grace is that ahead of the civic polls the local media did not play up Annamalai’s comment. Mumbai as Maharashtra’s capital is an emotive issue and anyone familiar with its socio-politics will not even not go anywhere near this topic. He had said Mumbai, apart from being Maharashtra capital, is also an international city. In an interview to a Marathi TV channel, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified that there was no need to take the Tamil leader seriously. He suggested that Annamalai was making an effort to communicate in his limited knowledge of Hindi. “It wasn’t as if the PM had spoken. Mumbai is an international city.” As for Raj Thackeray calling Annamalai a “rasmalai”, Fadnavis was dismissive of the MNS leader and felt he couldn’t be taken seriously.

Is the Censor delay for Vijay’s film all aimed to strengthen the TVK chief’s support base and ensure its a superhit? Is the BJP-led Centre actually helping the superstar? As Vijay is facing an uphill task to get his last film Jana Nayagan released on Jan 9 and the Tamil Nadu Congress leaders are already blaming the Home Minister Amit Shah for it. A perception is growing in TN that the BJP is not obstructing the screening of the film but perhaps doing it all to increase his popularity among youth and women. It is being said the whole idea is to ensure that sizable votes of youth and women could now consolidate behind Vijay — that is to move away from the DMK. A strong TVK is bound to weaken the DMK. It is believed a three-way fight in TN will benefit the challenger AIADMK-BJP. Jana Nayagan was postponed two days before release due to a censor certificate delay.  While a Madras HC hearing is expected to pave way for its release next week, there is a growing view that Jana Nayagan’s Censor problems were clearly linked to Vijay’s political dalliances with the Congress — Rahul Gandhi had spoken to him post Karur incident. It is in this backdrop that top Congress leaders from AICC in charge Girish Chodankar to Tamil Nadu MPs — Manickam Tagore and Jothimani attacked the Centre for withholding Censor certificate for Vijay’s film. TN Congress sources however feel Vijay may not eventually take up Congress offer of an alliance. “Vijay may finally end up with the AIADMK-BJP.  Everyone in TN is heading that way. The DMK will also not take us on board,” pointed out a TN Congress leader.

Union Home minister Amit Shah is quite disappointed with his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu as his efforts to convince AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) to take a leaf out of Bihar polls and follow chief minister Nitish Kumar’s lead of carrying everyone along to fight the assembly elections simply didn’t seem to work in Chennai. Shah held two rounds of meetings with AIADMK functionary SP Velumani, an emissary of EPS, and had conveyed to him that if AIADMK has to defeat the DMK it must learn to carry every one along — from TTV Dhinakaran-O Panneerselvam — to DMDK and the PMK. Just as Nitish Kumar had carried along Chirag Paswan and other NDA allies. Nitish Kumar was seen easily sharing seats with Paswan even though the latter’s LJP had in 2020 assembly polls fielded candidates against JD(U). Reluctant to play ball, EPS conveyed to Shah that at best he was willing to accommodate his former AIADMK colleagues by allotting about 10 seats. He firmly conveyed to Velumani that if EPS remained intransigent about accommodating ex AIADMK leaders such as OPS or TTV then he would only “be strengthening the DMK hands and help it to come back to power”. A prospect of defeat could lead to further erosion in its ranks which the AIADMK must avoid. Or it will see heavyweights leaving the party as it saw the exit of former minister Sengottaiyan. It may be recalled that Sengottaiyan had met with Amit Shah before joining Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagham (TVK) led by superstar Vijay. Shah, who joined pre-Pongal celebrations in Tiruchirappalli under the party’s ‘Namma Ooru Modi Pongal’ programme, did not meet EPS. Things could perhaps be sorted out by his next visit to the state.

DMK MP Kanimozhi had an interesting start to her 58th birthday. TVK chief and superstar Vijay wished her. So did Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This has set off a lot of political buzz. Since Vijay personally called Kanimozhi, it gained significant political attention given their roles in different parties ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections this year. Shah, who was in TN for election campaigning, also called Kanimozhi to extend his birthday greetings. Shah has been regularly greeting her on birthdays. As for the birthday girl, Kanimozhi began her day by paying tribute at the memorials of former chief ministers CN Annadurai and her father M Karunanidhi at Marina Beach. What is the reason that TVK chief Vijay, who is vowing to oust the DMK, has begun to court Kanizmozhi? Apparently, it is not without reason.  A Lok Sabha MP and DMK’s Deputy General Secretary, Kanimozhi has been increasingly finding herself isolated and limited in party affairs. Her half-brother chief minister MK Stalin along with son and Deputy CM Udhayanidhi recently held a meeting of the DMK Women’s Wing in Tirupur. While the CM talked about launching Bihar style sops to women ahead of the polls, Kanimozhi’s posters were apparently missing at the event. This considering she is in charge of the DMK Women’s Wing. Her pictures were apparently added to the Stalin family posters as an afterthought. It is being said that supporters of Kanimozhi in the DMK do not wish for return of the party to power as it would mean working under Udhayanidhi’s leadership, who is being clearly projected as the heir apparent. For them, the choice would any day be to rally behind Kanimozhi and help TVK chief superstar Vijay.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s decision to be on the screening committee to pick candidates for Assam assembly elections is being viewed in party circles as a stepping stone to her larger role in Congress affairs eventually. It may seem odd that a Gandhi family member has deemed it fit to chair a state’s candidate screening committee. That too when another family confidante and a close Rahul Gandhi aide Jitendra Singh, is in charge of the state. Well, if Priyanka thinks she has stepped into Assam to pose a challenge to incumbent CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and oust the decade old BJP regime, it is surely not going to be an easy task. Himanta has already declared that the ruling BJP and its allies in the NDA are likely to win 103 of the 126 assembly seats. He attributed the higher winning rate of the NDA to delimitation. In these circumstances, what would be Priyanka’s role? Is she coming to mobilise votes of Muslims in Assam? Last month CM Sarma had flagged the rise of phenomenal growth of Muslim population and had blamed the Congress for it. The Muslims are largely loyal to the All India United Democratic Front led by Badruddin Ajmal. In the last elections, AIUDF won 16 seats. It is possible Priyanka has come to strengthen the hands of youthful Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi who is not a much-liked figure. Maybe Priyanka thinks Assam is a low-hanging fruit since in the last elections the difference in the votes in Assam between the NDA and the Opposition alliance was only 1.6% — though the NDA won 75 seats and the Opposition 50. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi one hears has taken off to Vietnam. Of course, BJP’s Amit Malviya insists Rahul has set up Priyanka for “failure”.

India’s cleanest city, Indore, which has bagged this title eight times in a row, has now seen 15 deaths due to contaminated water. This week has been horrific for Indore as families lost their loved ones, their kids and parents, to the water crisis in the city. The issue began on Dec 29 night after several locals began vomiting and developed a high fever suddenly. District Collector Shivam Verma added that initial laboratory reports confirmed contamination of water supply from a toilet that was reportedly built on the drinking water line without any safety tank underneath. According to officials, samples tested positive for fecal coliform, E.coli and Klebsiella bacteria, all of which can cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea. The tragic water contamination scare had left many families devastated. A private school teacher lost her five-month-old son after she mixed contaminated water with his milk. The son was born after 10 years of waiting, the woman said. Meanwhile, politics peaked over the Indore deaths with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launching a sharp attack on the Madhya Pradesh Govt over Indore water contamination issue. “Those whose hearths have gone cold needed consolation; the government served them arrogance instead,” Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X. His remarks were aimed at MP Minister for Urban Development Kailash Vijayvargiya whose rough and ready ways in dealing with the civic crisis has shocked everyone. He snapped at a reporter for posing a query about safe drinking water still not reaching people. Though he took to X to explain his rude conduct, it explained nothing. Close to Home Minister Amit Shah, Vijayvargiya may survive in office — Shah had deputed him for 2021 Bengal polls, but will he survive public wrath or pass PM Modi’s muster? Everyone is talking about how he has been sitting on a file for the new Narmada water supply line in the area. One hears the tender was opened only after people started dying!

