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Nothing has stunned Tamil Nadu political circles more than chief minister Joseph Vijay’s grand gesture of a political outreach on May 11 afternoon. Yes, on the first day of the new Tamil Nadu assembly session, Vijay did the unthinkable, reached out to his political rivals across the political aisle. Beginning with his predecessor and DMK supremo M K Stalin, on whom he called at his Alwarpet residence, Vijay reached out to nearly everyone on the broader spectrum of Dravidian parties. For once Vijay seemed – as if he was either God’s good man or at least a man without any guile. In doing so, Vijay was quite clearly following the great traditions of Tamil Nadu political tradition that was followed by veteran Congress leaders such as Rajaji and Kamaraj. Such leaders were known to maintain good relations with DMK patriarch C N Annadurai. Apparently, relations between the ruling and the Opposition side turned for the worse only when MGR who led the AIADMK came to power in the 70s. MGR and Karunanidhi of the DMK could never see eye to eye. DMK could never come to power when J Jayalalithaa led the AIADMK. Political analysts believe Vijay is being well-advised to change political tradition and follow the path taken by Kamaraj. In many ways Vijay seems to be taking a cue from PM Modi. After vanquishing Congress, Modi in 2014 had called on Dr Manmohan Singh. Interestingly, Udhayanidhi, who ignored CM Vijay in the assembly, more than made up by warmly receiving him at his house when he came to meet his father Stalin. Vijay also called on MDMK stalwart Vaiko and PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss. Ramadoss’s wife Sowmya is an MLA. Vaiko hailed Vijay’s gesture as a “healthy tradition”. With the Speaker’s election set for May 12, it remains to be seen if Vijay’s grand gesture helps the TVK government come out with flying colour in its first test.
The recent BJP win in West Bengal must be music to the ear of the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi. The end of 15-year rule of Mamata Banerjee’s TMC government means the end of perpetual potato shortage crises in Odisha and prices getting stabilised. Political observers say Odisha-Bengal re-alignment also means settling border disputes and help build coastal belt development in Eastern India and also bring out a comprehensive plan to further develop an interstate trade as well. The most significant point emerging now is the potential of new BJP government in West Bengal to address the misuse of Lord Jagannath name. The controversy was generated by Mamata Banerjee’s TMC government by erecting Lord Jagannath Temple in Digha, West Bengal. This saw the influx of Bengali tourists to Odisha drastically falling. The rumour is the new BJP Bengal headed by Suvendu Adhikari may consider modifying the nomenclature of the Digha temple suitably by removing the name Dham. With a BJP government in Bengal many in Odisha believe the long-standing Puri Temple name and logo controversy between Odisha and West Bengal would finally see a solution soon.
Sangram Mohanty
Even before he was sworn in as Tamil Nadu chief minister, C Joseph Vijay did the unexpected. He landed up at the venue nearly an hour before the oath-taking ceremony. He was perhaps determined to shatter myths that film stars are not punctual. Interestingly, he dropped his trademark white shirt paired with grey trousers— a sartorial idea he had picked up from his close friend and ex-Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and opted for black suit with crisp white shirt. It is not clear if Vijay was advised by a designer or as it is being said these days, he only listens to his astrologer who has a big influence on him. Like it was on his astrologer’s advice Vijay has been greeting everybody with yellow shawls – TN Governor Rajendra Arlekar to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. In his speech after oath-taking ceremony CM Vijay, who enjoys a great bond with Rahul, warmly referred to the Congress leader as “my brother”. He also referred to Rahul’s close aide, Praveen Chakravarty “as my personal friend”. One of the toughest messages of CM Vijay was that he would reach out to anybody—meaning seek Centre’s help — to serve the state’s interest. Shocked by gaping holes in TN’s fiscal management when officials initially briefed him, Vijay is having nightmares about how to implement his poll sops. It is for this reason that as soon as he was sworn-in Vijay made it clear that he would first bring out a white paper on the state’s financial status. DMK has not taken kindly to this swipe. One of the moving images of the swearing in was the picture of Vijay’s parents –filmmaker S Chandrashekhar and singer Shoba Chandrashekhar. Vijay is close to his mother who is a Hindu Mudaliar. He had built a Saibaba temple in Chennai in 2024 for his mother.
