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Inasmuch as one would like to pat the selection committee for facilitating Indian cricket skip a few steps ahead by naming Shubman Gill as captain of the men in blue one-day international team, the committee refused to state its position on the status of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma vis-a-vis their selection for the 2027 World Cup. Ajit Agarkar was right in saying that that October 2025 is not the right time to take an affirmative call for an event that’s going to happen in October-November 2027. Surely Agarkar and his committee could no way have “blocked” Virat and Rohit’s seats well in advance to leave the other contenders short-changed. The selection committee may or may not remain the same after next year’s BCCI AGM but a matter of vital importance is whether Virat and Rohit would continue to be picked for all one-day internationals — in all 21 ODIs after the three-match series in Australia. India is scheduled to play South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, West Indies and Sri Lanka (all a three match series at home till November 2026 and England and New Zealand, all a three-match away series) and indeed by end of 2026, a few more cricketers would be pressing hard for a place in the one-day team for the World Cup. India’s Test team will be occupied with a five-Test series at home in January-February 2027 before the scheduled WTC final in London, after which the focus will be on a round of a 50 over matches/tournaments. The million $ question is whether the selection committee and head coach Gautam Gambhir will allow the Virat-Rohit thorn to be in their flesh for that long.
After successfully pushing through GST-2 reforms, PM Modi had been looking for innovative ideas for governance. It was this search for ideas to further fuel his Viksit Bharat that led to him to interact with about 85 secretary-level officers of the government on October 6. About two dozen secretary-level officers heading various ministries and departments actively participated in the discussions. It is learnt officers were thrilled with the personal interaction they had with the PM. Three days after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan was already acting on their suggestions. On October 9, he wrote to the secretaries and asked them to roll out their ideas. Among the key points of action was promoting “indigenous development” of digital and social media platforms. The directive on digital platforms is significant as the number of internet subscribers in India as on March 2025 stood at 969.1 million, with most using foreign platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and X. Significantly, PM Modi pushed for use of local platforms coinciding with the launch of Arattai, the messaging app developed by Tamil Nadu-based Zoho Corporation. Earlier, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X that he was switching to Zoho’s homegrown office suite software. Likewise, Home Minister Amit Shah too switched his official email service to Zoho Mail. In his letter, the Cabinet Secretary had also dissuaded ministries/departments from avoidable litigation and filing unnecessary court cases and wasting resources. Officials were also told to reorient PhD programmes to promote innovation and development of new ideas, and technologies, through topics that fit the emerging needs of the country – and conceptualise awards at the international level to recognise excellence in various fields. Overall, the ministries have been asked to promote “Atmanirbharta” and reduce imports.
In the last 14 India-West Indies Tests there were 25 centuries and all but two of them were by Indian batsmen. Making hundreds against the West Indies has become almost routine but the remarkable feature is that the Indian youth brigade is coming regularly to the party these days. Shubman Gill, just 26, who made his fifth Test century in just 12th innings as captain, was only a few innings behind Alastair Cook (9) and Sunil Gavaskar (10) in recording the feat. Even Sir Donald Bradman took 13 innings to make that fifth hundred as captain of Australia. Having also assumed responsibility as captain on the tour of England, Gill has five hundreds in the calendar year in his 10 Test centuries overall as he emulates Virat Kohli in making merry when hitting a purple patch of batting form. Pushing him hard in making Test centuries is the opener Yashasvi Jaiswal whose hunger for runs has become a lot more famous than his satiating his physical hunger by helping out at a Pani Puri stall outside the tented ground that was his home in Mumbai. The anger he showed in seeing his captain turn his back on him as he sought a quick single when in his 170s is evidence of how run-hungry Jaiswal is. Not yet 24, he joins South African Graeme smith as a quick collector of seven Test centuries as opener. Run making may get more difficult when Team India plays tougher opposition like South Africa in a home series, but the fact remains that there is a youth brigade that is making India proud again since the halcyon days of Gavaskar in 1971 when the breakthrough victory came in the Caribbean.
In a watershed year for Indian cinema, Kannada and Malayalam industries are leading the charge with blockbuster epics that blend cultural depth with universal spectacle. Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1 has shattered records, amassing Rs 500 crore worldwide, fuelled by its raw portrayal of Karnataka’s ‘Bhoota Kola’ rituals and environmental folklore. Shetty’s dual role as the fierce Panjara— a forest guardian clashing with modernity—delivers visceral action and spiritual resonance, backed by immersive folk music and stunning Udupi landscapes. The film’s grassroots appeal exploded through dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, turning rural myths into pan-Indian anthems and earning global acclaim at festivals like Busan. Hot on its heels, Malayalam’s Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra released on August 20, 2025, surged past Rs 300 crore in just six weeks, heralding a superhero saga rooted in Kerala’s matrilineal heritage. Director Dominic Arun masterfully fuses high-octane VFX with emotional intimacy, as producer Dulquer Salmaan crafts a universe where heroine Chandra (Kalyani Priyadarshan) wields ancestral powers against cosmic threats. Priyadarshan’s nuanced turn — from vulnerable orphan to empowered icon — fills a void in female-led genre tales, while spicy dialogue controversies sparked viral debates, boosting theatre footfalls. Salmaan’s bold vision promises spin-offs, blending local lore with Marvel-esque flair. This duo’s dominance underscores a broader renaissance: Gujarati’s Chhello Show 2 breached Rs 100 crore with its heartfelt immigrant saga; Marathi’s Dashaavtar hit Rs 50 crore via satirical family dramedy; and Tamil’s Coolie topped Rs 250 crore in labour-rights thriller mode. Smart OTT tie-ups, dubbed releases, and culturally authentic narratives propel these beyond regional silos, outshining Hindi’s faltering Param Sundari and Sunny Sankari ki Tulsi Kumari. As indigenous voices claim centre stage, Indian cinema evolves into a vibrant mosaic....
IndiGo seems to have cracked it. Their experiment to introduce direct flights between Manchester and Mumbai on July 1, seems to have more than enough takers. Emboldened by such a good response the airline has chalked up plans to add one more destination, Mumbai-London from October 26, making it the 45th destination. IndiGo has direct flights to Manchester and Amsterdam from Mumbai, and now it will be in direct competition with the established British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and Air India. IndiGo continues its code-sharing as a partner carrier with some European and Middle Eastern airlines. The tremendous traffic growth — both business and regular travellers, the latest signing of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the UK, surge in India–UK activities on all fronts, including culture, has prompted IndiGo to offer this direct service, say aviation insiders. IndiGo will provide a trendy, competitive lower price at Rs 22,000 upwards for return tickets. IndiGo aims to attract budget travellers on its long-haul service. In addition to direct flights between Mumbai-London, it will also commence direct flights between Manchester-Delhi from November 15. It will certainly be good tidings to the residents of Delhi, north India, Gujarat, and Central India. with the vast network it operates from Delhi, being its headquarters. Mumbai serves as a hub for western India pockets. It is contemplating increasing its 3-day a week frequency to its current Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule between Manchester to Mumbai, thus probably making a service of 9 flights freely in a week from Manchester.
Recruitment scam seems to be the new normal. Now, the state of Odisha is rocked by the Sub-Inspector Recruitment Scam. The Opposition parties, BJD and Congress, have been staging demonstrations against the ruling BJP government demanding a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE) 2024. It is said that the written examination for recruitment of sub-inspectors conducted by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board was postponed after Berhampur Police busted a major recruitment racket with the arrest of 114 aspirants and three middlemen from the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border on September 30. Subsequent investigation revealed the role of an “organised criminal syndicate” was in place to subvert the entire examination process and give job to people who were willing to pay speed money. Sources say such a scam cannot happen without the blessings of senior government officials. It is alleged that each Sub-Inspector post was being sold for Rs 25 lakh. Informed sources say the scam could be worth around Rs 200 crore. So far Vanik Coaching Centre in Odisha is in focus. In the last 15 months, 16 recruitment exams have been cancelled at the last moment, leaving job aspirants frustrated. The BJP-led government by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi says the recent recruitment scam in police is the legacy of the previous Naveen Patnaik’s BJD government. When Short Post contacted DGP Y B Khurania he refused to comment saying, “he was going on leave”.
The idiom aging like an old wine seems apt for the 56-year old Bobby Deol. Finally, he has stepped out of the shadow of his father Dharmendra and brother Sunny Deol. For an actor who almost became a recluse and took to drinking, the comeback has proved all his detractors wrong. What changed his life was an innocent question by his children: why is daddy home and not going to work? This is what he said in an exhaustive interview to Times Now‘s Navika Kumar. He went out looking for a job and he was lucky. A web series came his way and his role as Baba Nirala in Aashram (2020) made audiences sit up again. Then came Animal (2023), where his near-silent performance stole the spotlight despite limited screen time. Suddenly, Bollywood’s “forgotten Deol” was the industry’s most talked-about star. Bobby made his debut in Barsaat (1995). With hit films like Gupt, Soldier, Badal and Bichhoo he had carved a niche for himself as the romantic action hero. His downfall started some time in 2010 as a lot of new faces emerged who were versatile. Now cut to current days, he seems breezing with confidence… zipping in and out of film sets or TV news studios. Sure, Bobby has bounced back but diehard industry watchers have a piece of advice for him. “Now, that films are coming the way, he should pick and choose…he should strike a fine balance between art and commerce…that’s a craft he needs to master”.
