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There are two more Tests to go against New Zealand in the ongoing three-Test series, but like against England — which won the first Test in Hyderabad before losing in Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamshala — the Rohit Sharma led home team will go to Pune 0-1 with a hope of causing a turnaround from the second Test. India has not lost a Test to New Zealand in 36 years and so the eight wicket defeat will hurt its players. New Zealand’s fast bowlers exposed the Indian batters’ vulnerability against speed and bounce on a pitch that was not really a deck for the fast bowlers. England chose rookie spinners left arm Tom Hartley and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir because of their height and skill and in Bengaluru — where India held a 3-0 record against New Zealand’s tall fast bowlers Tim Southee, Matt Henry and William O’ Rourke — brought down India to 46 in the first inning and took the last seven wickets in the second for a mere 54 runs. India has now lost one Test each to Australia, England and New Zealand at home in the last three years, it will be hard pressed to make the ICC World Test Championship final if it does not win the big points in Pune and Mumbai. Sharma made one mistake upon winning the toss and that was to bat. It has already cost India the first Test and if it does not show innovative ways to take wickets and some spunk while batting in the first inning, it may even face the prospect of going down in the series which will not be good augury travelling to Australia.
Not all is quiet in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) front, post its election defeat to BJP. Many within BJD put the blame on Naveen Patnaik for his blind faith reposed on his personal assistant VK Pandian, IAS officer from Tamil Nadu cadre. The man who was seen in every photo frame of Naveen Patnaik for over a decade now has gone off the grid post the election debacle. BJD insiders say though Pandian seems largely out of sight but he is not out of the picture. He continues to be Naveen babu’s eyes and ears and stealthily visits Naveen Nivas regularly. On his part, the former Odisha chief minister publicly acknowledged that “Pandian had served the state and party with utmost dedication, efficiency and integrity”. Sources say Pandian is like the late RK Dhawan, Indira Gandhi’s personal secretary, who knows too much and that perhaps explains why Patnaik continues to support him. Not surprisingly, his influence continued and led to more disgruntlement, dissensions and desertion within BJD. BJD’s former five time MP Prasanna Kumar Patasani who joined BJP says BJD has become a divided house because Pandian continues to guide BJD as he has Naveen babu’s protection. Patasani alleges that Pandian advised him not to raise the issue of conferring Bharat Ratna to Naveen’s father late Biju Patnaik in the Parliament earlier. Amidst all this finger pointing exercise many from BJD are crossing over to BJP.
For the first time in recent years, Tollywood has taken the Puja box office by storm in Bengal, outshining twin Bollywood releases. Three Bengali films — Srijit Mukherjee’s Tekka, starring and produced by superstar Dev, Shiboprasad Mukherjee-Nandita Roy’s Bahurupi, and Shastri, featuring veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty and Deboshree Roy—hit theatres on October 8 as a Durga Puja bonanza, and audiences flocked to cinemas, setting a new trend in festive box office dominance. Despite earlier scepticism, due to controversies and online trolls targeting Tollywood actors following the RG Kar incident, the three films delivered big time helping the industry recover from a difficult first half. It has been a tradition of releasing Bengali films during Durga Puja but RG Kar protests forced directors and producers to cancel trailer launches and promotions back in August. This led to disappointing collections for films like Raj Chakraborty’s Babli and Srijit’s Mrinal Sen’s biopic Padatik. The only notable box office success during that period was Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta’s 50th film, Ajogyo which crossed Rs 1 crore at national multiplexes. Bahurupi earned over Rs 3 crore in six days. In four days, Tekka achieved over 450 housefull shows making it the highest-grossing Puja release to date of Rs 2.75 crore. Trade analysts expect Tekka to surpass last year’s Puja hit, Dawshom Awbotaar which earned Rs3 crore in 10 days. Meanwhile, Shastri earned over Rs 1 crore. Bollywood’s two major releases Alia Bhatt’s Jigra and Rajkummar Rao’s Vicky Vidya Ka Woo Wala Video earned Rs 2.5 crore each, significantly less than their Bengali counterparts.
If there is one formula for the success of its third term in Haryana that the BJP would most likely use in Maharashtra assembly polls, it would be having a very limited campaign of its star campaigner PM Modi. Unlike the previous strategy of carpet bombing the poll-bound states and Lok Sabha constituencies with Modi’s rallies in the run upto 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the party has begun to restrict the number of Modi’s rallies from Haryana elections. Party sources indicate that PM Modi would not be addressing more than half a dozen rallies and at best such rallies would be spread across different regions in the state. BJP sources pointed out that the CM face for Mahayuti was more or less settled at the Chandigarh NDA CMs meeting when PM Modi asked Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde to move the resolution lauding the return of the BJP in Haryana for a third term. Shinde was picked for the honour even as Devendra Fadnavis who represents the BJP in Maharashtra was present. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also attended the Chandigarh meeting. The NDA CMs conclave started immediately after the swearing-in ceremony of Nayab Singh Saini on October 17 in Chandigarh. There were 13 Chief Ministers and 16 deputy CMs belonging to the BJP and other NDA allies in attendance. Besides CMs of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, states like Bihar, Sikkim, Nagaland and Meghalaya had also put in their attendance.
This year’s biggest grosser Stree 2 has found its place in the numbers book as pure entertainment riding a spooky plot. This film’s highlight is Tamannaah Bhatia enticing fans with her Aaj ki Raat item number, bringing in repeat audiences just to see her dance. Her earlier film Jailor item number Noovu kaavalaa is still rocking the audience. Tamannaah has her place as a saleable star who raises no controversies, does her work and moves on. But she may not have realised the deep trouble she was getting into by signing on as Brand ambassador for the Mahadev HPZ Token App, which has now become a legal nightmare for its owner Saurabh Chandrakar. His App and role in the alleged illegal broadcast of the IPL competition has turned into a Rs 5000 crore lawsuit, with Viacom claiming Rs 100 crore loss. Tamannaah is alleged to be part of the promos and events and now the ED is determined to question all those connected with the scam. Travelling to Guwahati with her parents, the ravishing film star was subjected to 5 hours of questioning. It is not known how this captivating lady withstood the ED grilling (or how the ED faced her voltage). But her visit to the famous Mahashakti’s Tantric power temple of Kamakhya, dressed in a white kurta accompanied by her parents, made more news.
National media attention over the Haryana/J&K state assembly elections blindsided the rest of India from political goings on in neighbourhood Punjab. Fully fit CM Bhagwant Mann quietly reshuffled his cabinet of ministers stamping his authority in Punjab notwithstanding changing intra-party dynamics. Chetan Singh Jauramajra with nine portfolios to include Defense Services Welfare, Freedom Fighters, Horticulture, mining and geology, water resources, conservation of soil and water got the pink slip. AAP’s Jalandhar MLA Mohinder Singh Bhagat (who had left AAP for BJP pastures) secured ministership and first three of these portfolios. Another newly inducted Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal got the remaining departments and a place in Punjab’s council of ministers. Another big loser in the political stakes was Anmol Gagan Maan who held Hospitality, Investment Promotion, Labour, Tourism & Cultural Affairs till CM Mann replaced him with another biggie, Tarunpreet Singh Sond allocating to him Gagan Maan’s portfolios and department of industries and commerce as well. In addition to these Sond also takes charge of rural development and panchayat departments that another downsized minister Lalit Singh Bhullar held till September 23. Local Government and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Balkar Singh lost his portfolios but not cabinet rank and will administer the Jails department of Punjab. Ravjot Singh became minister and took over his erstwhile portfolios. Hardeep Singh Mundian is another big new ministerial find for CM Mann and takes charge of housing and urban development (CM held portfolios) along with revenue, rehabilitation and Disaster Management (held by Brahm Shankar Jimpa, who also got the axe. Harjot Singh Bains also found induction as the new Information and Public Relations minister in last month’s reshuffle. Was CM Mann pre-empting a coup? Only time will tell.