Apparently, there isn’t the usual rush of visitors at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi these days. No, it has nothing to do with the winter blues. It has got more to do with the appointment of new BJP working president Nitin Nabin. It is being said the usual throng is missing. Perhaps, people are waiting for Nabin to be formally installed as party president which will happen very soon. Along with him, a new set of office-bearers will also take charge. It is being said that only people who are now being spotted at headquarters are people from Nabin’s hometurf — that is Bihar — probably taking a lot of pride in the big office he will soon occupy.  Of course, Nabin himself has been busy traveling to Puducherry in the South and Patna. An interesting fallout of Nabin’s elevation is that the other serious BJP president hopeful — Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav — has finally begun attending to his ministerial responsibility. Yadav could be heard speaking about Delhi’s toxic AQI only after Nabin’s elevation. Meanwhile, there are also misgivings about Nabin’s rise within the BJP. It is felt he would always be remote controlled. He would remain the best bet for whoever picked him for the top job. Perhaps that was why he was chosen!

With the emergence of Tamil Vetri Katchi (TVK) and actor Vijay drawing phenomenal crowds for his meetings, the Congress is no longer sure if it would benefit from sustaining its alliance with the DMK. Aware that it may not be easy to just walk out of the DMK alliance that is nearly two decades old, a section of the Congress is exploring ways to break off and stitch up a pact with Vijay’s TVK. Officially, while AICC managers, dealing with TN are fretting about finalising seat agreement with the DMK before an imaginary deadline. And somewhere out of the blue, Praveen Chakravarty, a close Rahul Gandhi aide and head of All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC), began attacking the DMK government for TN’s rising debt. Praveen’s post on X drew sharp reactions from the DMK. While the BJP enjoyed Praveen’s post, TN Cong MPs were simply not comfortable with Praveen’s attack on the DMK and TN’s debt comparisons with Uttar Pradesh. Sharpest assessment came from former IAS officer turned MP Sasikanth Senthil posted on X “Judging states by absolute debt is like judging fitness by body weight — no height, no muscle, just vibes.” TNCC chief Selvaperunthagai, in a post on X, dubbed Praveen as acting against Congress interest. As for Praveen interacting and negotiating with actor Vijay, AICC managers made it clear that it was neither “official” or authorised. The only AICC leader who is very keen about a tie-up with actor Vijay and TVK it seems is AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal who is fancying himself as the next Kerala CM. Venugopal wants a Congress-TVK tie-up to help sweep Kerala polls. He is not bothered about performance in TN. Looks like Praveen is negotiating with Vijay on behalf of Venugopal. As for TN polls, one hears DMK leader Kanimozhi is also not keen for Stalin’s return to power.

For a change, the customary tea party hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at the end of Winter Session for party leaders struck a pleasant note. Unlike in the past, when there would be no conversation, except exchange of courtesies, the brief meeting between PM Modi and senior minister Rajnath Singh with Opposition leaders like Priyanka Gandhi and senior leaders from Kerala like RSP MP NK Premachandran went off very well. Did it have anything to do with the absence of Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi who is known to be stiff when it comes to dealing with PM Modi or anyone in the government? Has Priyanka Gandhi’s presence made all the difference? Did she persuade the Opposition to join the Speaker’s tea party? Senior MPs from Kerala deny it wasn’t Priyanka’s idea to attend the Speaker’s tea. “Normally, at the end of every Parliament Session both the ruling and Opposition leaders meet the Speaker to thank him. Since the Monsoon Session was a washout, we had decided to give Speaker’s tea a miss. It had nothing to do with Rahulji’s presence or absence,” says a Kerala MP. At the same time the Kerala leader concedes that the Speaker’s tea meeting without Rahul Gandhi was a pleasant affair. It perhaps had a lot to do with the informal exchanges PM Modi had with Priyanka and Premachandran. Like Priyanka asking PM Modi about his latest foreign visit and the small talk about Wayanad herbal drink for her throat. BJP sources say ever since she became a MP Priyanka has been reaching out to the government. She had sought out a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah and during the session met with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Unlike her brother, she is open to the idea of having a dialogue with the government.

The BJP leadership had to recently redeploy Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal once again for handling Tamil Nadu assembly polls. This was apparently being done on request from the Tamil Nadu BJP unit. Even NDA ally — AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami – had conveyed to top BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah that Goyal should be in charge of the state. Initially, the party had assigned senior leader Baijayant Panda and Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol to handle the southern state. Party sources felt Goyal had been a good election manager during the Lok Sabha polls and was quite hands on. TN BJP leaders also found MoS  Mohol was too distracted and not taking interest in Chennai affairs. So TN BJP chief Nainar Nagendran rushed to Delhi and lobbied with central leadership to deploy Goyal once again so that BJP can give good results in the state. Nainar had cited the experience of state BJP during Lok Sabha polls. Yielding to local demand, the central BJP leadership tweaked its assignments for the poll-bound states. Goyal was given Tamil Nadu charge and Panda was given Assam. The responsibility of winning back Assam assembly elections will anyway largely lie with incumbent CM Himanta Biswas Sarma. 

With the Election Commission releasing West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following the SIR exercise, which saw over 58 lakh voters removed across the state on grounds including death and migration, and voter profiles redrawn across districts and border belts ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, there is a disquiet in the ruling Trinamool Congress. What has particularly upset West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is voter deletion in her Bhabanipur constituency – nearly 44,787 voters have been deleted. The CM is also surprised that no complaints are forthcoming since the draft rolls were published. That is why the TMC leadership decided to deploy its booth-level agents for a fresh, door-to-door verification of deleted voters’ names in her constituency. Bhabanipur had 206,295 voters as of January 2025. The newly published draft rolls list has 161,509 names. TMC leaders are particularly upset over a large number of voters being marked “dead”, “shifted” or “absent”. “The party leadership made it clear that no valid voter’s name should be deleted under any circumstances. Every deleted name must be physically verified,” a TMC source said. Bhabanipur is a dense urban seat with many residents originally from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. Mamata is also surprised that maximum deletion of voters, 74,533 has happened in Chowringhee constituency of her close friend Naina Bandhopadhya. In contrast, voter deletion from Nandigram — from where she lost – is just 10,550. The seat is now represented by her BJP rival Suvendu Adhikari. Reacting to names deleted in the SIR exercise, BJP leader Amit Malviya says the process has revealed that TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has stayed in power due to votes cast in the names of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.

The  impact of actor-politician TVK chief Vijay, who held his second rally in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district on December 18 afternoon — his first in the state since 41 people died in a stampede in Karur on September 27 — is such that it is  already making top DMK leaders rethink their election  strategies. With Vijay already setting the tone of his campaign for next year’s Assembly election by borrowing from late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa’s lexicon and calling the ruling DMK as “thiya shakti” or “evil” forces, the top leadership one hears is scouting for safer assembly seats for the 2026 assembly elections. Both his Erode and Puducherry rallies had drawn such massive crowds, that the DMK leadership does not want to take any chance. It is being said that incumbent chief minister MK Stalin, is already toying with the idea of moving to his son Udhayanidhi’s seat– Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni. At present, Stalin represents the Kolathur State Assembly seat. It is another matter that he was recently seen visiting the area. It is also one of the six state legislative assembly constituencies that is part of Chennai North Lok Sabha seat. As for deputy CM Udhayanidhi, he is reportedly toying with the idea of contesting the Tiruvarur seat—the legacy seat in Thanjavur that his grandfather Karunanidhi had won in 2016 assembly polls recording his 13th straight victory since 1957.