Political uncertainty that prevailed in Tamil Nadu over the last few days ended on May 9 evening with Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay calling on Governor Rajendra Arlekar and staking claim to form the government with the support of 120 MLAs-elect in the 234-member House. This meeting resulted in the Governor okaying his swearing-in on May 10 at 10 am at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai. It was Vijay’s 4th meeting with the Governor spread over four days. The TVK chief met the Governor only after the VCK and IUML extended unconditional support to TVK. Could these former DMK allies not have extended support right at the beginning? Who was holding them back? Did the DMK first family deliberately delay the formation of Vijay’s government? It is quite an irony that Vijay who raved and ranted against – thiya shakti or evil forces of the DMK — has now become a puppet of the Stalin family. Udhayanidhi Stalin, it is being said, had opposed lending help to Vijay; he fears Vijay opening files against him after becoming CM. Only former chief minister M K Stalin and Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi K batted for democratic support to TVK. Though all DMK allies have technically extended unconditional support, it is possible Vijay will find his hands tied. Left Parties have been told to protest any action against the Stalins. Which in a way means Vijay’s mandate will eventually be subverted by these do-gooders! They will ensure Vijay becomes a puppet in the hand of DMK. Meanwhile, in a post, M K Stalin noted how the Congress did not care to visit Arivalyam and had rushed to sever ties with DMK. Other allies like the Left Parties and the VCK had at least thanked the DMK for its support.
Known for his penchant for making statements on any subject under the sun, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut added another feather to his cap himself. Raut has achieved this glory by writing an open letter to the U.S. President Donald Trump to take exception to the congratulatory message POTUS has sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP’s victory in the West Bengal Assembly election. Within minutes, Raut became a troll victim. The BJP called him a joker. Several social media posts castigated Raut, with one saying, “If leaders like Sanjay Raut are writing letters to Donald Trump, then rest assured something good has happened in Bengal.” A post recalled Raut’s past, saying “He is an MP who is an accused in a scam. Raut was in jail in this connection and he is still not exonerated.” Raut has asked the Most Powerful Leader on Earth to stay out of India’s internal matters. In a flowery language message, Raut has also appealed to Trump to “emphasise democratic values” instead of celebrating the WB result. In his post on ‘X,’ the MP said he was responding to the U.S. President’s best wishes to Modi following the BJP’s win in West Bengal. He also reminded Trump that “These are state-level elections — an internal matter of India’s federal democracy.”
The Maharashtra power sharing formula will have a deep impact on West Bengal’s cabinet formation, to be headed by firebrand Suvendu Adhikari. Hence, the West Bengal council of ministers can have two deputy chief ministers and one of them could be a woman, like in Maharashtra. Headed by hard core RSS worker Devendra Fadnavis, the two DCMs are from the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the NCP (Ajit). On the other hand, as the BJP does not need the involvement of any other party in WB to form government, two of its prominent MLAs are likely to be inducted as DCMs. Given the bleak reputation of the Mamata government as far as atrocities against women are concerned, the BJP will try to send out a message by appointing a woman deputy CM that it will implement pro-women policies more intensely. A decision in this regard will be known only after Adhikari is formally elected leader of the legislature party. The second West Bengal deputy CM, significantly, will be an ardent RSS activist. As several advisors have pointed out that Adhikari has risen from TMC cadres, the Sangh Parivar will make it a point to reward one of its veteran members with the other deputy CM slot. However, Adhikari has become a darling of the RSS bigwigs since the second in command under Mamata once, he has trounced her twice in her own backyard and hence is a formidable figure in the national Hindutva spectrum. Just like Himant Biswa Sarma of Assam, another late entrant in the BJP. The coming WB government will also emulate Maharashtra for inviting and housing industrial investment as well as in the infrastructure development sector.
