Rahul Gandhi is upset with the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief Selvaperunthagai and wants him to resign after polling in the state. From the face of it the TNCC chief is being hauled up for a translation fiasco.  That is Selvaperunthagai is supposed to have misrepresented Rahul while translating his speech. At a public rally when Rahul by mistake said AIADMK instead of DMK, the TNCC chief also parroted the same line without correcting it to alliance partner, DMK. When his gaffe became viral, Rahul got livid and asked the TNCC chief to stay put in his Sriperumbudur constituency. Party circles in Tamil Nadu are however not convinced that Rahul has taken a harsh view of Selva for gaffe. The buzz in the TN Congress circles is that Selvaperunthagai is being punished for something bigger — the loss of huge sums of election funds that the TN PCC had received. Party bosses see Selvaperunthagai’s alleged role in “missing” election funds – around Rs 25 crore. In fact, it was this hunt for funds that made Selvaperunthagai fake an Income-tax raid on April 20 morning. When I-T denied it had not raided him, he had nowhere to hide his face. The only person who came in support of his fake I-T raid was chief minister M K Stalin. As for Rahul Gandhi he set off on his own for a rally at Colachel, Kanyakumari without the TNCC chief.  It is being said Rahul has come to deeply mistrust the DMK; he has not shared any rally with the ally, nor mentioned DMK’s name in course of his speech. He apparently suspects DMK has purchased Congress men in Tamil Nadu.

The fall of the 131st Constitutional Amendment  (Women Reservation Bill) in the Lok Sabha last week and the BJP ratcheting up attack on the Opposition for not helping in its passage —  complete with PM Modi’s address to the nation, street protests in Delhi and outside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence – is not helping ordinary BJP karykarta in Bengal fighting the Trinamool Congress (TMC). In fact, BJP sources are quite puzzled as to why PM Modi tried to even bring a women’s quota bill at this juncture in the midst of Bengal polls. That too, when the government was aware it was set to fall? What was the big idea? Atleast in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) is able to take pot shots at DMK leader M K Stalin for putting the state at a disadvantage in the delimitation gamble. In Bengal, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has gone on a disinformation overdrive. It was as if the defeat of the women’s quota bill had given a new lease of life to the TMC. Her campaign has naturally upset the BJP leaders and workers. Mamata, who was fighting with her back to the wall as she had begun to sense hostilities to the TMC among the Hindus, used the defeat of the Bill to describe it as “beginning of BJP’s downfall”. At a rally in Howrah, Didi went on to portray that the BJP had been “defeated” and was surviving in office only with the support of its allies. She was clearly trying to scare potential BJP voters by portraying that the national party no longer mattered in Delhi. Meanwhile senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot too suggested that the government ought to seek a fresh mandate on the gender issue.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may be the target of government’s ire for sabotaging the Women’s Reservation Bill. He may also be the visible face for Opposition Unity that helped defeat the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill. However, beyond the facade of political brinkmanship, there are reports that the Leader of the Opposition ( LoP) in the Lok Sabha was not actually immersed in out manoeuvring the Modi government. Apparently on the crucial day of formulating a strategy, Rahul was distracted – NOT engrossed — in the political discussions at the first meeting of Opposition leaders held on April 15, a day ahead of the Parliament special session, at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence. It is being said Rahul was so focussed on his pet dog whom he had brought along and was playing in the lawns outside. It wasn’t not clear if the dog was Noorie, a Jack Russell Terrier puppy, that he had picked from Goa in 2023 or Pidi that really had got on the nerves of Himanta Biswas Sarma. Kharge certainly had anxious moments as the dog was getting restless in the lawn. After a couple of minutes into the meeting, even Rahul could not keep himself away from his pet. It was apparently his day to spend time with his pet.  Soon the canine was ushered into the meeting of leaders. With the presence of the dog in the meeting, most Opposition leaders felt uncomfortable and decided to wind down. It almost seemed like a redux of how Himanta Sarma had reportedly felt when he had to interact with Rahul in presence of his pet dog Pidi about a decade ago.

Opposition leaders who voted out the Constitution (131st) Amendment Bill providing for 33% reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha by 230 votes are somewhat perplexed by the government move to have allowed the bill to flounder on the floor of the House. Opposition benches felt the government had made no effort to reach out to them to secure passage of the Bill. “It was quite clear as if the government just wanted to make only a political point about the defeat of the Bill on women’s reservation…They made no effort to reach out to us, the Opposition,” pointed out a senior Kerala leader. Political analysts feel the government was simply not interested in passage of the Bills, was content with 298 votes and was fishing for a strong political message ahead of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal elections. Now the defeat of the women’s quota bill has provided the perfect handle for the BJP to carry a political message to woo women voters in these two states. There may be thousands of ambitious women panchayat members in these states who may have hoped to move up the ladder with gender quota coming up. However, that possibility has been crushed at least for now by both M K Stalin and Mamata Banerjee.  Of course, incumbent Tamil Nadu chief minister Stalin sees defeat of the Centre’s women’s quota bill as DMK’s triumph over the Centre. In his reply in Lok Sabha debate, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah said “Some may think that if they do not vote for this, the Women’s Reservation Bill will fall. But the women of this country are watching who is creating obstacles in their path. When you go to the ground, you will realise it.”

Nitish Kumar stepped down as Bihar CM within a couple of months after being elected for the 10th term as the state’s longest-serving leader — he has been CM since 2000. His exit surprised a number of his close associates. The JD(U) won 85 seats in the November 2025 elections which was a vast improvement from its 2020 tally of 43 seats. It was only marginally behind the BJP’s tally of 89 seats. Yet, for some reason the BJP had made it clear right from the start that it would lead the government even though the election was won in the name of Nitish as CM. It has also been a surprise that there was no serious resistance from top JD(U)leaders to the idea of Nitish being eased out. Which means it was not just the idea of Delhi cabal – Lalan Singh and Sanjay Jha—who were implementing wishes of the BJP game plan drawn up by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, everyone in the JD(U) too had fallen in line. Maybe the buzz about Nitish ‘s indifferent health may have persuaded the JD(U) cadre to accept the move. Nitish has of course resisted pushing his son Nishant into politics — though the son has joined the party. It is being said that the elevation of deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, an OBC (Khushwaha) as the Bihar CM, is being viewed as a perfect transition and successor to Nitish. Samrat essentially comes from the RJD or the Janata parivar mould; he does not belong to the RSS. As for Nitish, it is being said he may not rush for any role at the Centre and is likely to continue as Rajya Sabha MP. As such party leader Harivansh has been appointed as President’s nominee to Rajya Sabha. He is expected to continue as Deputy Chairman of the House.