In the intensely competitive ecosystem of Kollywood, traversing 22 years and reaching Lady Super Star status is no mean feat …in the same demanding profession where beauty, fitness and a modicum of acting talent combine to make a star. Forty-year old Nayanthara has achieved this milestone, still holding steady as one of the highest paid heroines (Rs 7 crore per film) pan India. Before she turned into the legend Nayan, she was Diane Mariam Kurian, dad Kurian Kudiyattu from the armed forces and mother Omana Kurian who bestowed her beauty and grace. Maybe she carried her military disciplined upbringing to her profession. But Nayan, went through some stormy and controversial romantic hookups too…her dalliance with a married Prabhu Deva, her brief affairs with Simbu and Arya provided much chomping fodder to the media, hungry for titillating bits and bytes. From her first film, Manasinakkare in Malayalam in 2003, to playing Sarat Kumar’s lead in Aiyya in 2005 …pairing with Rajinikanth in Chandramukhi which put her in orbit …soon Vijay, Ajitt, Suriya, Vikram, Simbu, Dhanush and Arya were her co-stars. Nayan’s name guaranteed a good box office run. She carried a mythological, Mookuthi Amman on her shoulders and turned a craze among women; the director is now ready with Mookuthi Amman 2. Vignesh Shivan, her husband came into her life with his directed film Naanum Rowdy Thaan, a relationship that merged into marriage in 2002, a much-hyped wedding… Netflix filmed and marketed it. Her twin boys, Uyir and Ulagh keep her busy, even as she still works in films with the same zeal in heroine-oriented roles. Nayan’s cosmetics start-up is sought after by fashionistas.
Jindal (India), part of the BC Jindal Group, is all set to expand its Howrah steel plant in West Bengal with Rs 1,500-crore investment. Already operating two plants in the state producing a range of steel-based downstream products, the group will significantly enhance its production capabilities with this addition. The Jindal Group’s latest investment aligns with its broader plan to scale up steel production across India, aiming to invest Rs18,000 crore over the coming years to enhance overall manufacturing capacity. The new Rs 1,500-crore downstream facility in West Bengal, with an annual capacity of 0.6 million tonnes, is expected to boost the company’s existing capacity by 60%, significantly increasing production of coated flat products, pipes, and crash barriers. According to the company, the commissioning of the new cold rolling complex marks the completion of a key phase in the expansion project, raising Jindal India’s total downstream steel capacity from 1 million to 1.6 million tonnes annually. Currently, Jindal India operates two advanced West Bengal facilities specialising in cutting-edge colour coating, galvanising, and galvalume technologies, further strengthening its position in India’s steel sector. Beyond West Bengal, the company, through its subsidiary, Jindal India Steel Tech is setting up a greenfield steel manufacturing plant in Dhenkanal, Odisha. JISTL plans to invest a total of Rs 15,000 crore in Odisha in three phases by 2030, with the current Rs 3,600 crore investment marking the first phase of the project.
Each time Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) attempts to appease Lord Ayyappa, something horribly goes wrong. With elections around the corner, first municipality in December 2025 and assembly elections in early 2026, the CPM-led LDF has been doing its best to appease Lord Ayyappa. The Kerala government held a Global Ayyappa Sangamam on the banks of river Pamba last month, in the name of commemorating the platinum jubilee of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages Hindu temples across the state. The meets agenda also included promotion of pilgrim tourism and exploration of investment opportunities. The meet failed miserably when the Opposition Congress-led UDF and BJP opposed the meet. It ended in a whimper with very low attendance. The hype behind the meet led to the focus shifting to release of Ayyappa devotees arrested in the 2018 Sabarimala protest against the Supreme Court judgement permitting women of menstruating age to worship at the shrine. While devotees and people at large ignored the Supreme Court ruling, the LDF took special interest in implementing the Apex Court order by forcefully taking young women to the shrine with full police protection. This act left LDF not only alienating the Hindus in the state but also families of CPM cadres. The Left-oriented cadres, at least on paper may be atheists, but not their families.
In the last 14 India-West Indies Tests there were 25 centuries and all but two of them were by Indian batsmen. Making hundreds against the West Indies has become almost routine but the remarkable feature is that the Indian youth brigade is coming regularly to the party these days. Shubman Gill, just 26, who made his fifth Test century in just 12th innings as captain, was only a few innings behind Alastair Cook (9) and Sunil Gavaskar (10) in recording the feat. Even Sir Donald Bradman took 13 innings to make that fifth hundred as captain of Australia. Having also assumed responsibility as captain on the tour of England, Gill has five hundreds in the calendar year in his 10 Test centuries overall as he emulates Virat Kohli in making merry when hitting a purple patch of batting form. Pushing him hard in making Test centuries is the opener Yashasvi Jaiswal whose hunger for runs has become a lot more famous than his satiating his physical hunger by helping out at a Pani Puri stall outside the tented ground that was his home in Mumbai. The anger he showed in seeing his captain turn his back on him as he sought a quick single when in his 170s is evidence of how run-hungry Jaiswal is. Not yet 24, he joins South African Graeme smith as a quick collector of seven Test centuries as opener. Run making may get more difficult when Team India plays tougher opposition like South Africa in a home series, but the fact remains that there is a youth brigade that is making India proud again since the halcyon days of Gavaskar in 1971 when the breakthrough victory came in the Caribbean.
Cinema and politics might have made the best equation as NT Rama Rao, MGR and then Jayalalithaa as well as MGR Janaki became chief ministers. Cricket did not, however, present as easy a passage to politics in India though Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan after founding the PTI party. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was one of the earliest in the country to attempt to enter politics. But, despite having the support of Rajiv Gandhi and others, failed to get elected to the Lok Sabha. Navjot Sidhu was one who made the art of speaking pay in his passion for politics though he had a chequered run as MP. Kirti Azad, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning team, was one of the earliest India cricketers to win elections as he became an MP from Bihar and he too has had a variable run while changing political parties. Chetan Chauhan, better known as the Rajput who was Sunil Gavaskar’s steady opening partner, made a success of politics, becoming a minister in UP before graduating to the Lok Sabha. He may have been the inspiration for Gautam Gambhir who went on to become a MP from Delhi with the BJP. He is now more famous as the unsmiling Team India coach that is on the road to redemption. Mohd Azharuddin, despite his exit from the Indian cricket team under the cloud of betting scandals, proved victorious in UP in 2009 and is still hoping to get back into full time politics. While Sachin Tendulkar is a largely silent Rajya Sabha member who shuns the political spotlight, there are others like Harbhajan Singh who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP. The lure of cinema may be magnetic in the south but in the north cricketers have found slots in politics with greater success.
The greatest fear as the findings of the probe into the Air India crash are awaited is that the manufacturer would somehow fix the blame on pilot error or human error to account for the tragedy. Selective leaks from the preliminary report carry plenty of evidence of where the probe may be headed as Boeing’s reputation, already in tatters after the crashes of the Boeing Max aircraft, is set to hit a nadir. Diversionary tactics of shifting the blame to the pilot have been spotted, including in a visit to the father of one of the pilots of the ill-fated Boeing Dreamliner by personnel attached to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) that was way out of protocol. They were guilty of insinuating to Pushkar Raj Sabharwal that his son Captain Sumeet Sabharwal may have turned off the plane’s fuel switches. That they came pretending to offer condolences made the story even worse. The preliminary investigation report released in July had noted that both the airplane’s fuel switches moved from “run” to “cutoff” position within a second of each other moments after the take-off from Ahmedabad airport. The report also suggested there was confusion in the cockpit without clarifying whether the pilots had deliberately moved the switches. It would suit the aviation industry to blame the event on human error while also serving Boeing’s legal woes in compensation to victims which could be scaled down if this was not an accident, the first for the Dreamliner series, caused by mechanical failure. The Supreme Court had also described portions of the AAIB report as “unfortunate and irresponsible” as they allowed (misleading) media narrative to take shape besides compromising the dignity and privacy of victims’ families.
“My heart has broken, I am in unbearable, inexplicable pain and grief,” actor-politician Vijay said in his first reaction after tragedy had struck hours earlier in the form of a stampede that took 41 lives at TVK’s rally. Meanwhile, a campaign had taken off in Tamil Nadu to place the blame entirely on the actor whose political movement is attracting so many people on his weekend visits to various places in the state that it has become quite a political phenomenon not seen in the cinema-crazed state for decades now. The government put out an immediate message to journalists about inexperienced organisers not following rules or instructions, how Vijay came seven hours late to the venue leading to restlessness and the actor not taking any responsibility and running away from the spot. Be that as it may, this avoidable tragedy was everyone’s fault, including that of Vijay’s unruly fans of whom much has been said in the two weeks since he began his political campaign. The administration has been placing 25 restrictions on his meetings and even if he faithfully follows all of them, there is no saying when a mad following will burst the controls and surge towards the magnetic star as they did that night in Karur when the stampede that everyone had feared took place. Police control over the crowds in his rally have been very lax too. His political foray having snowballed into a GenZ phenomenon, Vijay will have to be cautious on how he can control the crowds that he is attracting, and which is drawing political envy and fear as well.