Has sibling rivalry caught up with the Gandhis? According to Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, a former Congress leader now in the BJP, insists that the Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi set off for a visit to Germany in midst of Parliament’s Winter Session only after his Parliament speech on electoral reforms went bust and was compared with his sister Priyanka’s speech on Vande Mataram. Sources say the minister spoke about the sibling rift to give context to negative statements being made by the LoP about India — such as “Manufacturing is declining in India” in Germany. It is being said Rahul is apparently upset that his speech made no impact while Priyanaka’s created a buzz. Yet, there are few takers for stories of rifts between the Gandhi siblings. Younger sibling Priyanka regularly defends Rahul against the BJP’s political attacks. She had also fiercely defended Rahul’s trip to Germany. While it is true that both Rahul and mother Sonia have ensured that Priyanka does not have any role in the Congress, party sources say Priyanka has been micromanaging floor protests in her brother’s absence in the last few days. On the penultimate day of the Session, Priyanka used Question Hour to meet Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to sort out issues about her Wayanad constituency. However, too many disruptions cost Priyanka an opportunity to speak about air pollution in Delhi/NCR. The Lok Sabha was adjourned as soon as the house passed modified MNREGA or the new Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025.  The House had sat till wee hours — till about 1.30 am — discussing the bill. Speaker Om Birla rejected Opposition pleas to send the Bill to a Standing Committee; After all, 99 speakers participated in the discussion.

Delhi BJP leaders had mixed feelings when in February 2025 PM Modi zeroed in on a first term MLA from Shalimar Bagh, Rekha Gupta, as Delhi CM – over looking at claims of more worthy CM hopefuls. It was felt perhaps Modi was scripting a different kind of BJP administration for the national capital. Not the sort that Delhi has seen in the 90s either under Madanlal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma or Sushma Swaraj. Ten months later with Delhi and the National Capital Region battling a toxic AQI has Rekha Gupta’s elevation helped? Apparently not. The incumbent CM who has risen from the ranks — from a combative councillor to CM is increasingly proving to be a disappointment, say BJP sources. It is isn’t just her attempt to oversimplify toxic AQI of Delhi with her remarks like “AQI is a temperature that can be measured with any instrument”. Such inane remarks have so embarrassed everyone in the Delhi BJP that party leaders simply retreated into a shell. After all, no one could be seen contradicting her. What saved Delhi was Lionel Messi’s visit. It wasn’t until the football star reached Arun Jaitley Stadium CM Gupta was greeted with “AQI, AQI” chants that her Govt was forced to speak up and of course swing into action. Her environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa finally issued a public apology while asserting that ‘it is impossible for any government to clean up the entire pollution in 9-10 months’. Meanwhile it is being said Rekha Gupta functions a lot like women sarpanches — who authorise their husbands to act on their behalf. Delhi CM’s husband is reportedly present at official meetings. Not so much to influence her decisions but probably to enable her decisions.

In a surprise move, the BJP’s Parliamentary board on December 14 appointed Nitin Nabin, as the party’s new working president. Party sources said Nabin would be reaching BJP headquarters in Delhi on December 15 to take charge of his new assignment. It is most likely that he will continue as a minister in the Nitish Kumar government. His elevation is being compared to the appointment of another of PM Modi’s picks as BJP state president for Uttar Pradesh — Union Minister of State — Pankaj Chaudhary — an effective Kurmi leader. Sources said despatch of Chaudhary, widely acceptable OBC face to UP, was to send a message to supporters of state CM Yogi who were having a free-run of the state. As for zeroing in on Nabin — an upper caste pick, a Kayastha and high energy performer — to replace Nadda was PM Modi’s idea entirely going by organisational skills. Apparently both Chaudhary and Nabin will discharge their ministerial responsibilities for the time being. Does Nabin immediately replace Jagat Prasad Nadda? Unlikely. The term of the current president Nadda had ended way back in January 2024 but was extended in view of the 2024 general election. Though Nabin’s appointment as working president came into effect immediately, he will take charge only after he is formally elected as party president. Sources recall Nabin is following Nadda’s trajectory – Nadda was also appointed as working president in June 2019 when Amit Shah, the then president, took over as the Union home minister. Nabin’s elevation marks a generational change in the party. Lot of seniors may not be comfortable working with a youthful party chief. It is likely that Nabin’s elevation as party president could eventually be worked out via election for the top post only after the assembly elections.

It is well known that those in business don’t like to sweat on the small stuff. And will certainly not waste time trying to huddle with politicians. Guess industrialist Gautam Adani must also be valuing his time. But then with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s penchant to bring sworn rivals together, his birthday bash on December 11 in Delhi seems to have played a perfect backdrop to bring together Adani and Rahul. The Congress leader who breathes fire and brimstone at the conglomerate, we are told, even politely shook hands with Adani. Apparently host Supriya Sule ensured that Adani-Gandhi handshake does not become a photo-op. Now within days of the bash, guess those who organised the bash seem to have had second thoughts about keeping this “historic” handshake under wraps. With no one caring to do even a two-bit news item on the Pawar bash, guess it became incumbent on a select guest (Rajdeep Sardesai ) to share what had transpired between Adani and Rahul with an authorised podcast, Lallantop. Obviously, Supriya Sule must have okayed the podcast as an afterthought. She could have spared much effort if only Rahul Gandhi-Gautam Adani handshake had been photographed. After all, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In a major boost for the BJP in Kerala, the BJP-led NDA scored a historic win in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation marking the end of 45 uninterrupted years of Left (LDF) control, making it one of the most significant political upsets in Kerala electoral history. It retained power in Palakkad municipality, while the LDF lost control of its long-held stronghold in Kollam after 25 years.  The Congress-led UDF emerged as the dominant force across the state, consolidating its hold over a majority of panchayats and municipalities. In corporation-wise trends, the UDF is currently leading in Kochi, Thrissur, Kannur and Kollam, marking a significant improvement from the last local body polls when it won only Kannur. The LDF and NDA are leading in one corporation each. The rise of BJP in the capital Thiruvananthapuram Corporation as the single largest party is a big boost for the national party. Party sources acknowledge that a strong RSS-network and popularity of PM Modi delivered the results.” We have never won more than 34 seats in the Kerala capital. But the fact that we have gone up to 50 seats and that we have got our own mayor elected shows that we have grown in strength.” Besides Modi’s widening acceptability, full credit goes to state BJP chief Rajeev Chandrashekhar. Bringing him to helm the state unit was the best decision that the leadership took; it has given us the results according to RSS ideologue R Balashankar. At the same time, he felt the party had put up a below par performance in Thrissur. This in spite of the fact that the local MP, Suresh Gopi is a Union Minister. Inconsistencies of the minister may have upset the voters, it was felt. Rahul Gandhi took to X “salute to people for ‘placing trust’ in UDF.”