It seems Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been very reluctant to canvas in Tamil Nadu which goes to polls on April 23. Party sources admit that Rahul has been so upset with the few seats – 28 — given by the DMK that he has not been responding to phone calls from the DMK. The DMK leadership has been keen to have Rahul Gandhi participate in a joint rally of leaders of   Secular Progressive Alliance in Salem on April 15. DMK picked Salem to showcase secular alliance as PM Modi has visited the place three times and three more visits are in the pipeline. Unfortunately for the DMK, Rahul refuses to take any call from Arivalayam. Keen to solve the imbroglio, DMK bosses have put party MP and actor Kamal Hasan to work on Rahul to attend the   Salem rally.  So far the only high profile leader who has shared a public forum with DMK Chief M K Stalin is Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar who was in Chennai to release the party manifesto. Both Stalin and DKS had a joint campaign on April 11 in Chengalpattu.  It is not just Rahul Gandhi who has not officially endorsed the DMK-Congress alliance. Even his close aide Praveen Chakravarty has been found speaking out against the tie-up and how the Congress deserved more than two dozen seats it had been given. It is being said a section of TN Congress leaders apparently favoured a tie-up with actor Vijay’s TVK. Party sources said Rahul has been so miffed with the DMK that even in Puducherry when both he and Stalin were there in the Union Territory   around the same time, they did not deem it fit to either meet up or hold a joint rally. It remains to be seen if Kamal Hasan succeeds in breaking the ice.

In a bizarre move, a day after Kerala polling, BJP leaders, a father-son duo P C George and Shaun George launched a scathing attack on the Catholic Church accusing it of working against the NDA in the assembly elections. In what seemed like an exercise to cover up for their own failure in reaching out to the Christians in the state, the Georges attacked the Church for “letting them down”. Shaun’s attack particularly surprised BJP circles in Delhi as the duo were considered far too influential and vested with a lot of importance by BJP Kerala chief Rajeev Chandrashekhar. “So why were the Georges shifting the blame on the Church that too even before May 4 poll results? Are they covering up for their lapses? Sources said if the Church went against NDA, it was only because of the way P C George has been campaigning against the Catholic priests. Son Shaun said he expected the Catholic Church to back the NDA parties for the government’s gesture of pausing the FCRA bill. Well the quid pro quo did not happen. P C George too took on the clergy for personally intervening to canvas votes for the UDF candidate in his Poojnar assembly seat; he sought to know if Church was part of the UDF. More than the Georges, what is worrying the BJP is the fate of NDA candidate from Thiruvalla –Anoop Anthony Joseph — whom PM Modi had personally endorsed as his “dedicated companion” and “right hand man”. It is felt that because of the Georges’ attack on Church and clergy, Anoop could face the heat. Besides, Anoop is also up against the son of a Catholic priest. Will PM Modi’s endorsement for the Keralam boy clinch the seat for him? Only time will tell.

The Election Commission has been quite satisfied with the kind of record polling for the General elections for the Legislative Assemblies (GELA) for Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. There was much cheer particularly for the kind of polling that was witnessed in the Union Territory of Puducherry and Kerala where Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list was carried out. Assam was excluded from SIR ahead of April 9 polls as an NRC exercise in the state is yet to conclude. Nevertheless, Assam and Puducherry surpassed their highest-ever poll-participation by recording 85.38% and 89.83% respectively. Previously, the highest poll-participation in Assam and Puducherry was 84.67% (2016 GELA) and 86.19% (2011 GELA) .  Political analysts concede that it is only natural that SIR — deletion of dead voters or bogus voters — was bound to bump up voter turnout. Inclusion of genuine voters is also known to have a positive impact on poll outcome.  However, in Puducherry it is just not SIR that boosted voting. Entry of    superstar Vijay or the TVK factor is being viewed as an incentive for voting. Though not allowed to campaign in Tamil Nadu by the DMK state machinery, it is being said Vijay still remains popular among women and youth. DMK is so rattled by Vijay’s appeal among women that it had not only been sabotaging his rallies in the state but also sent out its women workers to do door-to-door campaigns in Tamil Nadu against Vijay. The EC took firm action against the excesses of DGP and other senior police officials in TN by transferring them as it did in West Bengal after receiving complaints both from the AIADMK and the TVK.

Assam Police conducted searches at Congress leader Pawan Khera’s residence in Delhi on April 7, a day after a FIR was filed against him by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan over allegations of passport fraud he levelled against her. Searches were carried with aid of Delhi Police. It is being said Khera had left for Hyderabad a day earlier—that is as soon as he learnt that a FIR had been filed against him in Guwahati. The search yielded some “Incriminating material” said the Assam Police. All this led Assam CM to claim that Khera had “run away to Hyderabad”, while Congress hit back saying the searches prove that the CM was “facing imminent defeat” in the upcoming assembly polls on April 9.  Congress sources said even though Telangana CM Revanth Reddy was in Kerala for election work, Khera had a home in Hyderabad and enough clout to secure legal cover for himself. Privately, however, many Congress leaders were not comfortable with the idea of raking up a controversy over Sarma’s wife’s passport. The Congress had held two press conferences in Delhi and Guwahati on April 5 where the party’s media department head, Pawan Khera, and Assam unit chief, Gaurav Gogoi, alleged that Sarma’s wife had passports of the UAE, Egypt, and Antigua and Barbuda. They alleged she owns properties in Dubai (UAE) and has a company in Wyoming (U.S.). They accused Riniki Bhuyan of having business interests worth Rs 52,000 crore in the U.S. Sarma accused the Congress of using documents from a social media group linked to Pakistan to forge alleged passports of three countries belonging to his wife. As for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, he wanted a clarification from EAM S Jaishankar on multiple passports of Bhuyan.