Face the stark truth. Every step that Donald Trump takes will be against Latinos or Indians. All this talk about “My good friend Modi” is beginning to grate in the ears. And in one fell swoop, the U.S. President has now hit Indians in the stomach with his punitive annual fee of $1,00,000 (nearly Rs 90 lakhs) on H-1B visas. The move will hit all those who take these visas to work in the U.S. but consider the fact that Indians take over 70% of such visas granted every year in the H-1B visa lottery (Chinese less than 2%) and you know who the worst hit will be. It is becoming easy to see through this good-cop-bad-cop act that Trump was running with his aides like Navarro and Lutnick berating India at every turn while the U.S president speaks lovingly of India and its PM Modi. The trade talks may have been resumed but the U.S. well knows that India will not let two red lines be breached. Opening the agriculture sector is a no-no forever while the buying of Russian oil will go on till everything else is agreed upon and a trade deal is on the table ready to be signed. No amount of posturing is going to change the fundamental position that Trump has taken against India and with Pakistan, partly because Pakistan played up to him and even invested in his family cryptocurrency business. Trump may not forget in a hurry the image of Vladimir Putin inviting Narendra Modi into his limousine in China even if he himself did share a limo ride with the Russian President in Alaska. If anyone believes things can be sorted with Trump and the U.S. soon, they may have other thoughts coming up.
Actor-politician is getting more daring by the day even as crowds keep flocking to his Saturday meetings in district towns of Tamil Nadu. The latest salvo he fired at Stalin was to challenge him to cut the audio system or the power when the Prime Minister, the Home Minister or the RSS chief comes to Tamil Nadu. It is a fact that whatever caused these disruptions, they did take place at Vijay’s meeting in Trichy when the audio of his speech did not carry to the several lakh people who gathered at his rally and mysterious power cuts took place. Try imposing the conditions – about 25 are thrust upon his meetings before permission is granted by the police – when the PM and the HM come calling, says Vijay. For all the lofty liberal principles of respecting political opponents that the ruling DMK may profess, it is clear they are rattled by the momentum Vijay is gaining. The imposing of strict conditions – including that he speaks only for 30 minutes at any rally – is a clear sign that the ruling DMK will do its best to disrupt Vijay’s campaign as he poses the biggest threat to Stalin emulating his father in getting re-elected. That may still happen as the DMK is still ahead in the race, but their image will have taken a beating as they are doing exactly what ruling parties tend to do in trying to rein in rivals to power.
The Sengottaiyan rebellion has been contained. But it was an image hit for Edappadi K Palaniswami who has been stubborn in keeping out his old benefactors in the AIADMK party that was once controlled by J Jayalalithaa and manipulated by her aide Sasikala. Having lost all relevance in politics after the death of their golden goose, Sasikala, her protégé O Panneerselvam, who was twice interim CM, and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran have been desperate to leverage what is left of the Jaya legacy in the party, but to no avail as Palaniswami has been sticking to his guns. The DMK may have been enjoying this from the sidelines, but it is known to have quietly been turning the screws in the belief that it may be the sole beneficiary of any split in the vote. While joining Vijay of TVK is an option, it is unlikely that the new entrant will want any of the old baggage to be associated with his fledgling organisation. The DMK will, however, be quite happy to encourage the rebel AIADMK brigade to stand on their own under the flag of the AMMK party founded by Dhinakaran. This will be a sure shot way of testing the loyalties of the AIADMK cadre and splitting their votes so DMK will remain ahead in any equation in the polls.
IPL franchises are powerhouses, and they will have their way. Never mind if some great players will have a falling out with them and walk away. In the matter of a few days, Rajasthan Royals saw Rahul Dravid walking away after being offered another role rather than that of the Chief Coach that he valued as the Karnataka cricket brain fancies himself more in team and player management around the cricket rather than as being part of the expanding cricket business. Just a week earlier, another legend in Ravi Ashwin decided to hang up his IPL boots and look for opportunities both on the field in leagues such as the popular Big Bash in Australia and other T20 club competitions. He fell out with his old franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) that had picked him up again in an auction, paying a fancy Rs 10 crore for a player who had retired from international cricket. An intelligent player who has made a name as one of the game’s deep thinkers about the game and its demands on technique, would now like to look at a coaching or managerial position in any franchise, if need be outside India. Ashwin fell out with CSK after he had aired thoughts about how much they may have paid “under the table’ for Dewald Brevis who was with Mumbai Indians earlier. The billion-dollar franchise did not take kindly to being called a cheat. And it has reason to fear any illegality as it once lost two years when it was banished from the IPL for one of its owning family members betting on the game. What the fracas at CSK reveals is the IPL franchises are not to be toyed with. They will hire and fire at will.
With the government spelling out its stand that Team India will continue to participate in multilateral events like the World Cup and Asia Cup which will also feature Pakistan, the Asia Cup gets a clearance that may not be popular with sections of the public because of the tensions with Pakistan post-Pahalgam terror attack. However, this is a stand Team India followed even in the Champions Trophy but in which it stressed that it will not play in Pakistan and nor would the BCCI expect Pakistan to play in India though they did that in the 2023 ODI World Cup. The picking of the squad for the Asia Cup was a clear pointer to the BCCI being confident of getting clearance to take part in the Asia Cup which it will host in the UAE. Not that the squad the selectors picked was universally popular. The omission of Shreyas Iyer was the biggest talking point but equally mysterious was the omission of Yashasvi Jaiswal who was a member of the T20 World Cup winning team in 2024. Some former players used their time to think about picking a squad out of those not selected for the Asia Cup and they came up with a playing XI that could be expected to give Team India a run for its money. Here is the alternate team for the Asia Cup: Shreyas Iyer (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudarshan, KL Rahul, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Ramandeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. That is a pretty good playing XI quite capable of upsetting the real Team India. Of course, what the XI of those left out conveys best is the depth of Indian cricket when it comes to white ball competitions
It is not only Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s criticism of India playing Pakistan in September that will be ringing in Indian ears. Whatever the BCCI’s justification for fielding Team India in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in the UAE next month, it is certain to prove unpopular. This will certainly be displayed most on social media where people have already noted that it is BCCI’s greed that is driving this move to resume sporting ties with Pakistan. Coming as they do so soon after hostilities on the border have barely ceased and the success of Operation Sindoor is being spoken of in Parliament and outside, India-Pakistan matches may not have the same resonance as before. And to prove how greedy they are about putting up this spectacle, the organisers of the Asia Cup have shown some ingenuity in trying to bring about at least two meetings between India and Pakistan in the league and Super Four stage but also a possible third match if both teams qualify for the final. UAE may be the safest place in the world at present to host these matches, but the hit on the national sentiments of Indians and cricket lovers may be deep. “Blood and water cannot flow together,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi thundered when abrogating the old Indus Waters Treaty. Apparently, blood and cricket can now flow together. There may be some logic to BCCI trying to ensure no threat to a place for Team India in the Los Angeles Olympics of 2028, but to think playing in the Asia Cup will help is a stretch. It will be ironic if Pakistan pulls out of the matches against India.
There will be no early call on Jasprit Bumrah’s place in Team India in Tests. While the BCCI bigwigs may have been unhappy over his selective approach to playing Tests in the England series, they are loath to take a big decision on individual fast bowler’s workload management. Team India believes intensely in its premier fast bowler even if social media is agog with caustic views of Bumrah’s ‘maybe, maybe not’ approach. A less than 100% match-fit Bumrah was not much use in the third of the Tests that he played, in Manchester. But that was on a belter of a batting pitch when Bumrah was not certain of his match fitness to bowl about 50 overs in five days. Team India will be allowed to decide on the fast bowler’s presence in the two-Test series against the West Indies. But since his workload in home Tests may be far less against such a lowly opponent as the team from the Caribbean, the BCCI will be happy to allow the team to take the call. There will be no central decision on fast bowlers playing or opting out of matches. What Bumrah’s presence in the team can do is too well-known. His 219 Test wickets at 19.82 at an average just under 20 runs per wicket makes him only the only bowler along with Scott Boland -who has 62 wickets at 16.53 from 14 Tests – with a sub-20 economy rate among contemporary bowlers. Sources close to Gautam Gambhir reveal that the chief coach will pick Bumrah for Tests in consultation with the chairman of selectors at an appropriate time in the coming home season.