Are we driven to autopilot mode? Encircled by artificial intelligence and social networks, it appears that we are pushed into autopilot mode. What is the way out? Mumbai-based Dwarakanath Soundararajan, who promoted Neurosymfony Technologies Ltd, has hit upon a unique solution. A software engineer with deep expertise in web application development and Machine Learning, he has launched a web app that offers much-needed pause — a space for intentional reflection and cultivating a healthy information diet. He has launched www.sphatika.cloud, a structured spiritual journal and deep-thinking web app. It is designed to help one track his/her life’s goals based on yogic principles, specifically the pancha kosha theory, focusing primarily on the Vijnanamaya kosha — The Wisdom Sheath. The app also encourages cultivation of other koshas through spiritual practices. Designed for individuals seeking personal growth and self-awareness, the app serves both as a tool for structured reflection and a guide for pursuing life’s dreams. Its unique blend of spiritual principles and goal-oriented journaling makes it an ideal companion for those who value introspection while striving to achieve tangible results in their lives. Graduated with a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Texas at San Antonio, Soundararajan is now focused on creating a social network for spiritual health management.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has taken a lead over other major parties by declaring its first list of a hundred candidates for the coming Maharashtra assembly election. The party is expected to contest around 160 seats in the 288-member house. Even as the partners in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi have been haggling for their individual share of the seats, the BJP’s decision to come out with the first list is considered strategic. Already preparing for the election immediately after the Lok Sabha election was over, the party machinery is geared up to take on its adversaries. Significantly, the first list has few surprises as almost all the sitting MLAs have been asked to contest. The list is topped by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. A somewhat surprising nominee is state BJP president Chandrakant Bawankule, who has been accommodated in the legislative council after he was refused the assembly opportunity in 2019. He is considered a loyal follower of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. A few days ago, there were murmurs that Gadkari’s loyalists were being side lined. Following some such news reports, a meeting between Gadkari and Fadnavis took place. Bawankule’s selection to fight for the assembly is considered as an adjustment. While the BJP candidates have gone into an overdrive, the hopefuls in other parties are still groping in the dark about their future. Their fate will be declared latest by Monday (Oct 21) evening, it is felt.
It is reportedly the fifth busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements in India. It is also the third busiest airport by international traffic. In 2023–24, it handled over 21 million passengers. Well, the Chennai International Airport is turning out to be hectic by the day. Handling such heavy traffic and facilitating customs processes prove a big challenge for the authorities. Well, the government is quite aware of this. The Ministry of Finance has decided to appoint approved valuers for assessing gold, silver, jewellery and precious stones at Chennai International Airport. It has already come out with a notification inviting nominations for a panel of valuers responsible for assaying and valuing precious items for both accompanied and unaccompanied passengers, as well as for issuing export certificates. The appointed valuers will also handle the valuation of seized or confiscated goods. One of the requirements for appointment is that they should be available at any time. Qualified assayers, valuers or jewellers affiliated with recognized associations are eligible for submitting applications. “The assayer/valuer is required to present himself /herself before any adjudicating authority / appellate authority/ courts to give the evidence/ produce the relevant records, as and when required,” it said. A valuable initiative, it appears!
In an interesting initiative, PM Modi has established a monitoring group chaired by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to focus on reviewing the implementation of various schemes announced by him, its budgetary provisions, subordinate legislation, and other critical infrastructure projects. The inaugural meeting of this newly formed group took place on October 18 at the PMO. The meeting saw participation from all secretaries to the GoI, including the Chairman of the Railway Board, who attended in a hybrid format. This group is set to convene monthly at the PMO in South Block. The group has been tasked to examine the announcements made by Modi and also assess projects for which the foundation stone has been laid by him. Besides, Chouhan will also communicate expectations of the PMO to relevant secretaries, especially if any project appears to be lagging or requires inter-ministerial support. Modi was reportedly worried about delays in the implementation of government schemes, highlighting these issues in closed-door meetings with secretaries and senior PMO officials. His proactive approach to governance suggests a commitment to ensuring that all government initiatives are executed in a timely and effective manner. The establishment of this monitoring group is widely interpreted as a response to these concerns. Involving Chouhan with more governance responsibilities also reveals that Modi has more plans for the BJP veteran from Madhya Pradesh than what the RSS envisions for him. The Sangh has been pitching for Chouhan who had a near record run of three plus terms as Madhya Pradesh CM as next BJP chief. With his involvement in both day-to-day administration and global affairs, Modi will surely have his say on who will head the BJP next.
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.
Kerala Forest Minister AK Saseendran broke down while consoling people looking for their missing family member days after the devastating landslides in Wayanad district. The minister, who visited the landslide-hit areas, spoke to a father and son who were seen searching at the spot where their house once stood. Saseendran turned emotional while listening to the painful words and concerns of the hapless family and embraced the boy to console him. “I never thought in my life that I would have to see such a sight. What reply should I give them?” Saseendran asked. Meanwhile, there was high praise for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Wayanad where he spent two hours more than scheduled at the relief camp for survivors where he saw and heard firsthand the extent of the landslide tragedy that struck the area, killing at least 300 people (official tally 229) and another 200 (official tally 130) still missing. The entire state machinery having swung into action to tend to survivors, there has been no dearth of empathy for what happened to the people living in the eco-sensitive region. The PMs genuine message that he would spare no effort in helping Kerala and sending financial help towards rehabilitation after receiving a report from the state was welcomed by the CM.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is to go to the U.S. on an official trip to attract investments to the state. Also, he will undergo medical tests and health evaluation when he is there. As the CM wishes to hoist the flag on Independence Day at Fort St George, his departure has been planned for around August 18 or later. But before then he must take a decision on the appointment of a deputy CM who will preside over cabinet meetings in his absence that could stretch to a couple of weeks if any therapy is needed in the U.S. The party has left it to him to nominate a deputy CM or a senior minister to preside over the cabinet. But it is on the cards that the CM will name his son Udhayanidhi as the Deputy CM, a decision that could have been taken much earlier but was postponed due to a few murmurings among party seniors and loyalists. Now that there is a need to name someone, Stalin may take the opportunity to make his son his deputy and open a path for him to be his political heir to head the party. Stalin has been under more pressure from within his family to take the call to make Udhayanidhi the Deputy CM than from his party.
Is the Tamil Nadu government fixated on conducting a Formula 4 Night Streetcar race in Chennai? It should not, considering that an assurance was given in the high court that a proposed street event in December 2023 would not be held on the Island Grounds-Marina-War Memorial-Napier Bridge Road circuit for at least two years. But since the guarantee runs out in 2025, that year may well see the event being organised in the city at the cost of rearranging road traffic for days on end. Chennai, unlike Monaco or Singapore, may not be best suited to making busy roads into a race track for the mild enthusiasm of a few diehard fans who may love the sound of screaming race engines. It is the Opposition leader and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami who threw light on the government’s plans to go ahead with the road race as he saw letters written to industrial houses to support the event. The plan for the formula race had created a controversy when a YouTuber, now in jail, alleged that a Tamil actress having a home in Dubai was associated with the racing circuit companies and was behind the event coming to Chennai. It is clear young ministers in the cabinet seem committed to this tamasha just to please a filmy friend. They can expect severe strictures from the court if ever they solidify plans to run fast cars around the Beach Road.