In spite of a clear mandate in Keralam, the Congress has not been able to finalise its CM candidate. It seems to be a problem of plenty where the Congress leadership is struggling with how to impose its choice – K C Venugopal. There was so much distrust between the MLAs and AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmushi that many legislators did not want to air their views about the CM choice in her presence as they feared she would snitch about their preferences to Venugopal. They were not even willing to speak to AICC observers in her presence. In these circumstances, Rahul Gandhi with no genuine feedback may feel free to thrust his closest aide, Venugopal, to become the CM. The UDF won 102 seats in the recently held Kerala assembly elections. The Congress emerged as the single largest party, with 63 seats. Other than Congress, the alliance includes the Indian Union Muslim League, the Kerala Congress (Jacob), the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India, the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithy and others. Rahul is said to have finalised two names. One is Venugopal, the Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha and also the general secretary of the Congress (for organisation). He has the backing of over 40 MLAs. Venugopal belongs to the Nair community, so do the other 2 contenders—Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheeshan. Rahul is partial towards Venugopal for revamping the Congress organisation. As for Chennithala, he has served as Kerala’s home minister and also the LoP. Chennithala, who is the Congress’s Maharashtra in-charge, is regarded as an organisation man. However, Venugopal may still edge him out as he can arrange funding easily whenever the Gandhi family or the AICC needs. It is being said that big business groups in Keralam are rooting for him. But party workers are fully with Satheesan who was the LoP in the outgoing Keralam Assembly. A social media campaign credits him as the sole architect of the party’s victory. Can Rahul ignore Satheesan?
Close on the heels of the Congress severing ties with the DMK in Tamil Nadu and extending support to TVK led by Joseph Vijay to form a government, DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi sent a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asking for a separate seating arrangement inside the House. In her letter, she said that in view of the changed political circumstances and in view of the fact that our alliance with the Congress has come to an end, it may not be appropriate for us to continue sitting alongside them in the House. She sought separate seating arrangements for her MPs. Kanimozhi’s requests for separate seating arrangement was reposted on X with interest by BJP national secretary BL Santosh; he had predicted that the Congress surely would end up “with egg on its face”. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to social media to take a veiled swipe at the Congress after the party’s dramatic political shift in Tamil Nadu triggering fresh questions over the stability of the INDIA bloc. Sharing a photograph from his recent meeting with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and another picture with DMK’s MK Stalin, Yadav posted on social media: “We are not the ones who abandon each other in times of difficulty.” Though he did not name any party, the timing of the remark quickly drew attention in political circles, especially after Congress walked out of its long-standing alliance with the DMK in TN and extended support to actor-politician Vijay’s TVK. Yadav’s post also came just a day after he met Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata following the Trinamool Congress’ setback in West Bengal. The meeting was seen as part of broader opposition efforts to reassess strategy after recent assembly election losses.
Who is behind the violence in Bengal? Since the day election results were declared, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has not conceded defeat. She is apprehensive about her supporters, who might opt to lie low after the debacle. The face of her bhaipo or nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who had challenged Home Minister Amit Shah to come to Bengal after May 4, appeared drained and pale. The Centre has apparently received intelligence reports of TMC supporters donning saffron clothes and ’tilak’, and holding BJP flags while indulging in violence. In some places, some BJP supporters have also indulged in vengeful action. Videos of most of these acts of violence are available, and it is up to the authorities to take corrective action immediately. It is a good sign that the police have swung into action and incidents of violence have declined. For the BJP, it will be a challenge to ensure peace, end fear in the minds of the public and establish the rule of law. Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant, Chandranath Rath was shot dead triggering strong political reactions and intensified scrutiny of post-poll violence in West Bengal. Till now, nearly 200 FIRs have been filed and 433 persons have been arrested. Bengal police, along with central paramilitary forces, are raiding hideouts of anti-social elements, and large quantities of arms and ammunition have been seized. In Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district, more than 20 country-made bombs were seized. Bengal police have set up a helpline for people to dial in case of violent incidents. On May 5, a Trinamool Congress temporary office in Kolkata’s Dharmatala locality was demolished by some BJP supporters, using a bulldozer. BJP leaders claimed that the party office was built illegally in the middle of a busy road.