Colourful analogies were the highlight of the general council meeting of PMK, the party of the Vanniyars. The ongoing fight for control of the party between father and son Dr Ramadoss and Anbumani proved so exasperating that not even a high court judge could bring about a reconciliation. The meeting in Mahabalipuram went ahead to elect Anbumani as president for three years and Vadivel Ravanan and Thilagabama as general secretary and treasurer for another year. “In temples, sometimes the deity gets angry, and we perform rituals to please them. Here, the problem is not with the deity, but with the priests,” Anbumani said while referring to intermediaries who were preventing a patch up in the party’s first family. The dispute arose principally over the choice of alliance, with the son preferring the BJP-led NDA in the LS polls of 2024 while Dr Ramadoss wanted to go with AIADMK. Since AIADMK will lead the BJP and others in the AIADMK+ coalition into the assembly polls, there should be no reason for father and son to fight now. Of course, the choice rests with the PMK on whether to align with Vijay’s TVK, the new player on the block. The issue might boil down to money as the fund flow for the polls will be in the hands of Anbumani if he is accepted as the president of the party and not with Dr Ramadoss who was the founder and chief patron of the party. Anbumani still respects his dad and is hoping he will come around to be united again but it is something that the “deity” will have to decide. Meanwhile, the DMK is happy to see confusion reign in any party that opposes it.
Are all the stars aligned against India? It would appear so if its captains can lose 15 tosses in a row. The chances of that happening are said to be 0.003 %. Of the 15, Shubman Gill lost five, emulating Virat Kohli who did that in England in 2018. But beyond the mathematics of such bad luck, there are serious conspiracy theories floating around, one of which is that everyone is conspiring to ensure Team India does not win or even draw the series in England. The tourists have had reason to believe one of the umpires, the Australian Paul Reiffel, was not too much in their favour in any decision-making. They had a run-in with a biased groundsman who thinks Indians should be at least 2.5 metres away from his pitch while the Kiwi coach of Team England was welcome to walk all over it. What may have proved most crucial between India standing a chance to win and trying to save it was the ball change at Lord’s. With the out of shape Dukes ball, barely 10 overs old and swinging and seaming and producing wickets, the Indians took a disastrous call to have it changed. And they were given a 30-over old ball as replacement which did nothing in the air or off the pitch. When they sought to switch back to the ball they had just changed, they were refused — and rightly too, as those are the rules. That ball change suited the home team which left Team India 193 to win rather than a much smaller target and India lost by 22 runs. Whether it was the stars, a conspiracy or poor cricket, the result is India’s chances of going ahead 2-1 at Lord’s were lost and they were left fighting to square the series in the Oval Test on that biased groundsman’s pitch.
Former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam has set the political cat among the pigeons. His meetings with chief minister MK Stalin, the first in a morning walk that was said to be coincidental and the second a formal meeting at the CM’s residence, may have opened a whole new avenue before the 2026 polls. There is a likelihood that Stalin will welcome OPS and his rump element from the AIADMK into the DMK+ fold because he believes in all forces joining a larger alliance like the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. In political terms, OPS may have very little to offer in terms of vote catching abilities, but his coming into the alliance would deliver an anti-AIADMK and anti-BJP message that may resonate with voters. Before ‘walking’ towards a DMK embrace just after he was refused a meeting with the PM on his recent visit to TN, OPS flirted with the idea of joining actor-politico Vijay if only to irritate the AIADMK+ combine. What Stalin sees in all this is an opportunity to gather all the forces he can so that he will be in a stronger bargaining position against the VCK, which has of late been showing some signs of hitching its fortunes to Vijay as a rising star. There is a possibility of DMK inviting Dr Ramadoss and his Vanniyar vote base into the fold in case VCK gets too ambitious in seat-sharing. And in all this, Stalin is dealing from a position of strength as he has the state machinery behind him to ward off what little anti-incumbency that may have gathered so far in his 50 months in office.
It is as a failed politician that the 69-year old Kamal Haasan took oath as member of the Rajya Sabha. In 2017, he floated a party Makkal Needhi Maiam amidst much fanfare that failed to take off. He suffered the same fate as Sivaji Ganesan who was seen as a talented actor but not a people’s saviour as MGR was perceived to be. Having come into politics with the same enthusiasm as many others of uprooting the system and making a new one work for the people, Kamal surrendered to the same Dravidian power monger politics by aligning with the DMK and then angling to get this Rajya Sabha nomination. He may have been nominated by a political party but Kamal’s place in the Upper House may be the same as that of many celebrities who failed as nominees of the nation like Sachin Tendulkar whose voice is rarely heard in Parliament. Once a firebrand in his early days of initiation into politics with his double barrel guns pointed equally at the Dravidian majors, Kamal will be just another celebrity unless he takes his appointment seriously and gets his voice heard often in the legislature on topics that will pertain to public issues that count and talking about which might help bring about change to some extent. Until then, Kamal will remain a nonentity as a political figure who may have realised that the public is not idolatrous to the extent that any film star can become an MGR or an N.T. Rama Rao. Meeting him to wish him before his Rajya Sabha entry was Rajinikanth, the Superstar who developed cold feet about entering politics, It remains to be seen now what will become of Vijay though he is one matinee idol who is giving up cinema at least temporarily to appear like a serious politician.
It has been another vexing cricket summer of ball changes in England. As the Dukes ball, which had built such a reputation for a hard seam and leather elements that stood up well to wear and tear, comes under pressure from modern batsmen batting aggressively and hitting the ball with greater power from state-of-the-art bats. And it is the Indian origin Jajodia whose company makes the hand-stitched balls who is in the crosshairs. And another who is being blamed now for a quixotic ball change in the course of the England innings is Md Siraj. He was seen throwing the ball to the umpire seeking a ball change just as Jasprit Bumrah was running through the middle order. Maybe, the ball became like soap but why change it when ‘Boom’Rah was bending it like Beckham? At least one commentator trained his guns on Siraj for seeking a ball change, and that too without consulting Bumrah, the team and the world’s premier fast bowler. Cricinfo stats revealed that the old ball with which Team India was taking wickets was swinging 1.869 degrees and seaming 0.579 degrees whereas the replacement ball swung only 0.855 and seamed less. An out of shape new ball was doing the trick for Bumrah but the ball change saw him seem more human than superman as England recovered to put up a challenging total. As the wag said, cricket is more than just the balls. It is about tactics too.
There is a new player in the eternal Indian cycle in which the cricketers want to be actors on screen and actors want to play cricketers on screen. He is Suresh Raina who will be making his debut as the hero in a Tamil film that has just been announced. Considering the former Test, ODI and IPL batsman has had offers from Bollywood that he turned down in life after cricket, his choice of medium is piquant. But then Raina may have found an easy choice in his favourite city Chennai to take a serious offer to don the greasepaint, that too as the protagonist. And he will be playing a role that may come naturally to him as he is a cricketer in the film. No, it is not a biopic, just a story woven around cricket and politics. A close lieutenant of Dhoni who was ‘Thala’ (boss or chief), Raina was known as ‘Chinna Thala’ in his CSK playing days when he was as much a batting super star as his boss. Raina may feel at home in Kollywood where he will take on this new role. The film is being directed by Logan for the Dream Knight Stories banner and will be a medium budget release with big ambitions. There have been movies in which cricketers like Bravo, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh have also starred. Where Raina and his film may end up is anybody’s guess. But this won’t be the last story you will read on cricketers chasing films and film stars chasing cricketers to play them on screen. This cycle began early with Salim Durrani one of the first to try a hand at becoming a matinee star while others like Sandeep Patil also fell for it.
From facing throwdowns from farmhands as a kid to making two centuries in two Tests as Team India captain in England is a great journey already for someone who is just 25 years old. His dad Lakhwinder Singh who used to reward the farm boys if they got his son out says now that he saw Gill bat at Edgbaston like in his Under-16 and Under-19 days. Gill himself explained all the facets of his thinking in preparation for England by getting red ball practice during the IPL and getting his mind ready to last hours at the crease in Test cricket. A Test double hundred in England has come only once in 23 years since Gavaskar’s 221 at The Oval in 1979, Rahul Dravid’s 217 at the same ground in 2002 and now Shubman Gill 269 in Birmingham. But the most remarkable thing apart from statistical achievements like the highest ever score by an Indian captain, Shubman Gill’s knock has been rated one of the most flawless innings since CricViz began recording stats on false shot percentages in 2006. In 19 years, not too many innings may have attained the perfection rating above the 95.3% that Gill recorded in his 269 that ended with a pull straight to short square leg. Not even England run-getting legends like Alastair Cook and Joe Root ever attained perfection like this in their gigantic run making in England. “In this series, I tried to go back to my basics. I tried to bat like I used to in my childhood…” He also went on to say that he stopped enjoying his batting because he became so focussed on making runs and lasting long enough to stave off any late order collapse. With this innings, Gill has not just made history but also showed modern batsmen the way to bat in Test cricket.