The Budget blues are being felt all over the country save for Bihar and Andhra which got the most favourable allocations. While it is natural that the BJP, fast learning coalition dharma, gave away dollops of financing to keep the two most important allies in good humour, it offended too many states, including those ruled by the party itself, in skewed distribution of funds. Nowhere was the antipathy towards differential treatment of friends and foes felt more than in Tamil Nadu. Crying hoarse over funds needed to mitigate the misery caused by unprecedented flooding in Chennai at the hands of Cyclone Michaung and five southernmost districts that were hit by extraordinary amount of rain in 2023, Tamil Nadu saw a measly Rs 500 crore paid before the cyclone hit as woefully inadequate to relieve the flood-hit. Doles were paid out by the government of at least Rs 1,000 per family, but everything came from state funds rather than the Centre. No wonder the ruling DMK decided to take to the streets to point out the huge prejudices in the BJP that has earmarked Tamil Nadu as the most rebellious state and fiercest critic of the Narendra Modi government. While Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Pune are to get flood relief funds, there is zilch for Chennai, the worst hit of them all last year.
Governor RN Ravi may not be everyone’s favourite former intelligence officer, but he has made a name for himself with the BJP top brass for holding the best nuisance value in an Opposition-ruled state. Now Ravi is desperately seeking an extension as his 5-year term is running out. His contention is that he served two years in Nagaland and came to Tamil Nadu capital Chennai only three years ago and so expects to stay on for two more years. He has been shuttling to New Delhi often to meet Home Minister Amit Shah who alone can recommend the extension he seeks, besides calling on PM Modi. The former CBI and IB officer’s stay in the Raj Bhavan in Guindy has been sensational, to say the least. He has picked every possible hole in all that the DMK government does and has put a spoke in the wheel of every piece of legislation passed in the Assembly. Only under the prompting of the Supreme Court has he changed a bit to be accommodative in the sense he has been recently clearing routine bills that are non-controversial. The moment he sees a red flag, as in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors that comes under the Governor’s jurisdiction, he would immediately take on the government. He has been the DMK government’s most acerbic critic and two more years of him may not be to chief minister MK Stalin’s liking. But being in the INDIA bloc, he knows the ruling BJP might like to keep their voice in the state for longer.
India’s politicians are of the doughty, never-say-die type. Take Sasikala, a quasi-politician at best when she was J Jayalalithaa’s confidante but carries that spirit beyond her conviction for graft and a 4-year incarceration in a Bengaluru jail. Ejected from the AIADMK party at the instance of her pick for the chief minister’s job after Jaya’s death, Edappadi Palaniswami, she has decided to fight back after the AIADMK was trounced at the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls to the extent the party withdrew from the latest bypoll citing DMK monopoly over the election process. Sasikala tried to gather some forces in a recent visit south where she drew a crowd of personal loyalists. She also continues using the party flag bearing the profile of Annadurai on a black background, much to the chagrin of EPS who has been anointed Secretary of AIADMK, from the Supreme Court downwards. The idea of uniting the party and bringing back all the ‘black sheep’ – read Sasikala and O Panneerselvam – before the 2026 Assembly poll was aired at a party conference to take in the impact of Lok Sabha polls. But EPS shot it down vehemently even as he aired the view that the likes of Sasikala should stay away from active politics. He is intent on steering the party into the next state polls in what could be a do-or-die effort.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is basking in the success of his party candidate in the bypoll in Vikravandi, which came despite the government facing the heat in the aftermath of hooch deaths near the constituency. He knew it was important to get this endorsement of Dravidian rule because the ruling DMK was up against the candidate from the PMK that was part of BJP+ and testing the waters in a virtual straight contest in the absence of AIADMK. From the voting counts of 2021 and 2024 it was clear that the AIADMK cadre chose to vote for DMK rather than PMK, which vote would have been taken as one for the BJP that has been desperately seeking a break in the state. While the PMK got 32,198 votes in the Vikravandi segment in the Lok Sabha polls this year, its candidate got 56,026 votes in the assembly bypoll. While that could be taken as an indicator of the current mood and the dynamics of a straight contest, DMK’s Anniyur Siva got 1.25 lakh votes, a big swing from when the DMK won the seat only by a margin of 9,500 in 2021. AIADMK voters have chosen to go against its former ally BJP, now a bitter rival in 3-way poll politics in Tamil Nadu. The anticipated big breakthrough for BJP in the south, specifically Tamil Nadu, may take a lot more time to come.
Tamil Nadu politics may not have seen such an intensely personal battle between the heads of two state parties since the days of Karunanidhi-Jayalalithaa. Even in those days it was a battle in which the personalities rarely cursed each other in public and were quite prepared to let the other be, however contemptuous they were of each other. The same rules of engagement do not apply to K Annamalai, head of the BJP in TN and Selvaperunthagai, TNCC chief. They have been fighting tooth and nail in the media, freely cursing each other. Annamalai has taken it a step further by suing the TNCC head for libel. The verbal duel began when Annamalai said he was forced to refer to the TNCC chief as a “history sheeter” because of the challenges being thrown at him for inducting into BJP some persons with criminal antecedents. It appears that Selvaperunthagai was once detained under the Goondas Act and has several serious cases pending against him even as he jumped across five parties before hitting it big time with the Congress, which has some importance in TN thanks to its ally in the ruling party DMK. Does the Congress have a party chief in any state who has gone to jail charged with murder and jailed under Goondas Act, Annamalai asked. The duel has stirred media interest at a time when TN politics has had a dry run.
The chief of the virtually non-existent BSP party in Tamil Nadu, Armstrong, was a Dalit leader with a following among his caste people. He may have paid the price for playing the good Samaritan in recovering some money from a gold loan Ponzi scam for his people. But those who ran the popular scheme before dropping out of circulation had hired goon Suresh to threaten people who came claiming refunds. And this is where Armstrong came into the picture as he ordered a hit on Suresh. The rest was pure gangland stuff as Suresh’s brother, thirsting for revenge, had Armstrong eliminated, symbolically, on his late brother’s birthday. The police had a whiff of the gangland undercurrents but not about who had taken the contract to dispose of Armstrong. While the cops are generally helpless when gangsters roam in the city with their ‘aruval’ (sickle) weapons hidden in their clothing, what the top men in their department did not do was to handle the spillover. Dalit protesters had a free run through central Chennai and ambulances trying to reach General Hospital were gridlocked and people travelling through Central station had a rough time. Armstrong paid with his life for daring to ask for refunds from gangsters and the top cop lost his post for not being better informed about the fallout. A government, already smarting from the hooch tragedy, had to be seen acting firmly and the top cop’s head rolled in the process.
The sigh of relief in the DMK may have been loud enough as the results in the Lok Sabha polls restored the national balance somewhat. When opposing the BJP tooth and nail in the state and broadcasting their aversion to the party nationally in cutting speeches by CM Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi, the DMK understood that a BJP back in power and in full control of Parliament may have tried to play tricks. The unspoken fears were about the Centre beginning to needle the top brass of the party by using the federal investigating agencies further after their efforts to break Senthil Balaji as a key money maker and funds mover in both Dravidian parties (he was earlier with AIADMK) have not succeeded. DMK’s strategy to counter the BJP where it hurt was to ensure that the state chief K Annamalai was beaten. It can be revealed that the ruling party was unusually generous with purse strings to bring about a favourable result in Coimbatore. Had Annamalai succeeded he would have stood a good chance of being drafted into the Union ministry where, with a post in the Finance Ministry, he could have aimed for settling scores with the DMK brass. Of course, the mood may have altered slightly after the results, and it is unlikely that the top leaders will become subjects of interest to financial investigations any time soon.