After Bengal, Telangana is the BJP’s next target in the South? Is it laying the ground to flip a Congress-ruled state? The failure and rejection of BRS, and the unfolding saga of Congress’s rule, ridden by corruption and the non-delivery of promises, have paved the way for the BJP to gear up to set a narrative against the rule of both these parties. In this context, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay’s return has not been ruled out. Sanjay, president of the Telangana BJP in 2023, was considered a powerful orator and succeeded in creating an anti-incumbency wave against the ruling BRS in the state. However, it is believed that his abrupt removal from the post cost the BJP a chance at performing better in Telangana. A long-term plan for Telangana that would carry the party forward beyond any individual is in the works. The BJP is hoping to position itself to capitalise on a possible victory in Karnataka, which goes to the polls just six months before Telangana. Sunil Bansal, master strategist and the BJP’s national general secretary, who is among those credited for delivering Bengal for the party, is expected to visit Hyderabad to give the state leaders a blueprint for 2028, sources say. Nearly a month before Prime Minister Modi’s scheduled visit to Hyderabad on May 10, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and national general secretary Tarun Chugh visited Hyderabad in April, just as Tamil Nadu and Kerala were going to polls. The two leaders met with senior party functionaries and the Telangana Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sangathan mantri, Chandrasekhar Tiwari. In his maiden visit to the state after assuming office for a third consecutive term, PM Modi will launch infrastructure and industrial projects worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore. At present, the BJP has eight MLAs in Telangana and the same number of MPs from the state.
Nothing has stunned Tamil Nadu political circles more than chief minister Joseph Vijay’s grand gesture of a political outreach on May 11 afternoon. Yes, on the first day of the new Tamil Nadu assembly session, Vijay did the unthinkable, reached out to his political rivals across the political aisle. Beginning with his predecessor and DMK supremo M K Stalin, on whom he called at his Alwarpet residence, Vijay reached out to nearly everyone on the broader spectrum of Dravidian parties. For once Vijay seemed – as if he was either God’s good man or at least a man without any guile. In doing so, Vijay was quite clearly following the great traditions of Tamil Nadu political tradition that was followed by veteran Congress leaders such as Rajaji and Kamaraj. Such leaders were known to maintain good relations with DMK patriarch C N Annadurai. Apparently, relations between the ruling and the Opposition side turned for the worse only when MGR who led the AIADMK came to power in the 70s. MGR and Karunanidhi of the DMK could never see eye to eye. DMK could never come to power when J Jayalalithaa led the AIADMK. Political analysts believe Vijay is being well-advised to change political tradition and follow the path taken by Kamaraj. In many ways Vijay seems to be taking a cue from PM Modi. After vanquishing Congress, Modi in 2014 had called on Dr Manmohan Singh. Interestingly, Udhayanidhi, who ignored CM Vijay in the assembly, more than made up by warmly receiving him at his house when he came to meet his father Stalin. Vijay also called on MDMK stalwart Vaiko and PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss. Ramadoss’s wife Sowmya is an MLA. Vaiko hailed Vijay’s gesture as a “healthy tradition”. With the Speaker’s election set for May 12, it remains to be seen if Vijay’s grand gesture helps the TVK government come out with flying colour in its first test.
Even before he was sworn in as Tamil Nadu chief minister, C Joseph Vijay did the unexpected. He landed up at the venue nearly an hour before the oath-taking ceremony. He was perhaps determined to shatter myths that film stars are not punctual. Interestingly, he dropped his trademark white shirt paired with grey trousers— a sartorial idea he had picked up from his close friend and ex-Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and opted for black suit with crisp white shirt. It is not clear if Vijay was advised by a designer or as it is being said these days, he only listens to his astrologer who has a big influence on him. Like it was on his astrologer’s advice Vijay has been greeting everybody with yellow shawls – TN Governor Rajendra Arlekar to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. In his speech after oath-taking ceremony CM Vijay, who enjoys a great bond with Rahul, warmly referred to the Congress leader as “my brother”. He also referred to Rahul’s close aide, Praveen Chakravarty “as my personal friend”. One of the toughest messages of CM Vijay was that he would reach out to anybody—meaning seek Centre’s help — to serve the state’s interest. Shocked by gaping holes in TN’s fiscal management when officials initially briefed him, Vijay is having nightmares about how to implement his poll sops. It is for this reason that as soon as he was sworn-in Vijay made it clear that he would first bring out a white paper on the state’s financial status. DMK has not taken kindly to this swipe. One of the moving images of the swearing in was the picture of Vijay’s parents –filmmaker S Chandrashekhar and singer Shoba Chandrashekhar. Vijay is close to his mother who is a Hindu Mudaliar. He had built a Saibaba temple in Chennai in 2024 for his mother.