Having once been condemned by Sunil Gavaskar from the commentary box with a serial “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid” description, Rishabh Pant made the legend say “Superb,” three times in tribute to a century at Leeds. That was soon as he became the Indian wicket-keeper with most Test centuries (7) – not Dhoni (6), not Saha (3) nor any of the older greats. And he has kept this “all-rounder” status in his own unique way, rolling on his back not to collect stray wide balls from bowlers but to punt the ball over the ‘keeper’s head. And who else can conceptualise a virtual one-handed lofted shot to mid-wicket sailing beyond the ropes for a six to get to a century. After all, he is a batsman who opened his Test account with a six. Even Gavaskar, who has watched more cricket than many of the legends, may never have predicted such a fulfilling future for a plump youngster. And if he thanked God it may have been not only for the record-breaking century but also saving his life the night that he was involved in a car crash from which few gave him a good chance of survival. Maybe that is why Pant is determined not only to live every minute of a second chance at life but also enjoy it. Maybe, Pant has shown Sunil that despite all that madness that seizes him now and then while batting that he is perfectly capable of stringing together long Test innings. If there is one thing that has not left him may be a bit of spirited batting that in the eyes of critics may seem “Stupid.” Maybe, none will call him “stupid” again regardless of how adventurously he bats when the whim captures his mind.
Club versus country is an old debate in football in which the club game can at most times seem bigger than inter-country matches except perhaps in the World Cups. There are any number of soccer players who have given up playing the international game because they must satisfy, with their performances, their immediate employers, which are clubs. The Clubs may understand what loyalty to the country means, but they can be mean enough to believe that players owe them loyalty first as they pay their yearly wages and may have been responsible for spotting them and nurturing them. The fine West Indian striker – yes, there are new terms from soccer for batsmen these days — Nicholas Pooran has become an extreme example of loyalty to the club first in his retirement from international cricket at the age of 29. And the very next day he was named captain of the MLC league team MI New York. He has bowed to money in quitting wearing the colours of the West Indies in international cricket to play multiple leagues across the world in which he can make a good living without having to meet availability conditions that countries demand, especially during the peak season from November to March when their teams play a lot of international cricket. Pooran had just struck a six-hitting record in 2024, the year in which he made170 hits beyond the boundary and he had continued that rich form of six-hitting in IPL Season18 too. The fact is money calls and so does an easier life with less fierce expectations to fill when you turn up for a T20 league or Cup game as opposed to turning up in international cricket. Truth to tell, money is thicker than patriotism.
If Rajeev Shukla, senior vice president of BCCI, goes on to become the president of BCCI in the elections to be held in September at the annual meeting, it will be unique as he is a veteran politician from the Congress fold. In the last 15 years or so, BCCI had presidents like Jagmohan Dalmiya and N Srinivasan who were industrialists taking the honorary role of cricket administrators. But, after the Lodha Committee ruling on the board, no administrator who reaches the age of 70 can continue. With Roger Binny attaining 70 in June, it is 65-year old Rajeev Shukla who will take over as the interim president. If the old liaison man, political survivor and acceptable personality across the spectrum can convince the ruling party BJP — which has been in total control of BCCI through the Home Minister Amit Shah’s son — that he can be a consensus candidate, he would be achieving quite a feat in cricket administration of today. Of course, Shukla had been useful to many top administrators when the UPA was ruling till 2014, and he had access to Sonia Gandhi when she was the Congress president and all-powerful figure in the country. A brother-in-law of senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, Shukla had also been IPL chairman for a few years. Of course, he would have to cash in on all his old cards if he is to convert his interim presidency to a more permanent one at the AGM. The political survivor would then have achieved quite something as cricketers Sourav Ganguly and Roger Binny were the last two BCCI presidents who had served the game as players.
An unstated factor in the electoral alliances of Tamil Nadu is that of funding. It is well-known in political circles that the Dravidian parties are a bit more evolved in the sense they are prepared to fund the election campaigns of smaller allies. This may be the reason why TN parties are keener on allying with the DMK or the AIADMK that are flush with party funds and do not mind spending some of it on campaigns whereas the national ruling party BJP is known to be reluctant to do so. Another unstated number is the amount per seat that the Dravidian majors are prepared to spend to give their alliances a better chance. The cash-for-vote is a far more refined process here than in other states even if it started very late, in 2009, in a bypoll that became famous as the “Thiumangalam Formula” whereby individual voters were given money or gifts. A WikiLeaks document of 2011 read, “From paying to dig a community well to slipping cash into an envelope delivered inside the morning newspaper, politicians and their operatives admitted to violating election rules to influence voters.” The money gets spread over 234 constituencies in assembly elections, making it tougher for the EC to catch loads of it, as they do in bypolls. The contests for key seats in assembly polls are known for the generosity of candidates in showering voters with cash and gifts. If some minor parties are yet to declare their alliances for the 2026 polls, it can be assumed that they are merely waiting to know how much they can expect or extract from the majors.
In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), is already in poll mode with the leader and his election analysis team hard at work taking stock constituency by constituency to shape the party’s strategy. The rest of the Opposition appears to be in disarray with the PMK sharply divided between the founding father and stalwart politician Dr S Ramadoss and his son Anbumani. Their division came out in the open when Dr Ramadoss convened a meeting at his residence but only 10 of 110 district presidents attended it. Son and 4 party MLAs also boycotted the event. Jayalalithaa’s confidante and aide Sasikala, her protégé and former CM O Panneerselvam and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran are striving to get back into AIADMK, but EPS is adamant that none will be allowed back in. Meanwhile, OPS claims that his rump element of the main party is still very much a part of the NDA, and the BJP has been supporting this. It is likely that the BJP will fork out some seats to the Sasi-OPS-TTV faction because EPS will not permit them from his party’s share of seats. The DMDK has always been a minor player after the spectacular debut that it had under the late Vijayakanth. With TVK, the fledgling party of actor-turned politician Vijay, intent on contesting on its own, it is only the AIADMK that has shown some stability a year out before the polls are due in the summer of 2026. Even so, the DMK has already cranked up its political work at the grassroots level to be prepared to take on the Opposition in whatever shape it may be next summer.
The ruling DMK made its point in Tamil Nadu when it took out a rally to display its solidarity with the armed forces that were actively engaged in the conflict with Pakistan. The ceasefire announcement may have come just as the rally was moving on to the Marina Beach Road, but the DMK has only upholding a tradition of the party supporting the Union government during any external threat to the nation. Carrying the national flag and walking the Marina promenade has been a tradition since the war against China broke out in 1962, which was when the DMK founder Annadurai declared that his party was giving up its separate Tamil homeland (Dravida Nadu) demand in a national Indian cause. The Congress may have run the same kind of rally in Hyderabad and Chennai before chief minister MK Stalin walked to display his solidarity, but the DMK march for a national cause has been something that the party has always revered. So much so, even the Governor RN Ravi lauded the DMK for the rally. Of course, the DMK has come a long way since supporting such causes as Eelam, with a territory covering Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu as a Tamil homeland. Such thoughts are probably only nursed by the likes of Vaiko and other politicians who remain wedded to the romantic notion of a Tamil nation.
Chennai Super Kings, which became the first team to be knocked out of the IPL this season when it dropped all chances of qualifying for the playoffs, may be preparing for life without Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the arena. Regardless of whether Dhoni dropped a hint about retirement before the match against PSBK or not, it is known that the skipper is prone to suddenly dropping out of the game as he did when he was Test captain. CSK, now being run professionally after its owner N Srinivasan became wheelchair-bound on losing his eyesight. CSK is looking at all options to rebuild despite the constraints of not being able to buy players at the next big auction that is years away. It appears there is no future at CSK for the likes of Ravindra Jadeja too though he has played a winning hand several times when appearing under Dhoni. There will be a role for Dhoni as mentor and team composition adviser at the auctions too if he is willing to take it. But CSK knows his contribution as a batter is not only limited because of his late appearance in 20-overs innings but also sharply declining even if his abilities as a ‘keeper are almost intact. The think tank has been told to start rebuilding for the future rather than fret over what happened in Season 18 in 2025. The brand value of the team in yellow is too huge to be lost in the fading of its super star Dhoni.
The AIADMK-BJP alliance is not the only cause of anxiety for DMK chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin. Senior ministers in his cabinet are as much of a headache for the chief honcho. While trusted lieutenant and money handler V Senthil Balaji put in his resignation on April 27 after strictures from the top court, so too the education minister K Ponmudy quit on the same day as he was also under fire for needlessly disparaging comments that drew the ire of a High Court judge who called for a suo motu FIR against him. Did he really need to joke about Brahmin sects and sexual positions and denigrating the whole of womanhood? Brahmin baiting may be fair game for the DMK that evolved out of the Justice Party, but vilifying women outraged a senior woman party leader in Kanimozhi who spoke out. The most senior minister among Stalin’s cabinet colleagues, Duraimurugan, who was just emerging from the woods after a tasteless description of physically challenged people — whom he called ‘nondis’ using an old Tamil term for lame people — when an old case came out of the woodwork to haunt him. A DA case has re-emerged to trouble the minister as the Madras High Court cancelled his acquittal by a lower court. Even the highly regarded IT minister Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) was pulled up by the Speaker for saying in the Assembly that his ministry had no funds to create new IT parks. He was told there must be a better way to approach the government for funds.