Tamil Nadu’s never-ending fight for river waters has taken several new turns in recent times. Kerala, once a regular supplier of water including in diverting west-flowing water east to TN through the Mullaperiyar dam, has started placing its own priorities first in applying for a new Mullaperiyar dam to replace the limestone wall dam built 128 years ago. Kerala has also been charged with building a dam across the Silanthi River, a tributary of the Amaravati that may lead to less water flow into the Amaravathi Dam that serves Tamil Nadu. Badgered by the Opposition and an ally like MDMK, chief minister MK Stalin swung into action to activate the state’s appeal process in the Cauvery water management authority. He also shot off a letter on the Silanthi River being tapped by Kerala, an issue the state may have raised earlier but was brought into the open only by Edappadi Palaniswami raising it in the media. The State is being blamed for keeping quiet due to I.N.D.I.A bloc coalition compulsions as both the Congress that rules Karnataka and the LDF that rules Kerala is part of the umbrella national coalition fighting the polls. With Karnataka hell bent on a dam in Mekedatu across the Cauvery and Kerala wanting a new Mullaperiyar dam, the DMK supremo Stalin is between a rock and a hard place.
If Rohit Sharma is unhappy at Mumbai Indians, a team with whose success in the IPL he was involved with on five occasions, he may have just been given a valuable escape route. A blank cheque for the transfer as well as captaincy of the SunRisers Hyderabad are on offer from the owners, it is learnt. Hyderabad is a city Rohit is familiar with as he was originally a Deccan Chargers pick in the early IPL seasons when once he famously met a 21-run target in the final over to win a game for his then home team. The transfer of Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans was the talk of IPL Season 17 and he was brought over by Nita Ambani who, in tandem with her son Anant, is in charge of the popular franchise Mumbai Indians. But so disruptive was the Pandya influence on the season that many established MI stars might be thinking of transferring out and are scouting for offers. There are some who are also waiting to put their names when the mega auction comes along. It is Kavya Maran’s carte blanche offer for Rohit that is the most interesting among options ahead of Rohit who was first in a winning IPL team in 2009 when he was with Deccan Chargers. His decision is keenly awaited by the Marans.
Chief Minister Stalin who may play a leading role in I.N.D.I.A bloc negotiations in the event of a swing away from NDA in the polls is in his own comfort zone in Tamil Nadu. He gave up his Deputy PM ambitions long ago when even his father did not project him nationally in the UPA. He is content to be the regional satrap who can dictate terms with the largest chunk of seats to I.N.D.I.A after the Congress. An internal survey done by his party shows DMK+ can win up to 32 seats by big margins and 5-6 more in tight contests against AIADMK, which they believe was the closer rival and not the BJP in most of the 39 seats. The party believes it could lose one or two seats and might be just behind the 38-1 performance of 2019 as very high turnouts in a couple of seats has thrown up hints about others gaining a bit. No other regional leader can provide such a chunk of MPs to the I.N.D.I.A bloc. Stalin is aware he can use the clout of numbers to demand prime ministries if it comes to government formation and he might move his sister and cousin Dayanidhi Maran to the Centre and concentrate the party power at home while tending to his health. If the status quo prevails, Stalin would still be in his comfort zone in his State.
Tamil Nadu was the first State to go to the polls for all 39 seats on the very first day of the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. While getting the polls out of the way seemed a good idea and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin could even go on a holiday to a hill station where he could take over a whole luxury resort for self, family and doctors, the fact that the model code of conduct is in place till June 4 is proving irksome. The Chief Minister was keen to make a splash with newspaper advertisements to mark his government’s third anniversary on May 7, but the Election Commission came down on it and stopped the ads. Steering clear of any controversy building up over any policy announcements by him, the CM left it to the IAS officers to make the announcements on small policy issues. He did, however, make a personal statement on his government’s achievements, with pride on the breakfast scheme in schools taking off and earning praise from India and abroad and the free bus scheme for women that has helped many domestic aides and casual workers to move around easily to their work spots while saving money. The CM would still like to make a public celebration of three years of running the government smoothly enough with media advertisements to come out on June 5 morning after the model code of conduct expires.
Hounded by social media critics, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin dashed back to Chennai on cutting short his stay in Kodaikanal by at least two days. Mocked for staying in salubrious hill station weather while the rest of the state was being roasted in extraordinary conditions of high heat and worse humidity, Stalin called for a chartered flight to take him back from Madurai on May 2. He had gone on a break to one of Tamil Nadu’s two best known summer resorts, with sentiment guiding him to the more southern queen of hill stations as it had proved lucky for him after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in which his DMK+ alliance that he led won 38 of 39 seats. He called for an emergency meeting in the state capital on May 3 to take stock of the harsh summer conditions and what the state could do to mitigate the plight of the people. Tamil Nadu has a history of CMs going to hill stations with J Jayalaalithaa known to camp for months in her favourite tea estate in Kodanad in the Nilgiris. But she had to withstand much mockery then even though she was running the administration from there at a camp office. With Stalin trying his hand at putting on the Kodaikanal Golf Club’s greens, the noise on social media became louder, forcing him to take a call on the summer blues of the people.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty is to be handed another 10.5 million pounds as dividend for her 0.94% stake in the tech outsourcer Infosys her father NR Narayana Murthy founded. That translates to about Rs 109 crore while the total dividends she has enjoyed so far amount to around 50 million pounds. The joke going around the UK now is that Akshata has enough money to buy her hubby 1.16 lakh pairs of Adidas Sambas to which sneakers Sunak had given a bad name for wearing the trendy shoe while being such an unpopular PM of the UK that his party is set to face a total disaster at the general elections whenever he chooses to hold them this year. The news will not go down well with the British public who are disowning the Tories at the rate of tens of thousands a day as the Conservative government seems set to go down after ruling for 14 years since winning the 2010 elections. Akshata is paying her taxes now in the UK after discarding her domicile status. Even so, the envy at the PM’s wife’s inherited riches is hurting the public who are facing tough times in the UK.
It is poll season and time for wild conspiracy theories. Among many of them, a fanciful one is that the BJP is so keen on unseating Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram that they set the ED to file a PMLA case against Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter. It is suggested that the senior politician has been told to get his LDF voters to cast in favour of Rajeev Chandrasekhar. This is being done because the noted 3-time MP, a stern critic of BJP, cannot be put down as a ‘dynast’ or a favoured ‘nepo’ baby unlike other politicians that the BJP regularly mocks. Whether the theory is true or not, a close contest is on the cards in a constituency whose demographic dynamic is different from that of other seats as it is a Hindu-majority place, unlike many others in Kerala where the minorities pout together could outnumber the Hindus. The Union Minister may have been brought in a tad late to take on ‘Mr Bombastic’ Tharoor, but the BJP would like to do everything to help him down a thorn in the flesh. Among the two seats that the BJP most fancies in Kerala is also the one in which the actor Suresh Gopi is contesting. Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, has not been a happy electoral hunting ground for Gopi, but he will be in it for a third time to try and fulfil the party’s desire in snatching the seat.