In the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah was at his assertive best as he went on to quietly demolish every argument of the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi against Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls launched by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Worse part was he told the Congress leader that his pet peeve “vote chori” had been unleashed on India thrice — all the 3 times by members of the Gandhi family. “Post-Independence, Sardar Patel was backed by 28 persons, Nehru by two persons; yet Nehru became PM, this was the first vote of chori. Second “vote chori” was by Indira Gandhi, when she granted herself immunity after court set aside her election. Dispute of third “vote chori” has just reached the civil court (in Delhi) on how Sonia Gandhi became a voter before becoming a citizen of India.” Interestingly, while the Congress and the rest of Opposition didn’t protest too much Shah mentioning court issuing a notice to Sonia Gandhi on voting before citizenship, the Congress staged a walk-out as Shah spoke about not allowing infiltrators to vote. While accepting that the NDA had won 3 general elections and 41 state assembly elections, a total of 44, Shah pointed out that the Congress too had “won 30 elections across various state assemblies. BJP has lost more elections than it has won, but we never questioned the ECI or EVMs. Tradition of electoral loss began in 2014 and they (Congress) blamed EVMs, which were brought by Rajiv Gandhi in 1989. More significantly Shah defended RSS activists occupying high office. “There is no law in the country that disallows an RSS activist from holding key positions. Both Modiji and me belong to the RSS.”

The BJP took to social media to corner Shiv Sena (UBT) for signing up the anti-Hindu move launched by the DMK to corner a sitting judge of Madras High Court Justice GR Swaminathan who had restored an age-old religious practice of the Hindus. That is of lighting lamps to mark Karthigai Deepam at a spot sacred to the Hindus. Senior BJP functionary BL Santosh in a post on X “SS (UBT) members sign impeachment motion against Madras HC Judge for giving a judgement in favour of lighting Karthigai Deepam. Shame on them who chose vote bank politics & political expediency over their Balasaheb’s legacy”. Among the signatories shared in his post was SS (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant. On December 9, the DMK submitted a notice with 120 signatures to the Speaker seeking impeachment proceedings against Justice GR Swaminathan. DMK parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi, the party’s Lok Sabha leader TR Baalu, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra handed the impeachment notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The DMK was keen to appease their Muslim vote bank. In fact, the DMK even dared to mention the judge’s Brahmin caste as a factor in the impeachment motion and forced many north Indian MPs to sign it without explicitly knowing it. The notice alleged that Justice Swaminathan’s conduct raised questions on judicial impartiality and transparency, accused him of showing undue favour to a senior advocate and lawyers from a particular community–Brahmin — and claimed that verdicts were influenced by political ideology, going against “secular constitutional principles”. The opposition move against Justice Swamination shocked many BJP leaders. BJP leader K Annamalai was heard saying how the judge had passed many adverse orders against him. Tamil Nadu Congress sources are only hoping that Justice Swaminathan is quietly elevated to Supreme Court soon.

It seems the Congress leadership is once again very serious about maintaining its alliance with the DMK as its traditional allies in the North are rethinking its ties with the Congress post Bihar results. With the Samajwadi Party planning to go alone in local body elections in Uttar Pradesh and the ruling JMM in Jharkhand is exploring option of joining the BJP-led NDA, the Congress is now determined not to lose its traditional INDIA bloc partner in the South such as the DMK. With this view, the AICC leadership has completely distanced itself from its functionary Praveen Chakravarty’s meeting with TVK president actor Vijay on December 6. When asked how could Praveen meet the TVK chief for a personal reason, a top AICC functionary dealing with Tamil Nadu said, “It is possible Praveen ji may have dropped in on actor Vijay for a cup of coffee or just have idlis or some other personal work. We are not aware. He was not assigned or authorised by anyone in Delhi.” Praveen, who heads All India Professional Congress, called on the TVK chief three days after the Congress set up a panel to engage with the DMK on seat-sharing talks for 2026 assembly elections. Vijay-Praveen meeting completely unsettled the traditional DMK-Congress equation. Of course, it is quite likely Praveen, a close Rahul Gandhi aide, may not have got an audition with Vijay for a private reason. It may be recalled post Karur stampede Rahul Gandhi had also spoken to Vijay. However, now there is an intense speculation that the Congress party may have to take some punitive step against Praveen to win confidence of the DMK. Yet at the same time Congress leaders dealing with DMK conceded that Arivalayam has been playing tough, factoring in Bihar drubbing. “We wanted to finalise the seat-sharing agreement with the DMK by December 15,” says a top Congress leader.

Initiating the Lok Sabha debate marking Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s ‘Vande Mataram’ 150 years PM Modi accused former PM Jawaharlal Nehru of echoing Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s opposition to the national song and “pandering to communal concerns” of the Muslim League. Modi said it was Nehru who had written to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that Vande Mataram might “provoke and irritate Muslims” and suggested examining its usage. “This, despite Vande Mataram being born in Bankim Chandra’s Bengal,” he said. After the 1857 uprising, the British pushed ‘God Save the Queen’ into every household. Bankim Chandra responded with Vande Mataram, and despite the partition of Bengal in 1905 When Vande Mataram celebrated 100 years, the country was entangled in the Emergency… Now, at 150 years, it is our duty to restore its glory said PM.  Speaking on the debate from the Congress side, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra countered the very need for Vande Mataram debate and declared it was diversion from bread/butter issues. “Modi is not the PM he used to be, his self-confidence is decreasing; his policies are weakening the country,” she said. She said PM Modi’s speech was weak on facts. She said the government was having a discussion on Vande Mataram in view of the upcoming West Bengal polls. Her brother Rahul Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi had skipped the Parliament — they were perhaps preparing for their own upcoming speeches. First published in the literary journal Bangadarshan on 7 November 1875, Vande Mataram was initially composed independently and later included in the author’s novel “Anandamath” (published in 1882). It was first sung by Tagore at the 1896 Congress Session in Calcutta.

Nothing may have rankled the Congress more than Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s assertion that former PM Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to use government funds to build Babri Masjid. Remembering India’s first Home Minister at the ‘Sardar Sabha’ organised in Gujarat’s Vadodara, Singh explained how Patel did not look to appease communities, unlike Nehru, who questioned the reconstruction of Somnath Temple. “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was truly secular. He never believed in appeasement. When Jawaharlal Nehru spoke about spending government funds on the Babri Masjid issue, if anyone opposed it, it was one born in Gujarat, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel…” said Rajnath Singh. He said that earlier parallels were drawn between the reconstruction of the Gir Somnath temple, but Patel rejected similarities between the two cases, highlighting that the Somnath temple was rebuilt with donations instead of government money. The Defence Minister said, “The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya too has not been funded by government money. The people of this country have borne the entire cost.” Was Singh imagining this conflict of ideas between Nehru and Patel? Of course not. BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said the differences between Nehru and Patel were drawn from the reminiscences and references made by Patel’s daughter Maniben Patel in her book, The Inside Story of Sardar Patel. It mentions all the correspondence between the two leaders from 1936 to 1950. Giving a context to dragging in Nehru and Babri, Sudhanshu Trivedi says how Nehru insisted that Raja Jam Saheb should stay away from the inauguration of Somnath Temple in April 1951, India’s first PM had publicly declared his disappointment in seeing the beautiful temples in south India. This Nehruvian aversion to temples best explains why the Gandhis have stayed away from Ram Temple in Ayodhya till now.