In an interesting move TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee charged DMK chief M K Stalin of having tacit understanding with the BJP. This is outrageous, considering the DMK is part of the anti-BJP INDIA bloc that Mamata associates with according to her convenience. The West Bengal CM has been an all-weather friend of the BJP when it suits her.  Like she was part of the Vajpayee government. Maybe just as the DMK too was. However, Mamata felt quite comfortable taking a swipe at Stalin at a public rally in her state this week. The moot point is why did Didi suddenly find Stalin to be BJP friendly? While four states and a Union Territory headed to the hustings in the next few weeks, Mamata feels the Election Commission which she terms as “BJP stooge”, had only targeted bureaucrats close to her for punitive action. The EC had sent many of Bengal’s IAS and IPS officers to TN. She found that several officers including those instrumental in local law enforcement and development initiatives, had been sent to TN as observers. She alleged that out of 510 officers removed as observers across five poll-bound territories, a staggering 500 (approximately) were drafted from Bengal alone. “What are you thinking? Outsiders from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will come and (conduct the) vote?” she asked. Meanwhile, as the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance and the AIADMK-led NDA battle it out in TN, DMK surprised political watchers by the way it handled the SIR exercise in the state. It did not make a song and dance of SIR, the DMK simply took it in its stride. This may have led an old ally like the TMC to suspect it of being a friend of the BJP!

⁠Union Home Minister Amit Shah is so convinced that the BJP is in a position to defeat Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal that he wants to concentrate more on the state than in Tamil Nadu. Once elections are over in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on April 9, Shah will spend more than two weeks in Bengal. PM Modi is likely to address two rallies within a week. The BJP has pressed a battery of leaders into action, hoping to unseat the TMC government. “A number of our senior leaders are camping in the state, and more are set to join once the elections in Assam are over…”  says a senior BJP leader. Work is being carried out in silos — at the level of both assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJP has divided West Bengal into nine zones, each zone is being handled by senior leaders, including ministers such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Nityanand Rai, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Sanjay Jaiswal, and Nishikant Dubey. Most of the leaders deployed so far are from Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, among others.”The fact that Amit Shah ji has himself announced that he will campaign and stay in West Bengal for 15 days shows the party’s commitment and seriousness,” a senior leader said. The BJP is also making sure to counter any ‘negative narrative’ by the TMC to ensure such a depiction does not affect its prospects. For instance, soon after Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP would ban fish, meat, and even eggs if it came to power, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar claimed that Bengal’s next CM from the BJP will be a ‘non-vegetarian’ when it comes to food habits. Shah has said, “I have a shortcut for bringing change to the state. Just make Suvendu Adhikari win from Bhabanipur (against Mamata), and the change is bound to happen.”

Raghav Chadha had been the AAP’s face on national media for years now, but recently the MP came into prominence for taking up “quality-of-life issues”, most of which largely concerned the middle- and upper-middle class. Each of his interventions in the Rajya Sabha was crisp in its own way. Chadha, a technocrat with good communication skills, knew exactly how to highlight them. He has 123 lakh followers on Instagram, and almost 10-lakh on X. He went on to become the Aam Aadmi Party’s leader of the House, and later the deputy with the return of senior colleague Sanjay Singh. It may seem odd that the AAP has stripped Chadha of his post as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. It is being said that Arvind Kejriwal suspected that Chadha may shift to the BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections. Kejriwal noticed Chadha was not critical of PM Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah. He hasn’t been very vociferous on issues against the BJP. Besides he was found missing in action when AAP may have needed him most. Like when Kejriwal was arrested Chadha was in the UK for eye surgery. Chadha was also absent at the recent “Jan Sabha” at Jantar Mantar, which was Kejriwal’s first public address following his discharge, along with Delhi’s former deputy CM Manish Sisodia. But Chadha has been far from idle and was always present and voluble in Parliament. Chadha campaigned against high samosa-and-chai prices at the airport. Nobody likes paying Rs 350 for a samosa and Rs 150 for a cup of chai. It is an issue that affects at best 5% of people in India who can afford to travel by air. Yet oddly, the government began to work on Chadha’s ideas. Within weeks of his raising the issue, UDAN Yatri cafes opened at 17 airports which offered samosas and tea for Rs 20 and Rs 10, respectively.

With less than two weeks to go for the Kerala Assembly polls on April 9, party workers are intensely praying in Delhi that the Congress decisively wins this election. Prayers for a UDF win is to ensure that powerful AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal — perceived to be the root cause of all problems plaguing the party — moves to his home turf as CM. The Alappuzha Lok Sabha MP had reportedly paved the way for his own career switch by dominating the state candidate list. Majority of the 95 Congress MLAs for 140 assembly seats were picked by him. A sizable section also owe loyalty to senior leader Ramesh Chennithala. A handful of tickets have been given to the most popular CM face — LoP, V D Satheesan. Party sources said if Congress wins, Venugopal is likely to persuade Rahul Gandhi to send him to Thirvanathapuram as CM. “The only thing that may deny Congress a sweep is that we fear Muslims are still not comfortable with us. They suspect we have a pro-Christian bias. Of course, this time all our CM contenders are Nairs. Era of A K Anthony, Oomen Chandy, the league of Christian leaders from Congress is over…yet we found the Muslims were moving away and falling back on Pinarayi Vijayan,” conceded a top Cong source. Of course, the UDF has a long standing alliance with IUML. Besides there is a tacit understanding between the BJP and CPI(M) with the former relying on its NDA ally in Kerala —Twenty20 Party (active in Ernakulam)—to take on the UDF. Meanwhile, former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurian stirred some interest by suggesting that Ramesh Chennithala would be the CM. Later Kurian conceded that he had made the remark as Chennithala had just walked into the meeting. “I am aware everything will be decided by Rahulji,” he said.