Political uncertainty that prevailed in Tamil Nadu over the last few days ended on May 9 evening with Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay calling on Governor Rajendra Arlekar and staking claim to form the government with the support of 120 MLAs-elect in the 234-member House. This meeting resulted in the Governor okaying his swearing-in on May 10 at 10 am at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai. It was Vijay’s 4th meeting with the Governor spread over four days. The TVK chief met the Governor only after the VCK and IUML extended unconditional support to TVK. Could these former DMK allies not have extended support right at the beginning? Who was holding them back? Did the DMK first family deliberately delay the formation of Vijay’s government? It is quite an irony that Vijay who raved and ranted against – thiya shakti or evil forces of the DMK — has now become a puppet of the Stalin family. Udhayanidhi Stalin, it is being said, had opposed lending help to Vijay; he fears Vijay opening files against him after becoming CM. Only former chief minister M K Stalin and Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi K batted for democratic support to TVK. Though all DMK allies have technically extended unconditional support, it is possible Vijay will find his hands tied. Left Parties have been told to protest any action against the Stalins. Which in a way means Vijay’s mandate will eventually be subverted by these do-gooders! They will ensure Vijay becomes a puppet in the hand of DMK. Meanwhile, in a post, M K Stalin noted how the Congress did not care to visit Arivalyam and had rushed to sever ties with DMK. Other allies like the Left Parties and the VCK had at least thanked the DMK for its support.
In spite of a clear mandate in Keralam, the Congress has not been able to finalise its CM candidate. It seems to be a problem of plenty where the Congress leadership is struggling with how to impose its choice – K C Venugopal. There was so much distrust between the MLAs and AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmushi that many legislators did not want to air their views about the CM choice in her presence as they feared she would snitch about their preferences to Venugopal. They were not even willing to speak to AICC observers in her presence. In these circumstances, Rahul Gandhi with no genuine feedback may feel free to thrust his closest aide, Venugopal, to become the CM. The UDF won 102 seats in the recently held Kerala assembly elections. The Congress emerged as the single largest party, with 63 seats. Other than Congress, the alliance includes the Indian Union Muslim League, the Kerala Congress (Jacob), the Revolutionary Marxist Party of India, the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithy and others. Rahul is said to have finalised two names. One is Venugopal, the Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha and also the general secretary of the Congress (for organisation). He has the backing of over 40 MLAs. Venugopal belongs to the Nair community, so do the other 2 contenders—Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheeshan. Rahul is partial towards Venugopal for revamping the Congress organisation. As for Chennithala, he has served as Kerala’s home minister and also the LoP. Chennithala, who is the Congress’s Maharashtra in-charge, is regarded as an organisation man. However, Venugopal may still edge him out as he can arrange funding easily whenever the Gandhi family or the AICC needs. It is being said that big business groups in Keralam are rooting for him. But party workers are fully with Satheesan who was the LoP in the outgoing Keralam Assembly. A social media campaign credits him as the sole architect of the party’s victory. Can Rahul ignore Satheesan?
Close on the heels of the Congress severing ties with the DMK in Tamil Nadu and extending support to TVK led by Joseph Vijay to form a government, DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi sent a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asking for a separate seating arrangement inside the House. In her letter, she said that in view of the changed political circumstances and in view of the fact that our alliance with the Congress has come to an end, it may not be appropriate for us to continue sitting alongside them in the House. She sought separate seating arrangements for her MPs. Kanimozhi’s requests for separate seating arrangement was reposted on X with interest by BJP national secretary BL Santosh; he had predicted that the Congress surely would end up “with egg on its face”. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to social media to take a veiled swipe at the Congress after the party’s dramatic political shift in Tamil Nadu triggering fresh questions over the stability of the INDIA bloc. Sharing a photograph from his recent meeting with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and another picture with DMK’s MK Stalin, Yadav posted on social media: “We are not the ones who abandon each other in times of difficulty.” Though he did not name any party, the timing of the remark quickly drew attention in political circles, especially after Congress walked out of its long-standing alliance with the DMK in TN and extended support to actor-politician Vijay’s TVK. Yadav’s post also came just a day after he met Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata following the Trinamool Congress’ setback in West Bengal. The meeting was seen as part of broader opposition efforts to reassess strategy after recent assembly election losses.