Last week, when PM Narendra Modi was at Ayodhya to hoist the flag of Ram Mandir — marking the completion of the construction of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi temple — there was a lot of discussion in the social media over the way Modi’s prayerful hands quivered soon after the hoisting ceremony. No, it had nothing to do with the height or weight of the saffron flag, which is 22 feet long and 11 feet wide, raised on a 42-foot pole atop the 161-ft high shikhara of the Ram temple. In fact the flags were effortlessly hoisted through a click of a few gears. While some odd concerns were expressed about Modi’s health, such views didn’t gain currency as the PM has always defied age. After all, he had landed in Ayodhya on Nov 25 after keeping a hectic schedule at the G-20 summit in South Africa. So, what explains the quivering of PM Modi’s hands? His prayerful hands were raised towards the sun/shikhara. It is being explained as a yogic mudra; actually, an act of prayer. A devout Hindu, Modi had apparently performed Naga Hasta Kampana. when fingers quiver like a rising cobra. It stirs Kundalini energy, moves prana, dissolves tamas, balances the heart centre and draws one closer to divine union. Nāga-hasta-kampana is mentioned in Hindu scriptures, specifically in tantric and Purāṇic texts related to nāga-sādhana (serpent deity worship) and certain Śākta-Śaiva āgamas. As for the flag, it was crafted over 25 days by the Ahmedabad-based parachute manufacturing company using parachute-grade cloth for longevity. Its specifications were finalised after consultations with senior Army officials. As for symbols on the flag is the Kovidar tree which is a hybrid of the Mandar and Parijat trees, created by Rishi Kashyap, as per the Valmiki Ramayana. It also denotes purity, prosperity, and “Ram Rajya”.  

With the central BJP leadership ticking off former Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai for running a campaign against incumbent president Nainar Nagendran and AIADMK chief Edappadi Palanisawami (EPS), Annamalai’s options are now running out within the BJP. He has been so severely censured for running a social media campaign against NDA ally — AIADMK chief EPS — using his personal troll army, that he has been advised to disband it forthwith. It is being said Annamalai may have felt a little encouraged after PM Modi patted his back at Coimbatore airport during his mid-November. But that did not help him get an appointment with the PM even after multiple requests. This hugely disappointed him. Party sources feel Annamalai’s lack of access to PM Modi may have a lot to do with declining clout of a key official — Hiren Joshi in the PMO (more about it later) — his pointsman for Delhi operations. So, what triggered the tough talk on Annamalai? It has a lot to do with TN BJP chief Nagendran’s recent visit to Delhi, where he met national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, national secretary Arvind Menon, and election in-charge Baijayant Panda. It was Santhosh who read the riot act to Annamalai that he must stop using his troll army against EPS and Nagendran from BJP-linked handles. It is being said he had already begun to skip key party strategy meetings.  With Delhi leaders also being hostile to him, Annamalai is also expected to go out like the way rebel AIADMK leader Sengottaiyan did and join actor Vijay’s TVK. Only it is not clear if Annamalai exits the BJP will he first float his own party or directly land at Vijay’s office. Will he exit from BJP’s Kamalalayam to land in TVK’s Panaiyur office?

In his preliminary message PM Narendra Modi set the tone of the Winter Session of the Parliament on the opening day when he emphasised that the House “does not need drama but delivery.” He hoped the session should not become a battleground for frustration born out of defeat, or turn into an arena for arrogance after victory. With Opposition leaders speaking about the threat of SIR in poll-bound states, he felt that they had not come to terms with loss in Bihar and their statements showed the loss had unsettled them. Modi’s jibe naturally rattled the Opposition. The Congress which touched a new low in Bihar winning only 6 of the 60 seats it contested and wanted to blame it all on SIR, tried to rake up the sudden exit of former V-P Jagdeep Dhankar while welcoming newly elected Vice President CP Radhakrishnan in the Rajya Sabha. Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s reference to Dhankar’s exit on health grounds in July drew a fiery response from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who flagged the “unkind words” used by the Opposition on Dhankhar in the past. Rijiju said why did the LoP refer to a case that was not necessary to raise at this point? I want to remind the House of the language used to insult the former Vice President. The minister reminded the Opposition of the unkind words “used in the removal motion that you served on Dhankar” , “a copy of which we still have, we have not forgotten,”. Meanwhile, a senior Congress MP from Telangana Renuka Choudhry violated parliamentary rules by driving into the Parliament House with her pet dog — possibly what seemed like a chihuahua.

The Congress high command is expected to take a decisive call on the political situation in Karnataka before the Winter Session of Parliament begins on December 1. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is set to meet Rahul Gandhi, with the crucial discussion likely to take place in a day or two, according to those familiar with the developments. It is being said that party leadership is worried about the perception of a power struggle over the CM’s post .Clarity is expected before the Parliament session opens, with the high command keen to avoid any perception of instability in the party’s only major southern bastion. While the CM Siddaramaiah camp is pushing to maintain the status quo at least until March and wants a cabinet reshuffle, supporters of Dy CM Shivakumar are pushing for the Congress to clearly outline a transition plan— the sort that was informally agreed upon during government formation in 2023. Of course, the final word decision will be made by Rahul Gandhi. Party sources aired concern about the manner in which DKS was increasingly becoming rude and insolent — he had apparently refused to acknowledge CM Siddaramaiah’s presence at the same venue. A KPCC leader says, “We must go beyond the binaries of DKS and Siddaramaiah and opt for a Dalit CM. Rahulji should opt for G Parameshwara — he is an educated Dalit leader; he is someone like Dr BR Ambedkar; he has served the party well and occupied many capacities.” His elevation will have the same the impact for the Congress as what Sushil Kumar Shinde’s rise as CM in Maharashtra in January 2003, did for the Congress in May 2004 Lok Sabha polls across India. UPA I came to power. SP leader Akhilesh Yadav had also promised to push for a Dalit CM with Rahul Gandhi. It is being said Siddaramaiah will happily back a Dalit CM, particularly Parameshwara.

Former Minister KA Sengottaiyan, who was expelled from the AIADMK, tendered his resignation as Gobichettipalayam MLA on November 26. The nine-term MLA handed over his resignation to Assembly Speaker M Appavu at the Secretariat in Chennai. Sengottaiyan is the second MLA of the AIADMK to tender resignation this month. Earlier on November 4, PH Manoj Pandian resigned as Alangulam MLA hours after joining the DMK. While Sengottaiyan refused to disclose to the media about his future course of action, there is speculation that he may soon join actor Vijay’s political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). A Gounder like AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), his exit from the AIADMK is something that would weaken the AIADMK alliance. Initially, it was felt Sengottaiyan was headed towards DMK as he already had a word with DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin. He had also met with Stalin’s closest minister Sekarbabu. Sengottaiyan’s political decision is being viewed as an initiative pushed by Stalin to engineer splits in AIADMK, to spite EPS and Amit Shah. The rebel AIADMK leader is also known to be advised by BJP leader K Annamalai on his career moves to achieve their common goal of preventing EPS coming back as CM in Tamil Nadu.

On the back of Bihar drubbing, the Congress sent a team of senior AICC secretaries headed by Girish Raya Chodankar (AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Puducherry) to Chennai to negotiate seat-sharing with DMK for assembly elections next year. The team includes key state leaders: TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, Congress Legislature Party leader S Rajeshkumar, AICC secretaries Nivedith Alva and Suraj Hegde. The panel is expected to hit the ground running next week. Interestingly, soon after the Bihar results, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin had sent his son-in-law V Sabareesan as an emissary to meet with Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi this week. Party sources said Sabareesan had taken a letter from Stalin offering 15 seats for the Congress in the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly polls. In 2021, the Congress had contested 25 seats and had won 18. The party now has 17 legislators in its fold, after one of the MLAs, S Vijayadharani switched to the BJP in 2024. In Bihar, the Congress had contested 61 seats in an Opposition alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal. It managed to win only 6 seats. The early despatching of the AICC team to Chennai to seal an electoral pact with the DMK effectively shuts down speculation about the Congress moving towards a tie-up with the newbie TVK. This even as some individual leaders like party MP Manickam Tagore have been pushing for a tie-up with youth icon, popular actor and TVK leader Vijay.