To clear all the haggling over seat sharing with allies, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has made a generous gesture of allotting the one extra seat over and above the negotiated quota to each party that was clamouring for it. He told his negotiating panel headed by TR Baalu to go ahead and give the extra seat to Congress, which was asking for 9 seats, one over the offer of 8. Kamal Haasan will get two seats rather than just one for himself and the VCK will now get 3 seats instead of 2. The seat sharing among the DMK+ alliance will be tied up by Friday (Mar 8). This comes after the Congress got a bit heated up over being offered only 8 seats though it had won 9 of 10 seats allotted in 2019. Similarly, Kamal had indicated that he would feel sorely done if he went back to his party with just one seat that he may stand in himself. The VCK has been clamouring for 3 and that too has been granted now. The Communist parties that have been given two each may be told to be happy with that offer while the DMK+ may not offer an extra seat to MDMK, which might get one Rajya Sabha nomination instead. All’s well that ends well might well be the emotion on display as the DMK+ gets ready for the poll battle of 2024.
The DMK-Congress alliance that has stood the test of time is on the point of cracking up now. A wordy duel between a DMK and Congress representatives over seat sharing ended in both parties coming to breaking point with a deadline of March 7 given to the DMK now for acceding to Congress demands or face a rupture in ties. The DMK is determined not to let the Congress dictate which 9 seats will be given to them but would like to have a say in which candidates Congress will pick as there is some resistance to Karti Chidambaram and Jothimani getting seats. Ajoy Kumar of the Congress left fuming after the meeting and seems determined to inform his high command that the AIADMK offer of 12 seats and campaign funding looks attractive if the DMK offer does not match expectations. Chief Minister MK Stalin was closeted with his senior colleagues on Tuesday (Mar 5) morning at the DMK HQ, but then they had no inkling then that the Congress would get shrill in the seat sharing talks that they had with TR Baalu and his poll seats panel. The issues could get sorted out at the highest levels if any of the senior Gandhis intervene in the seat sharing process, otherwise a 20-year alliance seems to be at risk.
Actor Kamal Haasan is not in political limbo. He will get one seat for his party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), and he will be the candidate for the seat. It is just that the DMK has been playing with the Congress a bit, trying to downsize the GOP’s demand for the nine seats that it won in the last Lok Sabha elections. The DMK has been wanting to cut the Congress quota as it is dealing with demands for additional seats from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. It was even suggested to the Congress that it take nine seats but allot one seat to Kamal out of that. The Congress offered to accommodate that provided the actor stood on the ‘Hand’ symbol, which Kamal is reluctant to do as he has spent a lot of time and energy on his political party MNM, which has a shining torch symbol. The DMK may not offer him the Coimbatore seat that he craves because that seat has been pledged to a western TN leader. Kamal will probably plump for the South Chennai seat. It appears now that he cannot expect two seats from DMK+ but one seat of his choice may be his if he is the candidate. Since the seat sharing talks could not proceed in time, Kamal even cancelled his US visit to await word from the DMK boss MK Stalin on a meeting and a Lok Sabha seat.
Nothing spooked AIADMK more than a recent weekly magazine survey which showed that the BJP had stolen the salience over other Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu and was headed to a larger vote share than the grand old party of MGR-Jaya. Insiders were busy arguing over what was going wrong in the Edappadi K Palaniswami-led party. Naturally, the blame was shifted to the leader for his inability to form an alliance that alone guarantees some success in vote share in the complicated Dravidian politics. There is no doubt that the national BJP, taking baby steps in TN with a reshuffle that found a leader in K Annamalai who has become a well-recognised face in the state, moved up in the party’s reckoning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution by way of referring often to the state’s Tamil literary luminaries also sizeable. The Lok Sabha polls will throw light on how far the party has come in difficult terrain, but there is no doubt that the Ram temple opening has moved a lot of people of faith into the party’s corner. Meanwhile the AIADMK, struggling to find allies, was picking on the PMK and DMDK not having decided yet on where they will go to offer them a number of seats closer to their expectations. All may not be lost yet for the AIADMK front, but the writing is on the wall that the BJP may be stealing a march in Dravidian turf.
When out of power and in the Opposition, political parties talk differently from when they are in power. This is a given and a glaring example of this popped up at the time the Tamil Nadu Budget was presented by the ruling DMK government for 2024-25. Having spent with a great deal of profligacy in having to keep up poll promises like free bus rides for all women, etc, the State is now expected to bear a debt burden well past Rs 8 lakh crore, with the outstanding Tamil Nadu debt by March 31, 2025 projected to be Rs 8,33,361.80 crore. The government is planning to borrow Rs 1,55,584.48 crore during 2024-25 and make a repayment of Rs 49,638.82 crore. “The amount to be borrowed constitutes 26.41% of GSDP in 2024-25. The Outstanding Debt as a percentage of GSDP is expected to be 25.75% in 2025-26 and 25% in 2026-27, which are well within the norms 107 prescribed by the Fifteenth Finance Commission,” was the finance minister Thangam Thennarasu’s statement in the Assembly. When the debt of each Tamil was measured to be around Rs 2.5 lakh, the DMK made a song and dance about it before the 2021 polls. Now that figure will pass Rs 3.5 lakh. Tamil Nadu has the highest outstanding debt in the country.
It appears Tamilisai Soundarrajan, currently Governor of Telangana and Puducherry, is preparing to come back into active politics. She has been pressing for the Union Territory (UT) seat, which Rangasamy’s party that heads the alliance, has marked for the BJP. With her term as Governor coming to an end, she was looking for an MP seat to contest after her unsuccessful foray in 2019 when she lost to Kanimozhi in the Lok Sabha polls. As she is a favoured candidate in a winnable seat in the UT, it seems Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has had to strike off one of the seats she was aiming at in Tamil Nadu where she must stand for the polls as BJP has decided to field all its ministers and senior leaders in elective seats. The current FM had been eyeing the Puducherry as well as the South Chennai seats. But Kamal Hasaan will be a high-profile candidate for the DMK+ front in South Chennai and the finance minister may have to move further south to seek a suitable seat. She might now pick the Tiruchirapalli constituency since she had gone to college and graduated from there. Kamal favours South Chennai for his foray into Lok Sabha polls as Coimbatore, from where he fought the last assembly elections, has been marked for Mahendran of DMK.
While Tamil Nadu was agog with the excitement of Vijay stepping into politics to keep up a film star tradition, the older parties may be putting on their thinking caps to see what effect this will have on the polity. Of course, Vijay’s party will be a player only in the 2026 Assembly elections. TN parties are now busy pulling out their calculators for forging alliances. It is all but confirmed that the PMK — led by founder S Ramadoss and son Anbumani — one of the first as a caste party to gain prominence in the avowed “casteless’ Dravidian society, will go with the BJP’s offer of seven seats in the Lok Sabha polls. Having toyed with joining DMK, the Vanniyar party has few options but to go with BJP as it cannot mix with a front in which the VCK, another caste outfit, is an ally. It appears senior AIADMK leaders have told Eddapadi K Palanswami not to entertain the PMK. Besides the PMK, the BJP front might have the DMDK in its fold as Premalatha might throw in her lot with Modi’s party as her late husband Vijayakanth was a great fan of the Prime Minister and canvassed for him and his party from 2014 onwards. Tamil Maanila Congress, without a great vote share or presence, is yet to make its choice clear. The three-way battle will be on with the DMK-Congress-MDMK-VCK combine against the BJP- front while AIADMK will go in without any major allies.