Closeted with his lawyers after leaving the Assembly session early, Tamil Nadu minister V Senthil Balaji was wondering when to put in his resignation. Given a sharper deadline by the Supreme Court to either resign or risk losing the bail given to him after more than a year in jail, the minister for prohibition as well as electricity — major portfolios through which large amounts of money flow — may have boxed himself into a corner now. A Jaya loyalist who once made a name for efficiency as well as an ability to keep everyone in the cabinet happy, Senthil Balaji made himself an invaluable member of Stalin’s government. Having defied the edicts of the top court which gave him bail only on the grounds that Article 21 may have been breached in continuous imprisonment as an undertrial and thus denied his human rights, the minister might become the first victim as the tide turns in judicial circles for Tamil Nadu. The state is still celebrating verdicts in its battle against Governor RN Ravi. While time may have run out for Senthil Balaji who had tested the court’s patience after becoming a minister just a few days after getting bail in a money laundering case, other TN ministers are also in trouble with the judiciary. An old disproportionate assets case has come back to haunt senior minister Duraimurugan. Another minister, K Ponmudy earned the wrath of the Madras High Court after disparaging comments against the religious sects of Brahmins and women seemed to disappear from public memory. The judge has asked the court to take suo motu notice of his offence of hate speech and asked for a FIR to be filed.
The AIADMK supremo Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) could not have asked for more. Every wish of his was granted by the BJP that was seeking an alliance in Tamil Nadu with a major party at any cost. The first concession that EPS made in return was in withdrawing the case against Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran that he had filed at the height of the battle for the party and its ‘Two Leaves’ legacy symbol. This is the first sign that some sort of rapprochement might come about between EPS and his bete noire O Panneerselvam, who has stood by Sasikala. It is, however, unlikely that any of the Sasikala clan and cronies will be allowed back into the party. At most, they may be accommodated in the seats that the BJP gets from AIADMK. Earlier, the BJP had empowered EPS after it became known that Vijay was bent upon going into his poll debut on his own with his fledgling TVK. EPS and his party have been named the leaders of the grand coalition that the BJP was desperate to cobble together to take on the DMK that has further entrenched its position by being a fierce voice of opposing the ruling national party. Former BJP TN chief Annamalai may have fought tooth and nail to improve the party’s vote share in the Lok Sabha polls but BJP had to ditch him to get EPS on its side. Today, EPS is bold enough to state that there will be no coalition government in TN even if the alliance wins a majority even though Amit Shah had hinted at a sharing of power in the state.
What made the BJP-AIADMK alliance, now being talked about freely, come about was Vijay’s refusal to tag along with anyone on the Tamil Nadu political scene and to go it alone in the 2026 polls. And he made that decision based on Prashant Kishor’s advice. It was known that Vijay had virtually decided to go with the AIADMK in an alliance to try and gain power quickly in his political career for which he was ready to be Edappadi K Palaniswami’s (EPS) deputy CM if that scenario came good. It was Prashant who told him not to do that and to go on his own as he was guaranteed to pull in at least 20% of the vote, much of it expected from youth willing to give a new idea a try and women who determined to look for change from the tired Dravidian major party scene of the DMK and the AIADMK. Prashant was said to have postulated that either he could become the kingmaker in any split decision in a hung Assembly or even king if the tide turned all in his favour. Otherwise, he would have been only second fiddle if his alliance with AIADMK did well enough to get the majority. EPS made his move to go to Delhi and seek out Amit Shah only when he came to know that Vijay was unwilling to get into an alliance with his AIADMK. It does appear then that Prashant has made this 3-way scenario come about with DMK+, AIADMK-BJP and TVK in the fray with Seeman likely to join the mega alliance with AIADMK. Having lost his banker in Vijay as an ally, EPS will soon be firmly in BJP’s lap.
The Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar put the Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai in his place, dubbing him an unimportant person who had no knowledge of the threat that delimitation could pose to the southern states. The local BJP had arranged for black flags to be shown at all major cities in Tamil Nadu on the day that Stalin held his summit against delimitation at a deluxe hotel in Chennai. It was the local BJP’s point that Shivakumar, whose state refuses to give Tamil Nadu a just share of Cauvery water, and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan who does not talk to Tamil Nadu on important issues like the Mullaperiyar dam, its maintenance and permissible height, should not be state guests in Chennai. Shivakumar made the point about Annamalai’s view of delimitation as an irrelevant subject being unimportant because what counts is what the Prime Minister and the Home Minister think of it. DKS said he could understand Annamalai being loyal to his party, but he seems not to understand what could happen to his own state of Tamil Nadu if the delimitation proposal goes through. If proportional representation according to population is done after the next census, UP could have as many as 137 seats in the Lok Sabha compared to 80 now whereas Tamil Nadu may end up getting four more seats than its current 39.
The BJP and AIADMK have agreed informally to have an alliance for the Tamil Nadu polls of 2026. K. Annamalai, who heads the TN BJP and Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) of AIADMK have agreed to come together again after the AIADMK broke the alliance because it believed it lost more from the association with a party that propagates Hindutva. The two have also agreed to keep their alliance intentions under wraps for now lest the many influences around the TN political scene try to disrupt the coming together of parties that can dent the DMK’s chances of winning the polls. EPS is not interested at the moment in bringing back the former CM O Panneerselvam and his mentor Sasikala, but he may have to compromise if the national BJP insists on everyone coming together to take on the DMK. The BJP would like an even bigger alliance with Vijay’s debutante party TVK in it, but the actor has taken such a strong line against all other Tamil Nadu parties that he may have no option but to go it alone. The Opposition parties are aware that their best chance to take advantage of the building anti-incumbency and feelings running against the DMK’s family rule is to unite. Whether that would be possible with Vijay being the X factor in the coming elections is moot. With a little over a year to go, no development on the alliance front is to be ruled out but the AIADMK-BJP alliance is already sealed.
Visitors to a conference on ‘Good Ideas’ in Abu Dhabi and an AI summit in the UAE were in for a major surprise as Artificial Rain is giving way to Artificial Intelligence. Cloud seeding is an old idea from the oil-rich UAE decades ago but today AI seems to have equipped the process with more power. The day the delegates landed in Abu Dhabi the weather, at 35 degrees Celsius peak, was hot. And the next day the day’s top temperature was 22 C and the contrast seemed to make it appear as if winter had set in suddenly once again in the land of the desert sands. Under a thick cloud cover all day, the wind was howling. The Met Office in Dubai tried to explain it saying cold winds were blowing in from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, but locals said with a wink and a smile that this weather change was artificial as the UAE rulers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai wanted the days to be cool at the beginning of the Ramadan month. While speakers were referring mostly to the good that AI can do and does, those giving voice to the lurking fears around AI were also around. The handling of the weather for good by changing the weather a bit with creation of artificial rain is a pointer to the infinite possibilities of AI though it can go wrong as it did last year when Dubai saw unprecedented flooding causing chaos.
Tamil Nadu’s father and son duo of MK Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin have embarked on a fight to the finish with the Centre on all issues. They know well that this confrontation is not going to get the state anywhere in terms of funding from the Union in important areas like education, but they are convinced that they will have the Tamil people more on their side if they continually oppose PM Narendra Modi, the BJP and the Centre. Their latest battle has lain in the third language formula domain in which the state will get more than Rs 2,100 crore funding if they adopt the New Education Policy. It is known that the third language need not necessarily be Hindi and can be any official language of India that a school offers, including the mother tongue of students who are from outside the state. But that has not stopped the father-son from ignoring the fact that the third language is not necessarily pro-Hindi nor Hindi imposition. It is the Tamil psyche shaped by the anti-Hindi agitation of the 1960s that the duo is exploiting along with their party that came to power because of the language agitation that began nearly a century ago when C Rajagopalachari oversaw the Madras Presidency in the 1930s. They are playing to the gallery and getting under the skin of New Delhi. Tamil pride and Tamil angst are what they are depending on as they plan to keep power.
In Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian major AIADMK is going through a minor crisis of confidence with a senior member in Sengottaiyan staying away from an event that felicitated the party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). The former minister explained it away saying he was told there would be no portraits of party founder MGR and his protégé J Jayalalithaa at the venue and the party explained it away by saying the event was by a federation of farmers. The minor misunderstanding alone is not, however, what the leader and former chief minister EPS is facing. He is deprecated as the ‘dubbing voice’ of the BJP by TN chief minister MK Stalin and assailed every day by those who he had forced out of the party like TTV Dhinakaran of the Sasikala clan. While Palaniswami may be forced to accept that to go with the BJP in the Assembly elections of 2026 could be the only option given the scattered vote share of the Opposition, he is being offered an olive branch by the ousted former chief minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) who now senses an opportunity to call for unifying all forces so the party may regain the strength of old and be a force to be reckoned with in the state. OPS is now saying he is willing to patch up and return even with EPS as chief. provided fair elections are held soon with all party members allowed to vote for their chief. Meanwhile, word has come in that political advisers are saying that only a front against the ruling DMK with AIADMK, BJP and Vijay’s fledgling TVK could fancy its chances of downing the ruling party.