It was a disinformation war fought on social media to mislead Tamil Nadu voters. DMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin accused the Union government of “denying” metro rail to Coimbatore and Madurai as part of revenge politics; and his post emphasised how the Centre was favouring BJP-ruled states over non-BJP states in providing metro services. Responding to Stalin’s charge, Union Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in a post on X said Stalin had “chosen to politicise” the issue and had ignored the “magnanimous sanction” made by Central government of Rs 63,246 crore for Chennai Metro Phase II for a route of 119 km, the largest ever such project approved. As for rejection of metro projects for Coimbatore and Madurai, Khattar added that the Detailed Project Reports did not comply with essential norms of the Metro Rail Policy, 2017, mandating a population threshold of two million in the urban agglomeration. The Coimbatore and Madurai proposals apparently contained the following discrepancies: (1) For lesser route length in Coimbatore than in Chennai Metro system, a higher traffic projection as compared to Chennai had been given. On the face of it appeared erroneous. (2) Projected average trip lengths and speed differentials between road traffic and the metro, did not support the expectation of a modal shift of traffic to a metro system. A miffed Stalin however felt that Tier-II cities in BJP ruled states were being favoured while opposition ruled States are deprived, is a disgraceful approach. Asserting that Tamil Nadu, the land of self-respect, will never accept a distortion of federal principles and will ensure that Tier-II cities in the state also get metros. Tamil Nadu BJP leaders like Vanathi Srinivasan asserted that Coimbatore and Madurai would get metros under AIADMK-led government post assembly polls.

It is really amazing to see that both the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu — the ruling DMK that is part of INDIA Bloc and aligned with the Congress, and  the Opposition AIADMK that is aligned with the BJP — are drawing a lot comfort from the historic verdict in Bihar which saw return of Nitish Kumar as CM for a record 10th term. Of particular interest is the way DMK leader and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, who had even travelled to Bihar in August and joined Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav in a rally against SIR of electoral rolls. Stalin was convinced that Nitish Kumar decisively won the electoral battle for “fulfilling the expectations of the people of Bihar”.  On X he tweeted “Election outcomes reflect welfare delivery, social and ideological coalitions, clear political messaging, and dedicated management until the last vote is polled. The leaders of the INDIA bloc are seasoned politicians capable of reading the message and planning strategically to address emerging challenges.”  At the same time, he felt the results cannot whitewash the misdeeds and reckless actions of the ECI. On the other hand, AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami in a X post which has a tagline “Say YES to Women Safety”, said how on Nov 14 the people of Bihar had given a fitting response to the Congress-led INDI alliance, rejecting its falsehoods and attempts to undermine the institutions of democracy. In more ways than one, the Bihar verdict had ended uncertainties about the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu. In fact, a group of AIADMK leaders were already in Patna on Nov 14 cheering for the NDA win. This is in contrast to the way Stalin had been mocking Biharis for flocking to Tamil Nadu for low skilled jobs.

Various stories are doing the rounds about why the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) poor performance in the Bihar assembly elections has brought out fissures within the Lalu Yadav’s family out in the open. Internecine feuds at this juncture clearly reflect that the legatee war over Lalu Yadav’s political legacy have begun even as the RJD patriarch is alive and kicking. It simply shows that all is not well in the RJD first family. Of Lalu’s nine children, at least five including wife Rabri Devi are known to be politically active and ambitious. However, what has not gone down well with those watching the Bihar political scene is the manner in which Lalu’s Singapore-based daughter Rohini Acharya was forced to air her differences with her brother Tejashwi. According to sources, Tejashwi had an argument with Rohini on Nov 15 afternoon. In a summary of review of the defeat, Rohini told Tejashwi that they should respond to the party workers’ protests regarding Haryana-based Sanjay Yadav. The very mention of Sanjay Yadav, a close buddy to both Tejashwi and his wife, sparked an argument between Tejashwi and Rohini. Tejaswi told Rohini, “We lost the election because of you. We are cursed by you.” During the argument, Tejashwi angrily threw a slipper at his elder sister; he also abused her. Rohini, it is learnt, wanted to campaign in every assembly constituency in Saran but she was only allowed to go to Raghopur. In July 2023, a year before the Lok Sabha elections, Tejashwi had asked Rohini to contest from Saran. Post her father’s consent she expressed desire to contest from Pataliputra but Misa was reluctant. Ultimately, it was Saran. It is being said increasingly Sanjay Yadav was uncomfortable with Rohini’s political role and sees her as a threat to Tejashwi; he had even advised Rohini to leave politics.

Nothing has come more as a shock for the Congress than its meltdown in the Bihar assembly elections. The party which had 19 MLAs in the outgoing assembly didn’t expect a wash-out particularly after Rahul Gandhi had carried out a much-hyped ‘Voters Adhikar rally’ in September, with a common slogan: “Vote chor, gaddi chhod”. Of course, party sources concede that Rahul’s yatra had not resonated on the ground. In fact, many Congress leaders believe Rahul had focussed on non-issues “like vote chori” just to divert from people’s real problems. What has come as a shock for Bihar Congress leaders is that new entrants like Asauddin Owaisi’s AIMIM seemed to have fared well in Seemanchal leading in as many five seats, quite close to Congress’s own tally of six seats. Analysing the Bihar victory, PM Modi described the overwhelming mandate for the NDA– 204 seats out 243 as a vote for vikas, for development. Modi who invoked prayers to Chhati Mayya and took on Rahul for mocking Chhath Puja. It is learnt that Rahul is in Muscat.  Sources feel Congress party’s bad performance was because it could not get good seats to contest — of the 61 seats it got to contest, 32 were such seats that the Opposition had not won for the last three decades. Bihar Congress leaders also said party managers like Krishna Allavaru were completely not briefed about the quality of seats. Some also felt inordinate delay in seat-sharing and declaring Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate may have cost the secular alliance votes. As for the rout of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress sources say people find Tejashwi Yadav too arrogant. After the Bihar rout, Congress may not find many takers in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

With the Bihar election results clearly going in favour of the NDA and meltdown of the RJD, PM Modi said, “Bihar mein RJD ko saanp soongha hua hain” and then went on to add “I said during the Bihar elections, the conflict between the two parties will soon come to the fore” Today’s victory is the beginning of a new journey. I assure you that in the coming five years, Bihar will progress at a faster pace. The world will see Bihar’s new potential. A number of Muslim women had also voted for the NDA. Modi said “With the new government, the NDA is now moving forward towards a golden journey of 25 years in Bihar. Bihar has ensured that Jungle Raj will never return to this great land of Bihar. Today’s victory belongs to the youth of Bihar whose future was ruined by the terror of Congress and the Red Flag people. Today, that Red Corridor, those days of terror, are history. Bihar is moving forward on the path of development, and this journey is not going to stop now.” He congratulated the Election Commission, security forces and the conscious voters of Bihar. The Bihar elections have proven another thing. Now, the country’s voters, especially young voters, take voter list purification very seriously. And he said he plans to take Bihar’s message of Mahila & Youth empowerment to West Bengal. It’s interesting to see how the SIR plays out in this state.