Just a few months ago the DMK was confident of delivering close to 39 seats for the I.N.D.I.A bloc. Such a haul would have represented the second biggest after the Congress. Now, months away from the Lok Sabha polls, DMK is not so sure. Its image has taken a deep hit after Cyclone Michaung dumped huge amounts of water on four districts around the capital Chennai and the monsoon pelted more places in the south. The 10 constituencies where the government seemed helpless in dealing with flooding may be a litmus test of the ruling party’s popularity. There was another major image hit in the Supreme Court rapping the TN government over handling of the Ram temple consecration, which a few temples wanted to share with their devotees by putting it on LED screens within their premises. Party insiders are squarely blaming the HR&CE minister Sekar Babu for misguiding the chief minister into trying to control the event through the police. They believe the event would have passed without much of an impact if the government had quietly allowed the devout to view the consecration. In his bid to please the master, the minister may have needlessly invited trouble and harsh words from the top court. Throw in the corruption drama around the first DMK minister being convicted and the overall image of the DMK is not what it may have been after three years in the saddle.
The poll alliances in Tamil Nadu seem far from settled. Asked about the sealing of seat-sharing arrangements in the I.N.D.I.A bloc, all that the senior DMK minister Duraimurugan would say was that things were moving smoothly. But there are tugs and pulls, with at least one major party in AIADMK trying to change the scenario by offering more seats (12) to the Congress than the DMK (6 or 7) is ready to offer. Also, voices are being heard in I.N.D.I.A bloc from the likes of the AAP that the bloc may be better off without the DMK as the party’s stand on Sanatana Dharma has spoilt the Hindu vote bank for the alliance. But given MK Stalin’s loyalty to members of the Congress first family, it is unlikely that the matter of a few seats would see the alliance come unhinged. Stalin might convince the DMK to allot nine seats to the Congress to keep the front intact. His son has also been told to tone down the anti-Hindu rhetoric till the elections and not to sully the pitch to the electorate, which already has reason to ditch the DMK because of the corruption clouds that are gathering over a few major figures. The Muslim also have reasons to feel cut up as they see the DNK as not having done enough for them, including in the non-release of prisoners.
AIADMK staying away from the BJP for the Lok Sabha polls is part of a master strategy worked out by the party’s head honcho Edappadi K Palaniswami and Amit Shah. The secret pact, arrived at as a Tamil-English interpreter from Karnataka was the only other person present at the one-on-one meet, was to enable the taking away of minority votes from the DMK by presenting an alternative in an independent AIADMK that is back to where J Jayalalithaa had kept it. There is no doubt that the DMK has suffered quite a few image hits recently, with the first conviction of a minister for graft and another sitting in jail as a minister without portfolio. The heavy rains of the monsoon in 9 districts around Chennai and the extreme south also led to undermining of the ruling party’s dominant political stature. So much so, there is an opinion shared by some Congressmen that it is time the party broke its DMK ties and accepted more seats that the AIADMK would offer it. One of those who is leading this campaign is currently being disciplined for suggesting PM Modi is more popular than the party’s scion Rahul Gandhi. DMK is planning on cutting the Congress seats down to just six to give itself a better chance to get the number of seats that would give it much bargaining power in any post-poll scenario.
The ruling DMK has been pushed onto the backfoot in Tamil Nadu. In a first, a senior DMK minister has been convicted of graft. K Ponmudy, already convicted in 2016, had the verdict overturned smartly after the party came back to power in 2021. But the wheels of justice, known to roll along slowly, caught up with him. Priding itself on having nil convictions in its long rule, the DMK used to deride the AIADMK for corruption cases, including those against J Jayalalithaa, in some of which she was convicted and did go to jail. But the smart recovery of convicted Ponmudy may not have escaped the eyes of the Madras High Court. And now other senior ministers are running scared. Having resorted to legal legerdemain to stay in power, the likes of Thangam Thennarasu, S Raghupathy and Anita Radhakrishnan are now worried if their cases would be raked up again. They are hoping that Ponmudy’s appeal to the top court would bear fruit quickly as there is an issue of latent bias in the ruling by tough judge G Jayachandran. Another uncompromising judge in Anand Venkatesan has been posted to take charge of cases against elected representatives and serious judicial action is on the cards. Tamil Nadu’s institutionalised corruption, that has enriched ruling families and close aides of both Dravidian parties, may be exposed again.
Karti Chidambaram has a healthy contempt for the powers that be and the central investigating agencies. He has probably set a record for being the most searched Indian with the ED constantly after him. In the latest episode, Karti countered them by asking for time since they were only on a fishing expedition and that he had to get his documents ready to satisfy them. He has greater ambitions within the Congress and would rather see them fulfilled. For starters, he would like to head the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee which has a veteran politician holding the post of President now but there is reason to believe he is out of touch with the changing scenario in which traditional media houses are being overtaken by the social media channels as purveyors of news. If the TNCC, once famous for felicity in flipping between the DMK and AIADMK despite the Centre having toppled both the governments of M Karunanidhi and MG Ramachandran and bringing in President’s Rule. Currently with the DMK in the ruling alliance with a prominent position and commanding eight MPs in the Lok Sabha, the Congress is hoping to lean on the Dravidian party for more seats in the 2024 polls. Expect a promotion any time soon for Karti Chidambaram to head TNCC and drive the bargaining for seats.
Politics might be well-known for its propensity to bring together the strangest bedfellows. In today’s context of political alliances that are firming up before the 2024 polls, the strangest alliance being sought is that of the AIADMK pressing for a place in the I.N.D.I. alliance. Edappadi Palaniswami is hankering for it and is pursuing it through talks with the likes of Mallikarjun Kharge. His reasoning is simple. The DMK is not an ideal partner in the alliance because of its anti-Hindu stance. He is pointing out that Kamal Nath not only spoke about it but also wrote a letter to the Congress high command complaining against the anti-Sanatana Dharma stand of Udhayanidhi Stalin that is against the interests of the Congress party. In fact, he blames the anti-Hindu posturing of the likes of junior Stalin and A Raja for the Congress losing the Madhya Pradesh election. The Periyarist philosophy based on atheism may have a few followers in the Dravidian heartland, but it has few takers outside Tamil Nadu and publicising it will only hurt the Congress in the Hindi-Hindu-Hindutva heartland. Palaniswami has indicated that his party is willing to be part of the I.N.D.I. alliance regardless of whether the DMK is part of it or not. He is keen on making the point that the DMK will bring down the alliance’s chances in the 2024 polls.
When people are angry, give them some money. That is what they did in 2015 when Chennai was overwhelmed, both from torrential rain from cyclone and poorly planned and desperate discharge from an overflowing lake. Jayalalithaa’s government gave Rs 5,000 per ration card in Chennai to try and assuage the anger people felt at the rulers for the apathy that led to a civic disaster in floods. Stalin’s government went one better in announcing Rs 6,000 per ration card. But that is no guarantee Chennaiites will vote for them when they turn up at the polling booth the next time. This is what happened to Jaya’s party when Chennai rejected almost all their candidates in the 2021 elections. The Tamil Nadu government is aware of that, but the bureaucracy and the rulers could not think of anything else to cool down the extreme anger displayed by the people whenever the leaders and officials came to visit them in their wet dwellings five days after the rain stopped on December 4. The disaster of 2023 was no less than that of 2015 with huge swathes of Chennai still under water while small pockets got back to normalcy quickly after the deluge. The State Chennai was in may have been made apparent to the defence minister who surveyed the disaster by helicopter. Nothing has changed in eight years except that the ration card holders of Chennai get Rs 1,000 more this time.