The antics of Tamil Nadu Congress MP Manickam Tagore have not gone unnoticed in the wake of the Delhi poll results. Displaying what was clearly his delight at the AAP taking a tumble in the Delhi elections, the MP had posted on X just two words – ‘Delhi Results’ – along with a video of Arvind Kejriwal declaring that there be no tie-up in Delhi. While schadenfreude is understandable, what the post tries to make is a case that Kejriwal was to blame for the Congress not agreeing to adjustments and the grand old party going ahead to contest in all 70 seats and playing the spoiler. In fact, it was Congress, which often accused the AAP of being the BJP’s B team, ended up playing the role of ‘BJP B’ in the Delhi polls by clearly affecting the results in 14 seats, including that of Kejriwal, and turning the contest around for a BJP sweep. If the INDIA alliance had been in place and Congress contested only a few seats to keep up its Delhi identity and poll ambitions, the verdict may have been totally different with the AAP prevailing in a close contest. What happened in the end was that Congress scored a triple bagel – 000 – in three successive Delhi polls and Kejriwal lost power and Congress spokespersons were looking at the crumbs of the poll verdict and predicting the party’s comeback in 2030.
Big parties like the AIADMK and BJP have boycotted the February 5 Erode East bypoll to the Tamil Nadu assembly, leaving the Opposition space for the rabble rouser Seeman who heads his Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK). And he has enjoyed his moment in the sun by taking potshots at the DMK and its ideological patriarch EVR Periyar, the social reformer who stood up for the classes oppressed in the old Hindu caste system. Known as much for his atheist views, EVR had left himself open to criticism for his Brahmin-baiting ways that denigrated Hindu gods. No one in Tamil Nadu, a major portion of whose people deify Periyar as an ideologue who showed the path to political power for the Dravidian classes even though he himself was not for electoral politics, would like to see their idol’s ideas and actions challenged thus. Seeman has continuously sniped at Periyar’s ideas while promoting his brand of Tamil nationalism that deifies the terrorist Marxist Prabhkaran of the LTTE who was gunned down by Sri Lankan armed forces after 30 years of civil strife in 2009. Seeman’s tactics may not improve his vote share but since his candidate is certain to finish second to the DMK, he is having fun mocking Dravidian claims. The ruling DMK’s cadre were told to ignore him as Seeman will become politically insignificant again when the State goes to the polls and there will be two or three major fronts with the DMK+, BJP+, AIADMK and actor-politician Vijay’s TVK in the fray.
Signing on poll advisers is not new to Tamil Nadu politics, but there have been some changes of late as the parties are getting serious about the 2026 Assembly polls that are nearly 15 to 16 months away. TN’s Dravidian parties may have entered into agreements with poll consulting firms later than other regional parties though Prashant Kishor was the first to take on a TN party when he signed up with the DMK. Now that he has started a political party of his own, the DMK has signed on Robbin Sharma’s Showtime Consultancy for the consulting and poll strategy role for 2026. Sunil Kanugolu has been advising the AIADMK party on poll matters and he continues in that role. One of the new political personalities on the TN horizon is Aadhav Arjuna, son-in-law of the lottery king Martin, who is now signing on with Vijay’s party as consultant even as TVK prepares for its electoral debut in 2026. He will also be formally joining the party on February 2. After falling out with the VCK, Aadhav has shown keen interest in Vijay’s party, and he will be on hand as poll adviser as well with his company to do data crunching and other tasks. An intriguing feature of the 2026 polls is that all the major parties are already gearing up for it well in advance with strategy sessions, preparation for booth-level presence and the regular matter of organising rallies and tours of their leaders. Party confabulations are already heavy over what are seen as very important elections coming up.
The Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has been on a multi-year mission of taking on the state government at every possible opportunity. Unusually, chief minister MK Stalin had made a placatory gesture by attending the Governor’s Republic Day ‘At Home’ reception at the Raj Bhavan in 2024. Much water has flowed down the Cauvery in a year and the ties could not have been in a worse state than in 2025 when Stalin, his cabinet, his party DMK and all their allies turned their back on the Governor. Using the Republic Day as an excuse to put out a message, the Governor slammed the state’s economy, its ability to draw investments and the room it gives anti-national elements. This wasn’t a great gubernatorial gesture as the head of state is not expected to run down his own state, which is what the former Police/intelligence official did. Just a day earlier, the CM had at least taken a humorous view of the confrontational Governor issue by pleading to Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah not to shift RN Ravi out of the Tamil Nadu Raj Bhavan. The CM said his presence and his utterances have helped the DMK grow in the state. In his constant tirade against the DMK, its Periyarist ideological roots that recognises no gods and his lambasting the law & order situation in the state, the Governor has only helped the DMK gain more popular support as it is seen as being targeted by a representative of the Centre.
The BJP was in a dilemma regarding the Erode East Assembly bypoll in Tamil Nadu for a seat that became vacant with the death of Congress leader EVKS Elangovan. Having promised a seat to GK Vasan’s TMC, the party did not wish to go back on its word and take over the seat. At the same time, it was fearful of Vasan’s party being wiped out in the poll and finishing far behind Seeman’s NTK. A very poor performance by an ally would not have suited the national party either, which is why it decided not to contest and announcing it was following the AIADMK in boycotting the poll because the election would be fixed by the ruling DMK in bringing hordes of voters into nearby meeting places and then transporting them to the booths. AIADMK had decided to withdraw from the poll to give BJP the chance of putting up what could be a common candidate representing the opposition to the DMK in the state. The BJP boycott means the contest would be a walkover for the DMK that will face the only recognised party in the LTTE leader Prabhakaran-loving Tamil nationalist party NTK that has not won a single election so far. In any case, the seat will only be for a little more than a year as the Assembly elections to all 234 seats are to be held in the summer of 2026.
The Opposition in Tamil Nadu may have agreed to try the combined candidate formula with which the INDIA bloc had caused a dent in BJP’s hold in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Assembly bypoll for the Erode East seat held by Congress leader EVKS Elangovan until his demise has provided the chance to try this experiment in taking on the might of the DMK in the state. The AIADMK has agreed not to contest the seat and Vijay’s TVK is to make its debut only in the 2026 Assembly elections. That creates room for BJP to take on the Congress in a direct contest to see how the vote percentages go. The AIADMK may have had the BJP as a part of its Tamil Nadu alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but since then the parties fought the Assembly elections on their own and against each other as well as DMK and NTK. The latest decision to make way for BJP might also open the gates for a possible alliance again when the bigger polls come in 2026. Right now, the Opposition is keen on seeing whether they can flex their combined muscle against the DMK which will, however, unleash its own strategy, including dipping into its coffers, to ensure ally Congress wins to keep the seat.
In Tamil Nadu the DMK’s succession plan is working extremely well with Udhayanidhi Stalin slipping into his role as Deputy CM and moving up in his rating to chair No 3 behind his dad and senior Durai Murugan in the Assembly. That may have freed up family anxieties over control of the party at a time when chief minister MK Stalin was not in the best of health. There has been good news for the family on that front too with the patriarch now in far better shape after the U.S. visit where he tended to his health as well as attract investments for the state. With Senthil Balaji back to his key role as funds handler who has the Electricity ministry as well as liquor – two lucrative money raisers in politics – even if it is to the chagrin of the top court that frowns upon such titles for someone who is out on bail, the ruling party and its first family are in total control of things. The principal political task they are now aiming at is to keep the Opposition disunited. They do not wish to see actor Vijay and his fledgling political party joining hands with any of the majors to present a poll percentage challenge to DMK’s reelection in 2026. The DMK knows that in a 3-way or 4-way contest its basic cadre vote will see it through, but the task could get harder if Vijay were to enter an alliance with the principal rival AIADMK.
In an tell-all podcast, Figuring Out with Raj Shamani, the London resident Lalit Modi bared his soul before revealing why he left India abruptly on the night of IPL-3 final in 2010. The cricket czar fashioned the cricketainment package of the limited-overs game, big biz and Bollywood buzz into the biggest money spinner in pro sport. He was hounded out of India with a combination of people against him, including the Congress party, its HQ at 10 Janpath, N Srinivasan who went on to rule world cricket on Modi’s exit and the betting mafia under Dawood Ibrahim’s D Company. Congress and the Gandhis were against him because he resisted Shashi Tharoor’s girlfriend Sunanda Pushkar being a sweat equity partner in an IPL team bid from Kochi until he was blackmailed into permitting it, with disastrous consequences, of course. In taking IPL-2 to South Africa and out of India at poll time, he ran headlong into ruling party versus opposition politics of the worst kind. Congress wanted him out for daring to take the game away after contemplating playing it only in BJP-ruled states. The Establishment threatened to withdraw the security cover he was given as IPL Commissioner and with serious death threats hanging over him, he made an exit from India under the eyes of the ruling party which could not stop him at the airport gates. He had set the IPL on the path to its greatest glory showering BCCI coffers with billions of dollars but the founder who thought it up had to find a home outside India. His story, regardless of whether he is a fugitive or not, is believable.