After the Congress roped in Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar (DKS) as a central observer for Assam polls, the BJP initially felt the compulsion to rush in Tejasvi Surya, the young MP from Bangalore South to counter the narratives for the ruling party in Assam. However, DKS who initially felt there was “a strong wind in favour of a change,” in the North Eastern State, going to polls on April 9, changed his opinion after a first-hand assessment. One visit to Guwahati made the senior Karnataka leader change his mind. He felt there was no need to spend precious “resources” on campaigns and candidates. He shared his views with top party bosses including Priyanka Gandhi who is handling the poll-bound state. With steady erosion of Congress leaders who were seen making a beeline to join the BJP, DKS found the Congress organisation itself in a precarious position. Exit of a Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi just ahead of elections to 126 assembly seats was a clear indication that the rot had set in. The BJP has set the target to form the government for the third term with CM Himanta Sarma at the helm. By making DKS an important part of the Congress battle in Assam, the party had sought to highlight the commitment of a Congressman. Despite differences with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, DKS had not betrayed Congress. The Congress wanted to contrast DKS’s commitment to Congress with Himanta Sharma who had quit the Congress to join the BJP in 2015 and became Assam CM in 2021. It also wanted to highlight the success story of Karnataka under Congress. However, with non-fulfilment of guarantees in Karnataka, the Congress will find it difficult to hard sell the Karnataka model in Assam. With or without DKS.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has reportedly emerged as a trouble shooter of sorts for the Congress both in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, considering the way he managed to salvage and seal Congress-DMK deal for the Puducherry Assembly elections on the last day of filing nominations on March 23. While the Congress will contest in 16 constituencies, the DMK will fight on 14 seats. The understanding comes after days of hard bargaining by the two parties. Both had even filed nominations for all seats triggering a new level of tension. In the 2021 assembly polls, Congress fought 14 seats but had won only six while its ally, the DMK fought 13 and won 2. The All India N R Congress-BJP alliance had captured power. The fallout of the Puducherry settlement is that there are huge queues of ticket seekers at Chidambaram’s residence in Nungambakkam residence, TN. It is all because he is seen as someone who has the ear of Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief M K Stalin. This notwithstanding the fact that Rahul Gandhi has never cared much for the senior leader. Party sources said it is another matter TNCC chief Selvaperunthugai is also a Chidambaram pick.  However, a section of TN leaders are apparently livid that the Congress sealed an electoral alliance with the DMK. These are pro TVK leaders and have lashed out against Chidambaram for sealing a pact with the DMK. Initially the DMK offered less than Congress’s 2021 tally of 25 seats. The Congress was persistent and often loud in criticism and demanding share in power, leveraging on the possibility of aligning with actor Vijay’s TVK. Ultimately the DMK offered 28 seats, and a Rajya Sabha ticket to the Congress.

The AIADMK finalised its seat-sharing arrangement with allies –the NDA — for the April 23 Assembly elections, by allotting 27 seats to the BJP. Under the pact, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will contest 18 seats, while the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) 11 seats. The agreement was signed at the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai in the presence of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). With merely a week to go for the filing of nominations Tamil Nadu BJP in-charge Goyal arrived in Chennai on March 23 to expedite the process of talks among the constituents of the NDA, headed by the AIADMK in the state. Goyal not only reached Chennai, he also made it a point to visit AIADMK party headquarters where the NDA alliance under EPS’s leadership was announced. The visit of a senior BJP leader to AIADMK headquarters not only sent the “right kind” of message about the NDA alliance, it also busted a few myths. A section of the media was critical about the NDA alliance being worked out in Delhi; it panned EPS’s visit to Delhi to meet and discuss with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to draw a roadmap for the NDA alliance. In his interaction with the media, EPS made it clear that he had no inhibition about interacting with anyone in Delhi. Political analysts in Chennai found EPS being very confident about the way he handled his alliance. In fact, by including every shade of opinion and community like AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran and PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, EPS could be holding the key to a rainbow coalition of OBC castes. As for the DMK led secular alliance, one hears its talks with the CPI (M) have hit a roadblock over one seat.

With barely a few days left for nominations to close for Puducherry assembly elections (Mar 23), Congress leaders were hoping for a miracle. They were hoping that there would be some electoral arrangement with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the Union Territory. This seemed possible as the party in power — All India N R Congress — sent a message to its partner BJP that it could go alone in the polls. The CM’s Congress colleagues were keen that he break away from the NDA and return to the Congress fold. Jose Charles Martin, the son of lottery tycoon Santiago Martin, had launched his own political party — Latchiya Jananayaga Katchi. But the CM was not keen to include anyone with a lottery background. The CM raised everyone’s hopes in the Congress in TN as he played truant. He had avoided meeting Union Minister Mansukh Mandviya in Puducherry. However, Home Minister Amit Shah ensured all outstanding issues were sorted out and the alliance for 30 seats was finally sealed on March 20. Meanwhile, it is being said Rahul Gandhi has not publicly endorsed the DMK-Congress alliance in TN; it is quite likely that he may not campaign for the alliance. With his close aide Praveen Chakravarty renewing contacts with Vijay, there is a possibility that there could be an informal understanding between the Congress and the TVK in select constituencies in the state. However, more than TN it is the contest in Kerala that is posing a challenge for the Congress. Party sources say return of the Left Front for a record third term is now inevitable with the Congress trailing a good 2% behind. With group clashes coming to the fore, party men feel Kerala can be reclaimed only if the Congress projects a different CM — say a Shashi Tharoor!

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman was replying to the debate in Lok Sabha on the ‘Supplementary Demands for Grants – Second Batch for 2025-26’. Being a Friday, with Private Members’ Business scheduled for the later part of the day, she was hard pressed for time. At the same time that did not stop her from addressing issues raised by MPs of small parties like RSP leader N K Premachandran (Kerala) or Chandrashekhar Azad “Ravan” (chief of Aazad Samaj Party,UP).  Sitharaman took up the matter of Premachandran censuring the government for providing emergency situations like the current West Asia crisis. “It is ironic that even when I am talking about how the government is preparing to face any unexpected events, including supply chain disruptions and LPG, they (Opposition) are not willing to hear the reply. They want to have their own agenda. Sit on the stairs and have chai and talk about LPG. This is our Opposition,” FM said. With Azad, Sitharaman fact-checked his complaints about lack of amenities for his voters and reeled off data to counter him. However, the best part was when she informed the House how Vidur, the wise man of Mahabharat – paternal uncle to the warring brothers Pandavas and Kauravas had settled down in Azad’s constituency. “Azad ji, I do not know why you are using Ravan in your name. Guess, Vidur would be more appropriate,” she suggested. Meanwhile, on the LPG situation the government made it clear that there have been no reports of dry-out situations at any of the 25,000 LPG distributorship in the country. Though there has been surge in the number of LPG bookings on account of panic buying. Daily bookings have increased from average 55.7 lakh to 76 lakh.