Nothing has more shaken the incumbent Modi government than the blasts near Red Fort. The blasts shook the national capital after a gap of 14 years. PM Narendra Modi, who is away on a two-day visit to Bhutan conveyed his resolve to punish those involved in the blasts. Warning that the horrific blast in Delhi on November 10 evening has deeply pained everyone. India stands with those who have suffered, PM Modi said “I assure everyone that the agencies will get to the bottom of the entire conspiracy. All those involved will be brought to justice.” He spoke both in Hindi and English from Bhutan reminding many political watchers of his utterances before Operation Sindoor. In fact, it is believed that the nation could well be on the verge of launching Operation Sindoor 2 as agencies uncover the real perpetrators. It is felt Pakistan may feel encouraged to experiment with some misadventure as it enjoys unstinted backing of the U.S. President Donald Trump. Modi has held extensive consultations with Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah has already held four meetings with security agencies. The government will not proceed with any Op Sindoor till security agencies neutralise all jihadi networks in the country. Interestingly, the Al-Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana where the suicide bomber and his colleagues worked was set up in 2015. There are also reports that Umar made trips to Tamil Nadu.

The BJP central leadership is watching with interest the tantrums that its former Tamil Nadu state president K Annamalai is throwing. Even as he dismissed reports that he may launch a new party, it seems Annamalai may not last in the BJP for long. He expressed his discontent by saying none can put a gun to one’s head and force a person to remain in a party. Annamalai has been sulking ever since Nainar Nagendran replaced him as TN BJP president in April this year. Sources in BJP headquarters say Annamalai has been working overtime to undermine Nainar and weaken the AIADMK-BJP alliance. Though he officially maintains that “the NDA should win” the 2026 Assembly elections, it is being said he is not comfortable with the idea of AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) clinching a win. He is also known to have played a role in bringing together former AIADMK leaders like VK Sasikala, KA Sengottaiyan and O Panneerselvam. More than these disparate groups of former AIADMK leaders, Annamalai’s real interest is in floating a new party and striking an alliance with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). With Vijay recently declaring that the 2026 Assembly elections would be a contest only between the TVK and the DMK, virtually writing off the AIADMK-BJP alliance, Annamalai may feel more encouraged to float his own outfit. But then the future of leaders who have quit the BJP to launch their own outfit has not been very bright. From late Kalyan Singh (UP) to BS Yediyurappa (Karnataka) to Shankersinh Vaghela (Gujarat). They have all floundered. Meanwhile, the ruling DMK is also welcoming into its fold former AIADMK leaders such as PH Manoj Pandian, son of former Speaker PH Pandian. Pandian charged AIADMK of “functioning as an extension of the BJP.”

Reports of a close contest between the NDA and Mahagathbandhan in Bihar polls have led to leaders resorting to a unique style to grab eyeballs and attention. With the last day of campaign closing in on Nov 4 for the first phase poll on Nov 6, both sides seemed to be putting their best foot forward and sharpening political attacks. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath compared the bonding of Rahul Gandhi-Tejaswi Yadav-Akhilesh Yadav to Gandhi’s three monkeys as Pappu,Tappu and Appu. Interestingly, on a day PM Modi was holding a road show in Patna (Nov 2), Rahul, away from the state capital, in Begusarai, while interacting with fishermen, jumped into the pond for fishing. He was accompanied by VIP leader Mukesh Sahani, who is also from the Nishad/fishermen community and Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Incidentally Rahul’s fishing optics seemed odd as it came in the backdrop of him charging the PM of “doing yoga asanas” for a few votes. And had warned voters that post elections all the “song and dance will be done by Adani and Ambani”. Modi, at a rally in Katihar on Nov 3, reiterated that the NDA government after being voted to power would hand out fishermen an allowance of Rs 9000. Incidentally, Lalu’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav, who heads Janshakti Janata Dal took a dig at Rahul’s fishing trip saying “Jalebi chhanna, machli pakadna, unko toh rasoiya hona chaiye tha(He makes sweets, catches fish, he should have been a cook) Why did he become a politician?”

Former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin joined the Telangana government on October 31, barely 10 days ahead of Jubilee Hills assembly by-election to be held on November 11. Azhar’s elevation as minister is being widely seen as an attempt to secure the support of Muslim community — about 1.3 lakh voters for the Congress in the high-stakes contest. Congress high command also wanted Azharuddin’s induction ahead of Bihar assembly elections. It is likely that as minister, Azhar will get a couple of days to campaign in Bihar. “Azhar’s entry will help us consolidate Muslim votes. Not just in Telangana but also in Bihar. Hyderabad MP and AIMIM leader Asauddin Owaisi, who is opposing us in Bihar has endorsed his elevation,” points out senior Congress leader Madhu Goud Yaskhi. Owaisi’s support for Azhar and the Congress is important at this stage as Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is keen to wrest the Jubilee Hills seat. Incidentally, Azhar had lost from Jubilee Hills in 2023 to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The by-election has been caused following the death of three term BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath. Even though BRS is not in a great shape at present, it has fielded Gopinath’s widow, Sunitha as its candidate hoping to cash in on a sympathy wave. As a Minister Azhar, he will enter the Telangana legislature as a MLC and that will be possible only after the Supreme Court paves the way. In August, the apex court had suspended the functioning of two MLCs, holding that their swearing-in under the governor’s quota was not valid and was based on a misinterpretation of its interim order. Meanwhile, did Azhar’s entry upset traditional Muslim leaders of the Congress? Not many leaders left anyway. Barring exception of Md Shabeer Ali, say sources.

The Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is one clear candidate in the reckoning who wishes to be elevated as the next BJP President. He is so coveting the top job that it is being said that both he and family are invoking blessings of the gods to secure it. On an official visit last week to Vellore, Tamil Nadu Chouhan was seen along with his wife Sadhna Singh offering special prayers at Sri Lakshmi Narayani Golden Temple in Vellore. The buzz in party circles is that the idea of offering prayers could probably be Sadhna Singh’s idea as she has been keen that Chouhan get more heft in his career by making a switch to an important party post. His family clearly sees that he would perhaps be wielding far more clout as BJP chief than as a member of the Modi Cabinet 3.0. As a four-term Madhya Pradesh CM and a prominent OBC face he would certainly fit the bill. Chouhan had also met with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Officially Chouhan has maintained that he “never ever thought of nor has anyone told me.  I can’t even think of it. I am the Agriculture and Rural Development Minister. I am doing this work like worship. Serving farmers is worship of God for me and I want to keep doing this worship.” He moved to the Centre as a Union Minister only after securing Madhya Pradesh for a record fifth time in 2023 assembly polls. In Vellore, he participated in Maha Chandi Havan for world peace.

Both Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar (DKS) are locked in an intense battle to wrest control of the State. Siddaramaiah fancies he will continue as the CM because of the loyalty and support of the majority of 138 elected Congress MLAs in 224 member House. DKS feels he should be the CM since as PCC chief he had ensured that the Congress swept to power in the 2023 assembly elections. Besides, DKS is confident that High Command will back him. It may be recalled when he was jailed in a ED case and Sonia Gandhi had visited him in Tihar.  If DKS plays the High Command card, Siddaramaiah is no push over either. As a CM, he is dangling the Cabinet reshuffle card to keep MLAs by his side. He also used his MLC son Dr Yathindra to prop up PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi — a tribal leader — as an ideological heir to his father. Jarkiholi was apparently used as a perfect foil to block AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge who is now very keen to become the CM. It is being said DKS has assured Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge, who is state IT minister to back him and has assured him that he could become Deputy CM in his team. It is being said Karnataka drama would play out only after November 14– that is after Bihar poll results. Meanwhile, the political struggle of oneupmanship between DKS and Siddaramaiah has brought Karnataka administration to a standstill. Siddaramaiah who favours Mysuru over Bengaluru, doesn’t care much for the software capital of India.