Alliance politics, an eternal feature of the Tamil Nadu political scene, has turned sharper with the advent of actor Vijay on the electoral stage. All the parties save the ruling DMK are running helter-skelter in their bid to stitch up an alliance before the 2026 Assembly polls. DMK is content to wait out the drama with parties rejecting each other as potential allies since this helps the ruling party to stay ahead in poll percentages. The arithmetic is simple. If the votes split three ways as they did in the Lok Sabha polls, the DMK stands to gain the most, or sweep everything as it did with 39 of 39 seats. If the votes are going to split four ways after Vijay’s entry, the DMK will be laughing all the way to Raj Bhavan for the swearing-in ceremony. The AIADMK, a shrewd player of alliance politics in the time of J Jayalalithaa, has not only split on her demise but also stands isolated in the alliance race. They don’t want to join the BJP again after the stinging 2021 experiment. Vijay does not want to join the AIADMK though the party would very much want the youthful politico on his side. The BJP is keeping the door open for AIADMK provided those shunted out are part of a united package. The DMK is only keen to keep VCK and its current allies on board. The more divided the opposition is, the better for MK Stalin and family.
Tamil Nadu political parties put up a brave face after watching the response to Vijay’s entry into their charmed circle. While some minor players were dismissive of the actor, the ruling DMK tried to convey the message that it was business as usual. Except that they too are worried not even about the zeitgeist of young people seemingly attracted to the fresh player on the scene. What bothers the DMK the most is its rival AIADMK would be able to tie up with Vijay, in which case they sense a more formidable rival may be at hand to threaten the future of the mostly family concern that the DMK is. The AIADMK, sensing an opportunity, has asked its leaders and cadre not to attack Vijay in the media as they sense a soulmate in the greenhorn who mostly toed the AIADMK line when Vijay spelt out some of his political ideologies and plans. In boldly putting forth his views on the corruption in the DMK, he has become most attractive to the AIADMK. They sense that Vijay, a Christian, may not fit the BJP plans and hence believe they are in a better position to woo him into an alliance for the 2026 Assembly polls. The DMK is, however, happy at the arrival of a new player who can further split the public vote if his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam is to contest the polls alone and not in any alliance. The 2026 Assembly polls of Tamil Nadu are going to be fun and games.
Shocking details about the Sadhguru’s Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore have come to light through the counter filed by the Tamil Police in the Supreme Court against the stay issued for the conduct of the search operations in the center’s premises. After the Supreme Court stayed Tamil Nadu police raids, which were started following a Madras high court order, the State police was asked to file the counter. It revealed that many people who had gone to Isha Yoga Center have gone missing and the police had not been able to trace them. It also said that a cremation ground was functioning inside the Isha premises at the foothills of Velliangiri Hills in suburban Coimbatore and that the hospital there was giving expired medicines to patients who visited it with health problems. The case of the parents of two women said to be confined against their will inside the ashram was always weak considering they are adults and have said they are there of their own volition. The habeas corpus meant little after the women had explained their decision. There are, however, other reasons like missing persons, disdain for rules and regulations in terms of land under the centre’s control now through which much encroachment may have taken place that need to be probed. But who will bell the cat against a godman of considerable influence.
Former DMK minister V Senthil Balaji’s release on bail from a money laundering case after 471 days in jail opens the gates for a major shakeup in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet. DMK supremo and chief minister MK Stalin was waiting eagerly for the master operator Senthil Balaji’s release so that he could give shape to his Cabinet before the DMK goes on to face the 2026 assembly polls. The CM may use the opportunity not only to elevate his son Udhayanidhi to the post of deputy Chief Minister while anointing him clearly as his designated political heir but also cut out some seniors from ministership. It appears even the senior most minister Duraimurugan, considered No 2 in the cabinet for long, may not survive the reshuffle, as he showed his displeasure openly at the elevation of Udhay as deputy CM. Senthil Balaji will be put in charge of a major ministry. A few other seniors may also be shown the door for non-performance along with the DMK senior who was handling the key portfolio of Water Resources and was tasked with following up on the Cauvery River water issue. The Dravidian stalwart Senthil who was a key figure even in AIADMK ministries made the switch at the correct time after J Jayalalithaa’s demise on sensing which way the wind was blowing. Having waited so long for a more appropriate time to press for changes, CM Stalin may wield the broom very soon.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said he would be seeking an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and personally request him to release funds meant for the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) project as well as the funds due to the State under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) relating to school education. Both funds have been blocked by the Centre. His finance minister Thangam Thennarasu has already issued a statement hitting out at the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for saying that the ongoing CMRL second phase for Chennai was a State sector project. He had pointed out that the project envisaged in 2017 was a central sector project in which the Union government’s share had worked out to Rs 7,425 crore. He also refuted a statement by Ms Sitharaman that the state had spent only Rs 5,880 crore on the 119-km phase II whereas the state had already expended more than Rs 18,000 crore so far. The step motherly treatment being meted out to Tamil Nadu, considered the last bastion against the ruling BJP is borne out by the fact that funds allocated for Metro Rail schemes in cities like Bengaluru (Rs 30,399 crore), Kochi (Rs 1,957 crore), Nagpur (Rs 6,708 crore), Pune (Rs 910 crore) and Thane (Rs 12,200 crore), are all from the Centre’s kitty while not even what was promised for Chennai Metro expansion has been delivered.
Their dreams of seizing power or even sharing it long over, the BJP and AIADMK are fighting a turf war for second place in Tamil Nadu in a bitter manner. The language of exchange between the two parties has hit a nadir with BJP TN chief K Annamalai calling former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami a ‘frog in the well’ and an ‘ignoramus,’ among other things. Not to be outdone in verbal calisthenics, AIADMK leaders took potshots at Annamalai calling him ‘an octopus’ and ‘a leech’ and burning his effigies routinely until he left for the UK for a 3-month sabbatical to join the Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence programme. It is hard to imagine the two friendly parties in J Jayalalithaa’s time and officially allies after her death in 2016 for seven years till Sept 2023 could turn out to be such sworn rivals. The fight is for second place in TN behind the ruling DMK, which both parties are aspiring for in the 2026 assembly polls though the dynamics in those elections may be churned by the presence of superstar Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) that will be splashing its entry into state politics this month. With Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh releasing a commemorative Rs 100 coin for M Karunanidhi centenary in Chennai, the rumour mills are working overtime imagining secret pacts between BJP and DMK. As they say, anything is possible in politics, more so in TN.
Chief Minister MK Stalin was bemused when the media accosted him about news of a possible cabinet reshuffle on the day that actor Vijay was unfurling the flag of his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). The rumour may have been floated by someone in the bureaucracy to draw media attention away from the much-anticipated Vijay entry into politics, which is worrying the established parties because he is capable of commanding a 15% share of the votes straightaway, which would be mostly that of the youth. But the TN cabinet is so fixated on their former minister in jail, Senthil Balaji, being free once again to resume duties that a cabinet reshuffle has been put off until then. He had been a minister without portfolio while in jail for a while before he resigned. There were indications that the politician, a known handler of ‘funds,’ who was with the AIADMK when it was in power before successfully changing loyalties to the ruling DMK, would be released soon from jail as the PMLA case against him has made no headway. They value his silence under heavy interrogation so much that they can’t wait to see him back. The CM will be leaving this week for the USA for inviting investments as well as a health master check while naming only who will be in charge when he is away. It would be interesting to see whether that would be the senior most minister Duraimurugan or his son Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Tamil film superstar Vijay’s hunt for a venue for his party Tamil Vetri Katchi’s inauguration has been a tale of frustration that betrays the fear people have of being seen promoting a new player on the political scene. The hunt had led Vijay’s party members to several cities and towns in the state looking for a venue like an open ground that can accommodate around 10 lakh people who are expected to attend. Having looked at suitable venues in Trichy and Salem, the party had to cancel with the parties owning or controlling the venues pulling out for fear of getting into trouble with the powers. The party had then approached a private college management to lend their campus and ground in Vikravandi, a town about 120 kms south of Chennai. The venue may not be big enough if a million people get there for the inaugural slated for September 22. The party is said to be still trying for a more suitable venue even as preparations are on for releasing the party’s flag on August 23 so that supporters and fans can carry the flags to the venue on the inaugural day. The party is determined to get the party off the ground in a spectacular way in September. Vijay’s final film – The Greatest of All Time or GOAT –– before his political plunge will hit screens on September 5.
There was a refreshing change in Tamil Nadu politics involving Governor RN Ravi as chief minister MK Stalin called on him before his Independence Day ‘At Home” tea party. They met, exchanged pleasantries and interacted for a clear 10 minutes. The insider news is that the DMK feels it will need the Governor’s clearance for a few things including the continuation of Senthil Balaji as a minister in the Cabinet as soon as he is released on bail, which the top court seems likely to do soon. The ruling DMK, which will be shifting focus to the upcoming Assembly polls of 2026, would like to have a smoother working relationship with Raj Bhavan. Having announced a boycott of the Governor’s tea party in joining other DMK+ allies Congress, VCK and MDMK, the DMK backtracked when the CM made his intentions clear that he wanted to smoothen out ties. Also, since he is going to be away in the U.S. where he is headed not only to attract investments but also go through a full medical checkup and physiotherapy, he would not like to see a confrontation taking place between his ministry and the Governor in his absence. Of course, it remains a matter of speculation if he would make his son Udhayanidhi Deputy CM before he leaves or waits for the more auspicious Tamil month of Thai (from January 14, 2025) which his wife might be recommending.
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