Who is behind the violence in Bengal? Since the day election results were declared, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee has not conceded defeat. She is apprehensive about her supporters, who might opt to lie low after the debacle. The face of her bhaipo or nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who had challenged Home Minister Amit Shah to come to Bengal after May 4, appeared drained and pale. The Centre has apparently received intelligence reports of TMC supporters donning saffron clothes and ’tilak’, and holding BJP flags while indulging in violence. In some places, some BJP supporters have also indulged in vengeful action. Videos of most of these acts of violence are available, and it is up to the authorities to take corrective action immediately. It is a good sign that the police have swung into action and incidents of violence have declined. For the BJP, it will be a challenge to ensure peace, end fear in the minds of the public and establish the rule of law. Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant, Chandranath Rath was shot dead triggering strong political reactions and intensified scrutiny of post-poll violence in West Bengal. Till now, nearly 200 FIRs have been filed and 433 persons have been arrested. Bengal police, along with central paramilitary forces, are raiding hideouts of anti-social elements, and large quantities of arms and ammunition have been seized. In Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district, more than 20 country-made bombs were seized. Bengal police have set up a helpline for people to dial in case of violent incidents. On May 5, a Trinamool Congress temporary office in Kolkata’s Dharmatala locality was demolished by some BJP supporters, using a bulldozer. BJP leaders claimed that the party office was built illegally in the middle of a busy road.
After Bengal, Telangana is the BJP’s next target in the South? Is it laying the ground to flip a Congress-ruled state? The failure and rejection of BRS, and the unfolding saga of Congress’s rule, ridden by corruption and the non-delivery of promises, have paved the way for the BJP to gear up to set a narrative against the rule of both these parties. In this context, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay’s return has not been ruled out. Sanjay, president of the Telangana BJP in 2023, was considered a powerful orator and succeeded in creating an anti-incumbency wave against the ruling BRS in the state. However, it is believed that his abrupt removal from the post cost the BJP a chance at performing better in Telangana. A long-term plan for Telangana that would carry the party forward beyond any individual is in the works. The BJP is hoping to position itself to capitalise on a possible victory in Karnataka, which goes to the polls just six months before Telangana. Sunil Bansal, master strategist and the BJP’s national general secretary, who is among those credited for delivering Bengal for the party, is expected to visit Hyderabad to give the state leaders a blueprint for 2028, sources say. Nearly a month before Prime Minister Modi’s scheduled visit to Hyderabad on May 10, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and national general secretary Tarun Chugh visited Hyderabad in April, just as Tamil Nadu and Kerala were going to polls. The two leaders met with senior party functionaries and the Telangana Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sangathan mantri, Chandrasekhar Tiwari. In his maiden visit to the state after assuming office for a third consecutive term, PM Modi will launch infrastructure and industrial projects worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore. At present, the BJP has eight MLAs in Telangana and the same number of MPs from the state.
Nothing has shocked the DMK first family more than the defeat of former Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin from Kolathur Assembly constituency, a seat he had represented thrice since 2011. He is the fourth sitting Chief Minister in Tamil Nadu to lose an Assembly election. Stalin had lost by 8,795 votes to V S Babu, the TVK candidate. Interestingly Babu was once a close associate of the DMK president. It is being said Stalin and his wife Durga would regularly visit Kolathur. That is why Durga Stain was shocked that her husband had narrowly lost from a seat that the couple had carefully nurtured—particularly by reaching out to women’s groups. When Durga Stalin asked for feedback from Kolathur women why Stalin lost in spite of regular interface with local women’s groups, she was in for a shock. She was told that the Stalins had never actually interacted with local women. Instead, women from other areas were brought in by busloads to interact with Stalins. Stalin had held the seat since its creation in 2011. He had previously secured the seat with margins exceeding 37,000 votes in 2016 and over 70,000 in 2021. In contrast, son Udhayanidhi Stalin retained his Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency for the second time.