Believing in the myth of the LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran being alive is a kind of business in Tamil Nadu. Perpetuating the myth of the slain separatist who waged war against the Sri Lankan State on behalf of the Tamils is the MDMK leader Vaiko and a few others who were close to the Tiger chief when he was alive and even took breaks in Tamil Nadu to meet top political leaders, including MGR. As his anniversary comes around, the myth is narrated by Vaiko and even picked up by the media. This year, there was additional grist to this mill with a fake video surfacing purportedly showing Prabhakaran’s daughter Duwraka speaking. Truth is Sri Lanka’s top military brass reported to the political boss Mahinda Rajapaksa that the LTTE chief had been captured on May 17, 2009. The President was said to have then sent the army chief to get rid of the rebel leader and all his family as the State did not want his DNA to survive. This is why Prabhakaran was eliminated, so too his wife Mathivathani Erambu, daughter Duvaraga and son Balachandran. As his clan was seen as enemies who waged war against the State, the murder of his entire family was not seen as a human rights violation. Keeping him alive is the job of semi-retired politicians like Vaiko, who made a big business out of supporting the Eelam cause, Pazha Nedumaran and Kashi Anandan.
The DMK succession plan is gathering pace. The young gun Udhaynidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, will be crowned as the Deputy CM to coincide with the DMK conference to be held on December 17 in Salem. The first family thought it through and with a bit of pressure coming from the home front, Stalin is inclined not to repeat the mistake his father did in not promoting him as the party boss though he was 92 during the 2016 elections. The CM was involved in making his son’s birthday on November 27 a bigger occasion with the Udhayanidhi-inspired cycle rally made part of the party’s poll campaign. The youth heard at the rally that a bigger role in the 2024 poll campaign for their young leader was on the cards after his successful appearances in the 2019 and 2021 polls that made an impact. As the young lion, Udhaya was able to speak up boldly against AIADMK as well as the NDA front the party was a part of. How the party views his promotion as Dy CM may depend on the mood of the elders, but there is none in the party today to question the chief on these matters as it happened in the case of Kalaignar Karunanidhi. And, as one politician ally said it, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s horoscope is a good one.
The first family household of Tamil Nadu may be a bundle of contradictions with an atheist head, a super faithful Hindu better half, a son tending to atheism with a wife from another faith and a daughter who is apolitical. It must cope with various demands in an intensely political life under a spotlight, which is why chief minister MK Stalin is going all out to stress that his party DMK, an offshoot of the non-believing Justice Party, is not against Hindus. He took umbrage at the Union Finance Minister’s statement that the government and the party were stealing from temples by usurping their lands. While assigning party loyalists and functionaries as chairpersons to temples that are in great public demand like Tiruvannamalai, Rameswaram, Srirangam and Palani, the government has gone all out to help temples recover lands alienated decades ago. The HR&CE Minister PK Sekar Babu, who goes on every temple run with the first lady to ensure she is received with honours, put out a statistic saying that so far Stalin’s government had reclaimed lands worth Rs 5,500 crore in two years. The figures are not in dispute, but what is also relevant is Union Minister Murugan’s statement that while TN temple lands were recorded in 1986 to be 5.25 lakh acres, now there are only 4.78 lakh acres in their possession. There may be some way to go in enabling temples to repossess their property, but the Stalin government is at least trying and the faithful must accept things are better now.
What did Kapil Dev say to two journalists soon after India had won the World Cup in 1983? In his earthy style, the winning captain told two journalists at Lord’s in London – “Ghoron ka aur Kaliyon ka, dhononka !@#4 paad diya”, translating to – “The whites and the blacks, we screwed them both”. This well-kept secret was revealed by one of the two journalists with whom Kapil Dev interacted after the final in the sponsor Prudential Insurance Company’s hospitality tent. He told me that 40 years on there was no harm in revealing what was an emotion that the captain felt in his heart after having achieved what was the greatest triumph of the underdog in the world of sport in one of its biggest stages, which was the ODI World Cup. Had these words been spoken in this ‘woke’ era it might have stirred up a real storm and Kapil Dev pilloried as a racist. But in those times, four decades ago, celebrities spoke what they felt, at least in asides to scribes in the confidence that it would not be blown out of proportion. There was no social media either in those times to exaggerate each word and troll the speaker in myriad posts.
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has been put in place. It took strictures from the Supreme Court to bring this staunch authoritarian around. Governors in independent India were never meant to ‘govern’ but this person proved to be the most confrontational of them all, putting the likes of Channa Reddy in the shade when it came to operating from the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. “He acted more like an opposition member”, was one of the milder charges made by the DMK supremo and CM Stalin against him. In putting on the shelf close to two dozen Bills, the Governor was acting way beyond his powers and, only after top court frowned upon the tactics of Governors in non-BJP states, did he wake up to reality, lest he be quartered and hung by a top court angered at the sight of Governors destroying the interpretations to the Constitution by floating the theory that, once a Governor withheld consent to a Bill, the legislation was dead. Besides his regular job at needling the government of the day, the Governor also fancies himself as an interpreter of the Constitution. Now that 10 of the Bills he refused to give assent to have been sent back to him on the same day they were reenacted in a special Assembly session he is duty-bound to sign them into law. Of course, he might view the constitutional provision on this differently. So combative is this Governor!
The odds are that the undivided Madhya Pradesh in the form of MP and Chhattisgarh that are going to the polls will have voted overwhelmingly for the Congress. It may have been cocky for the son of the CM designate Kamal Nath has already fixed a date for his dad’s coronation, but the anticipation is he might have said so on the strength of various private polls that have been done in the two States. Senior BJP figures know that in these two states they have been fighting a losing battle, despite the divisions in MP between Kamal Nath and Digvijay Singh. People have been openly saying that the Prime Minister who is canvassing hard in his criss-cross campaigns is wasting his time because these are Assembly polls and not for the Lok Sabha. The people of MP are angry that the verdict they delivered for the Congress last time out was twisted by defections and the regular ‘Operation Lotus’ that goes on to undermine the majority won by non-BJP governments in the States. Chhattisgarh has been a Congress stronghold for some time now and the closer contests anticipated in MP may not come about because of public anger. So, will MP be another big State that will go Congress way after Karnataka and Chhattisgarh keep faith?
Is it ‘bat first’ time from here onwards in the World Cup? Putting a total on the board and challenging the opponents to meet the target used to be a regular tactic in World Cups, the first five of which were won by teams batting first. Being played in the modern era after the advent of T-20, the 2023 World Cup has been bucking the trend with great chases, none more excellent than the one staged by Glenn Maxwell for Australia against Afghanistan with New Zealand getting close to 400 and coming within a six hit against the Oz. But the obvious things on the minds of captains at the toss will be India’s virtual invincibility batting first, enhanced by the new balls zipping around under lights for Bumrah, Shami and Siraj. The only way to play them would be to take them on in the afternoon when there may not be that much swing and seam. But the challenge is that India’s spin twins may then throttle those aiming to put a large total on the board. Considering South Africa are lions when batting first and lambs when chasing may mean that we know what would happen at the toss if India and Australia win theirs in the semi-finals. Can New Zealand beat India even if the toss goes in their favour? Can South Africa shake off the choker’s tag if they are chasing?