Barely a week is left for campaigning for the first phase of election in Bihar to end on November 4 and the first phase of voting is slated for November 6. However, former Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has not visited Bihar even once in the last two months. Rahul was last seen in Bihar on September 1 while concluding his ‘Voters’ Adhikar Yatra’.  With his Vote Chori campaign not making much impact with voters in the state, it appears Rahul has steered away from the state. Rahul’s absence from the political scene has also become a talking point for the ruling alliance. Mocking him for his claims to explode a hydrogen bomb (by giving further proof of vote theft), JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar wondered why Rahul was avoiding Bihar. “That too at a time when all the top leaders, be it PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, several Union Ministers and even RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav have been tirelessly campaigning for their respective nominees.” For once Rahul Gandhi’s critics may have a valid point. That is because in the election season even Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is not keeping good health, has been addressing one rally after another to shore up the winning chances of the NDA nominees. “We too are perplexed over the long absence of Rahul”, said a NDA leader. Notably, the Congress is contesting on 61 seats while the RJD 143. Sources in the Congress say Rahul is reportedly miffed with the way seat-sharing was done in Bihar. It is being said Rahul Gandhi would be addressing a joint rally with Tejashwi Yadav on October 29 in Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur.

The Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is working out of the War Room. That’s because PM Modi has asked him to ensure super arrangements for the annual Chhath festival in Eastern India, which coincides with Skanda Sasti in Tamil Nadu falling on October 27-28. All trains to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are full because families are returning to their villages to celebrate this festival. Outside some stations in many states, nearly 2 km long queues of travellers have been seen. Indian Railways has made arrangements to run 13,000 special trains, but these are unable to cope with the rush. As Bihar goes to elections soon after the festival, Modi told the Railway Minister to ensure everything runs smoothly. So, Vaishnaw is sitting in the three war rooms at Rail Bhavan to monitor crowd management and train locations. These three war rooms monitor the movement of crowds at 35 top stations round the clock using CCTV cameras. Minute-to-minute data are being prepared, and a heat map is being developed. Every hour, footfall in at least 35 stations is recorded. Special trains are immediately sent to stations where huge crowds are noticed. In one case, when the minister noticed a huge rush at Ambala station in Haryana for a train going from Amritsar to Purnea, another train was dispatched from Jalandhar to accommodate extra passengers. Crowds were also noticed in Surat and Udhna stations in Gujarat. More than five million people travelled during Diwali and Chhath this year compared to last year. The only difference this time is that Indian Railways is trying its best to take care of travellers.

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? 

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.

Even before the Mahagathbandhan — coalition of RJD, the Congress and CPI(M-L) parties — could clinch a deal on the number of seats it would contest in Bihar, allegations were flying thick and fast about sums of money that were being charged for declaring candidates in the Congress. Even as the party released its first list of 48 candidates, there were chaotic scenes at Patna airport on October 15 evening after Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram, Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru, and senior leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan returned from Delhi following seat-sharing discussions. Shakeel Ahmed Khan was surrounded by the protesting crowd before he managed to escape in his car. Some protesters claimed that Congress leaders had sold tickets for Rs 5 crore. Were such sums of money really paid to get a single assembly seat? Party sources concede that seats like Buxar where Congress chief Kharge wanted to change the sitting MLA Sanjay Kumar Tiwari at the CEC meeting because enough crowds had not turned up for his meeting had to be reversed. So was the decision to replace incumbent Kishenganj MLA — but then he didn’t ultimately figure in the first list of 48 MLAs. At the same time, party sources say Bihar Congress workers were feeling terribly frustrated that the party tickets were being given for a price. It was being said that Rahul Gandhi’s activism in the state and the Voter Rights Yatra had raised expectations of Congress leaders and workers in Bihar. State Congress in-charge Allavaru’s efforts to identify three to four potential candidates for candidacy on nearly all seats in the state had raised lots of hopes. Ticket contenders had spent lakhs of rupees from their own resources, but now they have been left in the lurch, and more importantly Allavaru had also failed to answer their phones.

After much speculation, the Central Govt cleared Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s foreign travel on October 14. However, the MEA removed Saudi Arabia from Vijayan’s itinerary. Initially Vijayan had appeared sceptical about whether he would get the Centre’s nod for the official trip. For obvious reasons, the opposition Congress has assailed Vijayan’s Gulf tour as “a political stunt “aimed at influencing the assembly elections” due in May next year. Congress leader Cherian Philip alleged that Vijayan was touring the Gulf to raise election funds at the behest of the ruling CPM. Philip said the government had dipped into the “cash-strapped State treasury” to fund the CM’s overseas trip to mobilise funds at the behest of ruling CPI(M).It is interesting to note that Vijayan will be visiting Gulf countries which are home to the Lulu Group, which has been close to the Marxists and has preferred to invest in Kerala as well as the rest of India.

Finally, some news to cheer. Google announced it would invest a whopping $15 billion (approx. Rs 1.34 lakh crore) in India over the next five years (2026-2030), the biggest to date in the country. The announcement was made at the Bharat AI Shakti event hosted by Google in New Delhi on October 14. This was revealed in the presence of Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw (IT), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and Google Cloud Chief Thomas Kurian. The tech giant revealed that it will open India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub in Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), touted to be the company’s biggest such centre outside the U.S. Ahead of the announcement, Sundar Pichai had held talks with PM Modi about the opening of an AI Hub in India. The Google AI Hub in Visakhapatnam represents a landmark investment in India’s digital future. “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to the Indian and U.S. governments to harness AI responsibly and drive transformative impact for society,” said Kurian. In addition to the new international subsea gateway, Google AI will connect with multiple international subsea cables in Visakhapatnam on India’s eastern coast. This will connect to Google’s more than two million miles of existing terrestrial and subsea cables. This will establish Visakhapatnam as an AI and connectivity hub that not only serves India but the rest of the world. Once operational, it will join Google’s network of existing AI data centres that spans 12 countries. In a post on X, PM Modi cheered the launch of AI Hub as something that aligns with “our vision to build a Viksit Bharat and hoped it would secure India’s place as a global technology leader!”

After successfully pushing through GST-2 reforms, PM Modi had been looking for innovative ideas for governance. It was this search for ideas to further fuel his Viksit Bharat that led to him to interact with about 85 secretary-level officers of the government on October 6. About two dozen secretary-level officers heading various ministries and departments actively participated in the discussions. It is learnt officers were thrilled with the personal interaction they had with the PM. Three days after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan was already acting on their suggestions. On October 9, he wrote to the secretaries and asked them to roll out their ideas. Among the key points of action was promoting “indigenous development” of digital and social media platforms. The directive on digital platforms is significant as the number of internet subscribers in India as on March 2025 stood at 969.1 million, with most using foreign platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and X. Significantly, PM Modi pushed for use of local platforms coinciding with the launch of Arattai, the messaging app developed by Tamil Nadu-based Zoho Corporation. Earlier, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X that he was switching to Zoho’s homegrown office suite software. Likewise, Home Minister Amit Shah too switched his official email service to Zoho Mail. In his letter, the Cabinet Secretary had also dissuaded ministries/departments from avoidable litigation and filing unnecessary court cases and wasting resources. Officials were also told to reorient PhD programmes to promote innovation and development of new ideas, and technologies, through topics that fit the emerging needs of the country – and conceptualise awards at the international level to recognise excellence in various fields. Overall, the ministries have been asked to promote “Atmanirbharta” and reduce imports.