Ever since the DMK and the Congress firmed up their alliance for upcoming the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, the BJP leadership in Delhi is keen that superstar Vijay and his party – the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) — should be part of  the NDA in Tamil Nadu. Reportedly, over the weekend, Andhra Pradesh deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, who is also an actor, did share his own experience of ploughing the lonely furrow. Kalyan had gone alone to the polls with Janasena Party in 2019. He impressed upon TVK chief Vijay…what the prospect of the TVK would be if he were to join the NDA alliance. What it could mean for TN politics in this round of assembly elections — Vijay’s dream of routing the DMK would now become achievable. He could become deputy CM like him or achieve the status of what the late DMDK chief Vijaykanth had achieved in 2011. “As of now the AIADMK led BJP already has an edge in the polls. However, if Vijay’s TVK joins the NDA, the alliance will sweep the polls. Maybe it will win 200 out of 234 seats”, said an analyst. Meanwhile, the DMK has got so desperate about a comeback that it has even begun to widely publicise the community — Dalit fisherman — of a Rajya Sabha MP candidate it is going to elect on March 16. While joining NDA may help Vijay to sort out Karur tangle straight away, it is being said there are elements in TVK like his close aide John Arokiyasami who may not like him to team up with the NDA. John is an ex-associate of Prashant Kishor from his I-PAC days.

In an unusual move on March 7, President Droupadi Murmu visited Bidhannagar in Phansidewa, Darjeeling district and planted a tree at Bidhannagar Santoshini Vidyachakra School Gate. It was to be the venue of the International Santal Conference. For some reason the West Bengal Govt refused to give permission for the Conference to be held in the Adivasi majority area and wanted it to be held at a distant congested site near Bagdogra airport. President Murmu travelled more than 30km to Bidhannagar to meet with the Adivasi people. Refusing to get bogged down by the lack of protocol — President Murmu was not received by the CM or Chief Secretary or a senior minister, President Murmu aired her anguish over the manner in which she was humiliated among her very own people — the Santals in Bengal. She attacked  the state apparatus that changed the venue of the Santal Conference at the last minute so that fewer people could attend. Exposing anti-Adivasi mindset of the Bengal Govt, President said, “They chose a place for the conference where the Santal people couldn’t go. Protocol demands that if the President visits a place, she should be accompanied by the CM or ministers. “It is still not clear why Mamata was discourteous to President Murmu? Is it because of the buzz that the state could be placed under President’s Rule ahead of the assembly polls? What set off the buzz is that the state has got a no-nonsense new governor, R N Ravi from Tamil Nadu where he was being made a hot poll issue by the DMK. But then a President Rule is exactly what Mamata will want. As it will help her play the victim card. Like her broken limb had helped her swing the last elections. But then why would the Centre fall for her bait?

Choosing to make a statement on his personal life ahead of Tamil Nadu assembly elections, TVK (Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam) chief Vijay decided to bring his status with actor Trisha out of the closet. He chose to attend a wedding reception in Chennai with Trisha amid his on-going divorce case with wife Sangeetha Sornalingam. Images of him and Trisha arriving at the wedding, dressed in twinning traditional outfits have apparently gone viral. It is being said Vijay’s decision to go public about his relation with co-actor Trisha could have been inspired by the way his wife Sangeetha levelled charges of adultery, infidelity and mental cruelty against him. She accused him of having an extra-marital relationship with an actor, without naming Trisha. Politically, the divorce case filed in Dec 2025, seems to be caught in the shadow-boxing between Vijay and TN deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin. The buzz is that it was Udhayanidhi who got details about wife’s petition in a district court and had it leaked to the Chennai media in the run-up to the assembly polls. TVK leaders feel the leak of the divorce of the news was more an effort by the DMK’s dirty-tricks department to harm Vijay’s fan base among women voters. It is felt the deputy CM may be disappointed now that the divorce news is not impacting Vijay’s following among women. As of now, nothing seems to be working on the women voters who get euphoric when Vijay arrives on the scene. The women in the state apparently don’t  care about Vijay’s status with Trisha or his wife, he remains  popular with them.