It may have looked like magic when the Congress rushed its support to the TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu but allies weren’t happy. In fact, TVK president C Joseph Vijay met Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan in Chennai and staked a claim to form the next government only after receiving a letter of support from the Congress. Yet the letter of support of five Congress MLAs was not enough to convince the Governor that Vijay will be able to provide a stable government with support of113 MLAs– five short of the majority figure of 118. Vijay was hoping other secular parties — the CPI, CPI(M) and VCK – part of the DMK alliance who had two seats each would back him. That did not happen. TVK needed 11 seats to reach the majority. The Left parties and the Indian Union Muslim League ruled out their support. TVK had also sought VCK’s support, sources said, even as he destroyed its support base among Dalit Christians. Interestingly top CPI leadership rued the Congress decision to support to Vijay without “even bothering to consult us.” For the Congress somehow joining TVK government was correcting the mistake of not going with Vijay before the TN assembly polls. All that the Congress bothered was to see that AIADMK, allied with the NDA, didn’t join TVK government. Tremendous pressure was exerted on Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge via his son Priyank Kharge, to back alliance with DMK. This even after Rahul Gandhi and his close aide Praveen Chakravarty were both rooting for a tie-up with Vijay’s TVK. “If only Congress had a pre-poll tie-up with TVK, Vijay would have easily won 140-148 seats…,” says a TN Congress leader. Interestingly, another superstar Rajnikanth, who was also contemplating to enter politics, chose to call on M K Stalin. Will Vijay’s era in TN be the beginning of the coalition era of Tamil politics?
Rise of the BJP in West Bengal in 2026 was fulfilment of a long-cherished wish of the national party. Consolidation of Hindu votes in favour of the BJP to oust Trinamool Congress (TMC) for 15 years of its misrule was something that was waiting to happen. Though it is not clear what is the immediate trigger to push Mamata Banerjee government out, everyone agreed that cut money was getting a bit too much to bear. It was affecting even the common man. Little wonder that Mamata got defeated even in her own Bhabanipur constituency to arch rival Suvendu Adhikari of BJP. A senior Congress leader says, “Everyone had become so sick and tired of the corrupt TMC set-up that they wanted to get rid of its misrule. They wanted to give the BJP a chance.” It was also felt only PM Modi was capable of overcoming the minority veto power as he had managed to do so in UP, Bihar and Assam — three states that have sizable Muslim populations. “Since 2014, Modi had managed to unite Hindus and make Muslim vote not determine election outcome. He seemed to have a way of uniting Hindus for a common cause. That is what he had achieved in Bengal. It is in this context that BJP victory in Bengal is important,” pointed out a Sangh ideologue. He referred to provocation of a Bangladeshi lawmaker Akhtar Hossain warning of a potential refugee crisis if the BJP came to power in West Bengal. He had aired his concerns in the Bangladesh Parliament about repatriation of illegal Bangladeshis residing in India if BJP came to power in Bengal. But then why did women in Bengal choose to trust PM Modi, even if he had not fulfilled all the promises made to the Matuas in the CAA? Is it because BJP still seemed a decent bet? Possibly.
There’s a fear of post-poll violence in West Bengal! That is why around 50,000 central forces will remain in the state till counting day on May 4. Yet home ministry mandarins acknowledge that their deployment will remain a constitutional challenge without the state government requisition as law and order are state subjects. The CAPF’s operational powers will be legally limited, creating federal tension. Under Article 324, the ECI requisitions central forces to ensure free and fair polling. But once the ballot boxes are unsealed and votes counted that authority begins to fade. The BJP is confident of winning Bengal but fears post-verdict violence, which Amit Shah wants to prevent. A party source said the Union Home Minister who is likely to arrive in Bengal after the election results are announced on May 4, would monitor the situation to avoid a replay of 2021. Shah has already announced that the central forces would remain in Bengal for two months after the election results to prevent post-poll violence. He has sent his deputy and Union minister of state, Nityananda Rai to Bengal even before the exit poll results were announced. BJP Bengal poll manager and Union minister Bhupender Yadav will reach Kolkata by May 2. Apart from administrative vigilance, Shah asked party workers and leaders to refrain from violence during victory celebrations. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said, “We want to ensure that what happened to our workers and supporters in 2021 does not happen to anyone this time. We are afraid that TMC workers will attack their own party workers once the BJP wins.,” Both the BJP and Trinamool have issued warnings to each other’s alleged goons over what might happen after the results are declared on May 4. Shah has warned that Trinamool goons will be “hung upside down and straightened out”.