It was always a question of when and not if. But the DMK succession plan involving Udhayanidhi, son of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, may just have been moved up due to pressures from within TN’s first family. It is learnt that Stalin’s wife Durga is keen that the succession be quickly defined so that her son does not undergo the long waiting period her husband suffered because the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi was unwilling to let go of the top party post lest they isolate him after such a long innings in public life. Durga was known to criticise her father-in-law for delaying the nomination of his son as the CM candidate and so losing out in the 2016 election to J Jayalalithaa who retained power. Having spent 40 years as heir apparent, Stalin became party president only when his father was facing ill health in old age and allowed the promotion of the once deputy CM to party boss as well as CM candidate. The scion, now sports development and youth welfare minister, could well be deputy CM by December when the party will be holding a youth wing conference. Udhaya has also been the loudest voice of the party in taking on Governor RN Ravi on the Sanatana Dharma issue, gathering signatures against the medical entrance test NEET and drawing praise from his father and CM on his work. Udhaya is also convinced there is positive resonance in the public on the topics he is picking to take on the Centre and the Governor.
The standard response to confrontational Governors, whose number is growing in State capitals, would be for the regional party to ask for their recall. But the DMK is taking a different view of retired security forces honcho, RN Ravi, who is the Tamil Nadu Governor. The DMK and its chief MK Stalin want him to stay on in the Raj Bhavan because his run-ins with the State government is finding resonance with the party cadre as well as people as they are seeing through his game as one of North versus South. The Governor’s actions in stopping legislation, certain high-level appointments and his critique of the State’s view of Sanatana Dharma are making him the kind of anti-hero who can bind the opponents together. So high are the decibels of the confrontations with Stalin’s government that the DMK believes it will help the party get even more votes in the next polls. The daily cries of hate against the Governor grew to such an extent that someone tried to throw a Molotov cocktail at the Raj Bhavan. And the Director General of Police had to put out the visuals from CCTV to show it was as much a dud as a non-performing Diwali firecracker. DMK’s head honcho, firmly in the saddle and with the power play button in his hands as he alone can assure to deliver close to 40 seats for the I.N.D.I.A bloc which will be the highest number after the Congress, is laughing all the way to Fort St George as the Governor is helping his cadre bind into a cohesive vote gathering unit.
The resumption of the ferry service between India and Sri Lanka has run into rough weather of the literal and metaphorical kind. The ferry from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Kankesanthurai near Jaffna, promoted as a game changer in ties with Sri Lanka, has met with such a tepid response from the travelling public that it faces closure once again. Passenger movement was lukewarm to begin with after all the effort put in to create the travel-visa-customs infrastructure at both ends. It fell even further after the much-publicised maiden run on October 14 and the government of India decided to call a temporary halt, quoting the onset of the Northeast monsoon as an excuse. The economics of it was probably not studied hard enough as New Delhi stretched itself to resume the service. It costs Rs 7,600 to cross over on the ferry, that too from the southern tip of India to the northernmost tip of Sri Lanka. It probably costs less to fly from Chennai to Jaffna, or even Chennai to Colombo. The idea of floating the ferry service again was not only for nostalgic reasons. A Boat Mail used to run from Madras Egmore railway station to Dhanuskodi for the transfer to ferry and a longer sea journey to Colombo. Dhanuskodi was washed away in the 1964 cyclone and the ferry service had to stop. No one wants to ride the ferry anymore as it is no luxury cruise either.
Secure in the belief that he is the only one who can deliver upwards of a guaranteed 35 seats to the I.N.D.I.A front, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is looking for a place at the high table when and if the coalition were to gain power at the Centre. While nursing no personal ambition to be in New Delhi even as Deputy Prime Minister as he would be totally out of his Tamil environment, Stalin may demand several high-power ministries if the bloc is able to snatch power at the expense of the BJP-led NDA. While a central ministry would be a way to reward the likes of his cousin Dayanidhi Maran who surrendered his personal ambitions to be part of the Stalin-Udhayanidhi party setup, Stalin may also like to promote his favourite minister Thangam Thennarasu who has been a loyal lieutenant while proving capable of managing the industry ministry in a manufacturing heavy state. Stalin’s aim has been to promote his son Udhaya with an eye on the 2026 Assembly polls rather than at any earlier time as, say, in a promotion to Deputy CM. Stalin knows that the DMK is the party that can furnish the biggest block of MPs as their alliance is capable of landing close to maximum in the 39 TN seats, of which they won 38 in 2019. Stalin feels the least threatened of any in the I.N.D.I.A bloc.
In returning to peak form and playing crucial innings in the World Cup opener for Team India against Australia, and before that figuring in a long stand with Virat Kohli against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, KL Rahul has bowled his critics over. They had railed against the selectors and Rahul Dravid for reposing blind faith in the batter and part-time white ball wicketkeeper, but he repaid them in spades. His delicate late cutting of balls from the stump line to various parts of point and third man was outstanding just after Team India was down in the dumps having lost three batters for ducks with less runs on the board than wickets. But then critics had leapt into the lead 1-0 by proving right on Ravi Ashwin. They had been blasting the BCCI, selectors, team coach and captain for openly showing their bias against the off spinner for nearly two years since 2021 when they played him in only one Test, which was the first WTC final against New Zealand. Critics certainly scored as the team left out Ashwin from the World Cup squad and sheepishly brought him back only by posturing that Axar Patel was so badly injured as to be out of the World Cup. And they even picked Ashwin for the opening game at Chepauk and he shone with the ball to prove how wrong they have been in discriminating against him.
The ruling BJP’s worst nightmare might be round the corner. Rahul Gandhi was not far off the mark in releasing the results of early internal surveys of the mood in the five states going to the polls soon. He said Congress could certainly win three of them –Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana – while Rajasthan could be a tossup, with Mizoram in the northeast likely to also be affected by what is going on in Manipur and hence could turn against the national ruling party. While Chhattisgarh is a given considering it has been a Congress stronghold for a while now, Telangana is where the Congress might put up its most impressive show. The BJP, acutely aware that the party stands little chance in the State given its indistinct local leadership, is banking on KCR to withstand the anti-incumbency wave and keep the State away from the Congress. There is talk in Hyderabad of a deal already struck between BJP and BRS regarding the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The Congress is hoping to create a national mood swing with a good showing in four states, including Rajasthan which may see a close-run race. Telangana is the big swing State that might impel the Congress campaign for the big polls in 2024.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack
It is the Third Anniversary of Short Post and as a news media startup launched during the Covid-19 pandemic it certainly feels better than good to find ourselves where we are today. Here, I must cite the unstinted support of our seasoned contributors, all senior editors in the country, who brought a great degree of maturity and sagacity to the Short Post newsroom. But for them, our tagline “Authentic Gossip”, an Oxymoron, would not have matured viably. Our user numbers may be small but our stories have created the desired impact among people who matter — decision makers and influencers. We offer a big punch in a small pack and Short Post with its 225-word stories has been punching above its weight category. Having posted close to 3,000 stories in the last 36 months, Short Post, I feel, is an idea whose time has come.
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If you look at the media landscape – print, TV and digital — it is a mixed bag. There are job losses as some outfits have closed down while a lucky few were bailed out by large corporate houses. Yes, there is a lot of action in the digital space. However, the entry of corporate houses has raised the question of independence of news media outfits. Sadly, there are just a handful of independent media outfits in the country that are highly respected for their neutrality. At Short Post, our credo is not to take sides, prejudge issues or be biased but, informing readers of behind-the-scenes happenings. In essence, Short Post strives to be a neutral editorial platform — neither anti-establishment nor pro-establishment.
As I said last year, disruptions in the media world are moving at a fast and furious pace. Technology is playing a very big role in how content is generated and consumed. But, we are neither alarmed nor perturbed as it is all a part of the evolution process. What gives us comfort is that AI is unable to create original gossipy content. And that is the news arena where we have achieved a distinction.