When Nitish Kumar, JDU president and Bihar Chief Minister, filed the nomination papers for the March 16 Rajya Sabha election on March 5 making a big shift from the Assembly to the Parliament after two decades of leading the Bihar Govt there was a sense of unease. On X, Nitish gave a very odd reason to quit the state political scene. He said wanted to become a Rajya Sabha MP after having been a MLA, MLC and Lok Sabha MP. It is being said that the JDU chief who has been elected as Bihar CM for 10 terms, had begun to feel the pressure to move on soon after the November 2025 Bihar assembly polls. JDU sources concede that Nitish’s fate was written into the script of Bihar results. Collapse of the RJD at the hustings, where it won a humble 25 seats, left Nitish with very little option to do a flip-flop or do a paltu ram. It was also said during the polls, the JDU strongholds had not backed the BJP adequately. Notwithstanding this, the BJP finished first with 89 seats and JDU bagged 85. To resist BJP pressure, Nitish began exploring an alternative in January itself. He tried to persuade Upendra Khushwaha to merge his party RLSP with 4 MLAs with JDU. Khushwaha didn’t respond as he may merge his party with the BJP. “To get a majority in Bihar Assembly, a ruling combine must have the support of 122 MLAs. Nitish realised he was getting nowhere near the magic figure. That is when he threw in his towel,” pointed out an old colleague. The BJP, had its own reason to effect change. The most important being Nitish was increasingly moving away from governance. Blame it on his failing health, power and decision-making was apparently being left to the state Chief Secretary.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may be a die-hard critic of PM Modi but also seems to be his closet admirer. At least, he has admired the way Modi along with Home Minister Amit Shah — the top BJP duo — have been running BJP affairs. It is in keeping with this Modi-Shah playbook that Rahul Gandhi has attempted to pick Congress nominees for six Rajya Sabha seats across states. Rahul’s choices have surprised partymen. Except in Telangana where Rahul has opted to go along with CM Revanth Reddy’ choice — nominating   Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy — and in Himachal too he has relied on CM  Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s choice of district level party office bearer Anurag Sharma. What has surprised Congress leaders is the way Rahul has played Dalit card in both Haryana and Tamil Nadu. In Haryana he has fielded a former state Govt employee Karamvir Singh Boudh. It is being interpreted as a message to feuding Congress leaders. That is Boudh is probably the one person who may be able to bring together former CM Bhupinder Hooda and senior leader Kumari Selja. What happened in TN takes the cake. After P Chidambaram managed to improve the seat offer from 25 to 28 and get one Rajya Sabha seat, expectation was that the party would field a high-profile candidate like Rahul’s close aide Meenakshi Natrajan. However, choice of Christopher Tilak, AICC Secretary, handling North East, has come as shock. It is being said Tilak had made phenomenal rise in the party. Party circles are stunned that Tilak moved from being office assistant to a AICC functionary to Rahul’s core group. The moot point is why has Rahul chosen to play  Dalit  Christian card in TN? That too after playing footsie with TVK’s Vijay?  Is Congress trying to checkmate TVK? ” At this rate 2029 is out of bound for us,” rued a Congress leader.

At a time, when the AICC is seen persuading Congress allies such as the DMK to part with second Rajya Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu or prevail upon the UBT (Sena) in Maharashtra for its support, it is being said the Congress leadership was completely unaware about its ability to win  two Rajya Sabha seats on its own  from the southern state of Telangana. It is learnt that Congress top brass was being misled to believe that the party with support of 67 MLAs (plus support of 10 defected BRS MLAs) in a house of 119 MLAs could win only one Rajya Sabha seat. It was hinted to those handling Congress affairs in the state, that the second seat may swing in the party’s favour only with help of manipulative skills of chief minister Revanth Reddy. But then does the second Rajya Sabha seat really require CM Reddy’s intervention? Or has the CM’s Office built up “scenario of problems” about securing the second seat in the state only to ensure that CM’s favourite candidate — his adviser Vem Narender Reddy — clinches it. A senior Telangana Congress leader said “With an effective strength of 77 MLAs, the Congress would be able to easily win two seats. This even with BRS entering the fray. BRS is reduced to 27 MLAs after defections.” So even if AIMIM with seven MLAs backs the BRS candidate, will the BJP with eight MLAs join hands or abstain? Lot of hope is being pinned on abstentions by the BJP and AIMIM who don’t have much stake in the polls. It is being said a final call on the candidate for the second seat will be taken after Rahul Gandhi’s visit on March 2. For the first seat the candidate is the Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

In an somewhat unexpected twist in Tamil Nadu politics,  O Panneerselvam or OPS as he is popularly known, the three-time AIADMK chief minister who was chosen by the late J Jayalalithaa twice to stand in  for her when she had to quit the top post due to corruption cases, joined the ruling DMK in the presence chief minister M K Stalin. Panneerselvam’s (75) decision to join the DMK comes after much dithering. He had been trying to persuade the DMK leadership in his two rounds of meeting with the DMK brass to enter into a seat-sharing alliance with him. He was seeking help to remain afloat as a separate political entity. It is only when CM Stalin made it clear that OPS and his supporters didn’t have much choice but only to join the DMK, that the AIADMK leader zeroed in on the last-ditch option. Political analysts in Chennai say OPS ran out of luck when his efforts to rejoin the AIADMK with the help of the BJP failed. The AIADMK under Edappadi K Palaniswami gave its go-ahead to induct OPS into the NDA but refused to re-induct him into the party. Thereafter, it is being said OPS had even turned to actor Vijay, the TVK chief and sought an electoral alliance with him. “It is only when Vijay refused to have a tie-up with OPS, that he chose to walk into the DMK. The ruling party which has been a long-time rival, is going to be a death knell for him. He will become irrelevant there,” said a Congress leader. The political impact of OPS joining the DMK will be limited as his influence will be confined to his home turf of Theni and support of his Thevar community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of the Union Cabinet at the new Prime Minister’s Office in ‘Seva Teerth’ on February 24, marking a break from decades of operating out of PMO in the iconic South Block of the colonial era. As the ministers committed themselves to serve the citizens with the motto “Nagarik Devo Bhava” (citizen is God), the Cabinet also adopted a resolution saying that “every decision taken here will be inspired by a spirit of service toward 1.4 billion citizens and will be connected to the broader goal of nation-building.” PM Modi also asked his ministers to come up with some positive or good news about their ministries in every Cabinet meeting. Strangely, this directive from the top did not befuddle the Modi ministers. None of them even seemed worked up. In fact, most senior ministers were quick to ratchet up claims of some positive performance in their ministry. Everyone from Nitin Gadkari to Ashwini Vaishnaw   were found throwing up enthusiastic details that almost stunned Modi. It almost made some Cabinet ministers recall what happened in August last year when Modi had first floated the idea of good news about governance. Everyone was tense and the solemn air was broken only by Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjrapu, who announced the birth of his son – this was greeted with loud cheering and congratulations. In this backdrop, clearly, none of the senior leaders in the Modi Govt will be in a position to pass off some personal achievement as part of the official track record! They will have to work hard.