One question that is haunting chattering classes in Delhi is whether Kerala polls will sound the death knell of the Left Parties in India? Will the Left Democratic Front be voted out of its last safe haven from India? After being voted out of Tripura, Bengal, will the Left lose its bastion in Kerala after a successful two-term run under CPI(M) stalwart Pinaryi Vijayan? Or maybe survive to last a third term on a slender margin. Many Communist leaders are worried! In spite of many scandals, Left leaders are hoping that LDF is voted back. As far as the Lok Sabha is concerned, the Left Parties had their best showing in the 2004 election winning over 60 seats. Today, their strength lies less in widespread electoral success and more in isolated strongholds, alliances, and cadre-based networks. If there is one state where the Left still governs with authority, it is Kerala. The state has a long history of communist politics, dating back to 1957 when the world’s first democratically elected Communist government was formed under EMS Namboodiripad. Five exit polls’ results show the United Democratic Front (UDF), a coalition led by the Congress in Kerala, dethroning the LDF government led by Vijayan, who ruled the state for the last 10 years. In fact, Vijayan’s victory in 2021 was an aberration of sorts. Kerala has had the long-standing practice of alternating between voting for the LDF and the UDF. Kerala’s Left has sustained itself through welfare governance, strong public health and education systems, and disciplined party organisation. Even if it loses ground in the assembly election, the CPI(M) still has a chance of returning to power, given the state’s electoral history.
AAP MP Raghav Chadha who split two-third members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha and helped party MPs in merging themselves with the BJP, is most likely to get a berth in the Union government. It is being said Chadha’s switch to the BJP had been in the works for some time. With Punjab assembly elections slated to be held early next year, the BJP wanted Chadha to be on its side to prepare for the elections. At the same time the BJP wanted to ensure that the defectors did not lose much. Or at least they remained as MPs. With more than two-thirds — 7 out of 10 — of the AAP MPs defecting, a figure needed for the MPs to retain their membership in the upper house, Chadha ensured he and his colleagues were safe for the time being. Meanwhile, it is being said Chadha’s continuation in AAP had become difficult ever after Arvind Kejriwal began to take an active interest in Punjab. Particularly after he had lost power in Delhi in February 2025 assembly polls. Besides, Kejriwal also did not want Chadha to play any advisory role to Bhagwant Mann government as he himself had begun to take an active interest in Punjab. It is in this backdrop that reports of Chadha cozying up to the BJP began to do the rounds. Kejriwal removed Chadha as the deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha over allegations of not raising key issues against the Modi government and doing “soft PR” instead. Ironically, when Chadha walked out of the AAP – he had two more MPs as part of the merger — Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, a former IIT professor. Interestingly, Mittal was the AAP replacement for Chadha’s Rajya Sabha deputy leader post.
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.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Is Here To Stay…
Time, they say, flies—and how true that is. Here we are celebrating our 5th Anniversary. Five years ago, when Covid-19 was wreaking havoc across the globe, I took a leap of faith and launched Short Post, India’s first website for Authentic Gossip. That was on January 31, 2021. I was convinced there was a clear gap in the market for gossip that was credible, sharp, and impactful—especially if told in just 250 words.
In this, I was fortunate. Scores of senior editors across diverse verticals bought into the idea and, in the process, gave wings to my dream. Quite honestly, Short Post could not have crossed these milestones without the unflinching support of its contributing editors. Like all start-ups, we have seen our share of ups and downs, but these editors have stood by us like a rock. I take this opportunity to doff my hat to them.
Thanks to their commitment, we have published close to 5,000 stories spanning politics, business, entertainment, and sports. I say this with pride: we made our mark as people who matter read us. “Small packs, big impact” truly captures the essence of Short Post.
We all know that Covid-19 has reset businesses worldwide, and the media sector is no exception. In the post-Covid era, investors have become more cautious and selective—and advertisers too. To compound matters, the entry of AI has disrupted the media landscape in equal measure. So far, we have managed to hold our ground, hopeful that some angel investors will take a shine to us.
What gives me confidence is this: AI cannot smell news—especially the gossipy kind. In other words, AI cannot churn out Short Post-type stories, no matter the prompt. That puts us in a safe zone. As someone rightly said, “AI is a co-pilot, not a pilot.”