The Congress leadership is apparently worried about losing numbers in the biennial elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats to be held on March 16. Its worry is that it may not be able to return as many of its MPs to the House from states like Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The party which currently has 27 Rajya Sabha is worried that any reduction in numbers could effectively cost it the office of the Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, a position currently held by Mallikarjun Kharge. Incidentally, his term is coming up for renewal in June. The anxiety to maintain LoP status has made the Congress push for an extra Rajya Sabha seat with its allies in TN or Maharashtra. In TN, of the four vacancies, the Congress is the DMK to share 2.  DMK has offered one seat to DMDK leader Premalatha’s son/kin. It is apparently willing to offer one seat to the Congress. As for the second seat it is not clear at this stage. Rahul is keen to accommodate his close aide Meenakshi Natrajan — a resident of Madhya Pradesh — from TN now. He can’t wait for Digvijay Singh’s vacancy which will happen in June. The Congress is demanding a second from Stalin for Pawan Khera. Stalin, it seems, is keen to accommodate the former The Hindu editor N Ram. It is being said that the Congress is not worried about limitations of the DMK and is very keen about reaching its target of two RS seats. In fact, AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar told DMK MP Kanimozhi that his party wants more assembly seats than the previous election. TN Congressmen are wondering why is the party talking tough for RS seat? Is something else cooking?

With the first half of the Budget Session of the Parliament drawing to a close all eyes are on the biennial Rajya Sabha elections.  Beginning April, a sizable number of MPs — about 73 members are set to retire this year. What is of political interest is that in at least two states where Congress members are retiring, Rahul Gandhi is keen to ensure that a person close to him is elected as Rajya Sabha member. He wants his team in Parliament from Madhya Pradesh as former CM Digvijay Singh has decided not to seek another term. Rahul is keen to get his long-time close aide Meenakshi Natrajan elected to the Rajya Sabha. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy had credited Meenakshi for delivering victory in the recently concluded civic elections. However, it is being said former CM Kamal Nath has not fully backed Meenakshi. It is also being said Rahul is keen to have those working closely with him on his speeches and his strategy– say Amitabh Dubey, who is already part of the AICC team– elected to the Rajya Sabha. There is also a buzz about getting party spokesman Pawan Khera into the RS from Rajasthan. In Maharashtra, from where atleast there will be seven vacancies, party sources admit that MVA can win only one seat if it puts up a united fight. It was also felt that the Sena (UBT) may call the shots as it has the largest number of MLAs  in the MVA.

Why did PM Modi choose February 13 to inaugurate his new office called Seva Teerth and Kartavya Bhavan 1 and 2 in New Delhi? Because it was “Vijaya Ekadashi”! It was on this day Lord Rama observed the Ekadashi fast to bring back Sita from Sri Lanka and then crossed the ocean. PM Modi chose this day, in a symbolic way to suggest that he would succeed in his plans for India to become Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047. Previously, his office was in South Block built by the British. Seva Teerth will house the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the National Security Council Secretariat, and the Cabinet Secretariat, bringing key decision-making institutions under a single, modern, integrated complex. Kartavya Bhavan 1 and 2 will accommodate important Union ministries, including Finance, Defence, Health and Family Welfare & Corporate Affairs. The inauguration of these buildings marks a major step in Modi’s Central Vista redevelopment project, which aims to create a modern, efficient, and people-centric governance infrastructure aligned with India’s long-term development vision. Union Minister Jitendra Singh added a different historical context to shifting of the PMO to Seva Teerth on Dara Shikoh Road — he described the relocation as a symbolic step in moving away from colonial legacies. Incidentally, on this very day in 1931, February 13, the British declared New Delhi the Capital of colonial India. South Block and North Block were completed in 1931 during British rule. India’s first Cabinet meeting under Jawaharlal Nehru was held at South Block after Independence. The PMO itself evolved over time. It began in 1947 as the PM’s Secretariat. In 1964, during Lal Bahadur Shastri’s tenure, it received formal status and Its authority expanded under Indira Gandhi. Only In 1977, the government led by Morarji Desai had renamed it as the Prime Minister’s Office.

There is apparently a divergence of views in the DMK about raising a banner of revolt against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla as envisaged by LoP Rahul Gandhi. Many DMK MPs are keen to join the debate on the Union Budget, though some wanted to join Rahul Gandhi to sign no confidence against the Speaker. Apparently, there is a growing pressure on 23 DMK MPs in the Lok Sabha to raise TN issues in the House ahead of state polls. It is being said CM Stalin, who is also DMK Chief is not keen to nominate the seat sharing committee of his party to engage in negotiation with the Congress. Stalin is of the view that early seat-sharing discussions could divert attention from governance and key welfare initiatives of his Govt. Besides, he feels if the Congress wishes to walk out of the alliance, it is all very well. At least, the BJP in Delhi will be kind to the DMK. Tough stand of the DMK has made the Congress quite distraught. The Congress feels the DMK is behaving as if it wants the Congress to go out of the alliance. Meanwhile, it is being said financiers of TVK chief and superstar Vijay’s Jana Nayagan have become restless about the manner in which the film’s release has been held hostage by the CBFC. It is felt that the “political message” of the film has upset the BJP leadership. Sources say one of the financiers got in touch with top BJP leaders in Delhi and assured that Vijay will not “forge an alliance” with the Congress in TN. This only means that the Congress could end up as a pumpkin in TN politics. Ostracised, with no serious political player taking the party seriously!

With Lok Sabha forced to adopt the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address without the Prime Minister’s reply, the focus is now on former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane (Retd), who led the Indian Army through one of its most testing periods in recent history. The Opposition has disrupted the proceedings as Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi insisted on quoting from General Naravane’s unpublished memoir to target PM Narendra Modi and his govt over its handling of a standoff with the Chinese military in eastern Ladakh in August 2020. It will remain a mystery as to why the much decorated officer allowed his unpublished book to be used by Rahul Gandhi? The buzz is that he was upset for not being considered for the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)–before his retirement. General’s unpublished book had sparked a row in Lok Sabha on February 2 after Rahul Gandhi tried to quote a line from an article about the book that appeared in The Caravan magazine. The article details the 2020 India-China conflict, beginning with the moment the Indian Army’s Northern Command received a call about the movement of Chinese tanks toward Rechin La in eastern Ladakh. The Defence Ministry is yet to clear his book because it contains too many military details. According to media reports, it is the only book that hasn’t been cleared by the MoD. No wonder the General was quite philosophical about the outcome of the fate of his literary effort. Meanwhile, FM Nirmala Sitharaman under whose tenure as Defence Minister Gen Navarane took over as Army Chief, also made it clear that the Govt had no issues with the officer. Interestingly, The Caravan team which first published excerpts from the book aired its grouse that the mainstream media wasn’t focussing enough on the General’s “disappointments”. Why would anyone bother when both Delhi and Beijing are mending fences!

PM Modi is apparently very happy that the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendations will put a full stop to Opposition-ruled States attacking him for not giving adequate Central funds. When Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2026, one sentence tucked in the fine print drew the attention of every CM in the country. It was that the Centre had accepted the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendation to keep states’ share in the divisible tax pool at 41%. At first glance, that looked like continuity. But beneath that headline figure lies a quiet revolution. The commission’s new horizontal formula keeps the overall share fixed but changes how it is sliced. For the first time, a state’s contribution to the national GDP carries formal weight—10% of the total formula. This single tweak tilts the balance towards the country’s south and west, where economic output per capita is high, compared to the populous but poorer Hindi-heartland states that had benefited from the old population-heavy criteria. Preliminary calculations suggest that Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are the top six gainers. Karnataka alone may receive around Rs 7,300 crore more each year. In contrast, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand will see smaller shares; MP could lose nearly Rs 7,600 crore. Most losing states are either BJP or NDA-ruled, while the gainers are largely Opposition-governed.  Since the first Finance Commission in 1951, the horizontal formula has revolved around the distances between population, area, and income. The 16th Finance Commission marks a clear break. Echoing Modi’s ideas, Panagariya’s logic: States must show improvement in fiscal discipline, transparency and service delivery to qualify for discretionary grants.

When PM Modi’s reply to Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha was hastily called off a little after 5 pm on Feb 5, the Opposition benches felt triumphant. The House had to be content with just passing a statement thanking the President without PM’s reply. It was as if the Congress strategy of deploying women MPs on PM Modi’s way into the House and his path upto his seat had paid off. The party felt it had chased away PM out of the Lok Sabha using its girl power — a gaggle of women MPs. However, the Congress’s devious plan was thoroughly exposed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla as he declared that it was he who had advised PM to stay away from the House proceedings based on concrete inputs of an “unexpected/inappropriate incident” being planned by Congress MPs. Though details of the “indecent incident” that was planned are not available, it is quite clear it would have lowered the dignity of the House as well as   the high office of the PM. Official sources confirmed that the Govt too had security concerns about allowing PM Modi, a SPG protectee, inside Lok Sabha. Since SPG can’t go inside House, it would have to rely on House marshals. Interestingly, when PM Modi addressed the Rajya Sabha, women marshals were in good number. In his address to the Rajya Sabha, PM Modi took on Rahul Gandhi for attacking his junior ministerial colleague Ravneet Singh Bittu. “What happened yesterday – the ‘Yuvraj’ of Congress who has ‘shaatir dimag’, called an MP of this House ‘traitor’…He did not call anyone else who has left the Congress a traitor. But he called the MP a traitor because he is a Sikh.” Firing salvo at the TMC, he said while developed nations are throwing out infiltrators, in India political parties are using it to protect infiltrators.

Notwithstanding public posturing by the DMK about firming up an alliance with the Congress, it is being said that senior DMK MP Kanimozhi didn’t have a nice experience trying to forge a seat sharing agreement with the Congress in the two rounds of meetings that she held with Rahul Gandhi this week. What particularly left a bad after taste in the mouth for her was the manner in which Rahul did not permit Kanimozhi to interact with Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath.  In fact, after the first round of meeting that was initially held in the Lok Sabha LoP’s office on January 28, it was Rahul who had suggested that Kanimozhi could come over to 10 Janpath. Kanimozhi saw it as an opportunity to interact with Congress matriarch. But Rahul made it clear that his mother was not available for sorting out dicey political alliance matters and that the DMK leaders have to deal with him. While the DMK raised the impropriety of Congress in charge Girish Chodankar thrusting a list of 41 assembly seats that his party wished to fight in his first meeting with CM Stalin, Rahul wanted to know why the DMK was not working “to strengthen the Congress at the grassroots and in local bodies” in TN. Rahul’s approach somewhat surprised Kanimozhi and  asked Rahul if he could speak to her half-brother Stalin. Stalin didn’t yield to Congress’ demand for more seats right away and said a panel would go into the demands. The DMK found it difficult to accept Congress terms of coalition power sharing. Rahul pointed out to Kanimozhi what the Congress was sharing with JMM in Jharkhand. Kanimozhi made it clear to Rahul that her party could offer 27/28 — 2 or 3 seats more than 25 that the Congress contested in 2021.

If Ajit Pawar’s widow Sunetra Pawar is emerging as the favourite person to find a place in Maharashtra government as Deputy CM and leader of the Nationalist Congress Party it is not without reason. Political circles in Delhi believe it is one elevation which would be most acceptable to top BJP leadership particularly Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It is being said Shah is inclined to ensure that Ajit Pawar’s legacy survives in Maharashtra. Shah remembers the late Deputy CM as one person who had always gone out of the way to bail out the BJP in tricky situations in the state — whether it was in 2019 or in 2023. It is in this backdrop, Sunetra has emerged as a favourite for the top post. Shah who enjoyed a good equation with the late leader. Shah apparently valued the manner in which Ajit Pawar took the initiative to break ranks with his uncle Sharad Pawar and join hands with the BJP in 2023, a year ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well Maharashtra assembly polls. Which is perhaps why he made it a point to travel to Baramati for Ajit Pawar’s last rites. Besides, elevating Sunetra, a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, would be a simpler affair then say promoting NCP leader Sunil Tatkare, a Lok Sabha MP. It is also felt Parth Pawar could replace his mother in the Rajya Sabha. As for Sharad Pawar who would be retiring from the Rajya Sabha in April it is being said his nephew’s untimely death has totally shattered him and he may not seek another term. It is also being said that the BJP is not inclined to accommodate his daughter and pro-Congress NCP leader Supriya Sule, Baramati’s Lok Sabha MP, in Modi government.

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.