All
Politics
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Celebrities
The unprecedented turnout in Mumbai from various parts of the state to back Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil has generated extreme political heat. His opponents have made allegations that the agitation triggered by the proponent of Maratha caste’s demand for reservations is actually aimed at destabilising the government of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The name of deputy CM Ajit Pawar has been dragged into this attack, which was launched by OBC leader Lakshman Hake. From the beginning Hake has been leading the opposition to Jarange’s agitation. The presence of a handful MLAs belonging to Pawar’s NCP at Jarange’s demonstration in south Mumbai on Friday has unsettled the OBC community. In a retort, OBC leaders have warned the government that they, too, will bring hordes of their supporters to Mumbai to rebut the stir started by Jarange. Reiterating his stand, Fadnavis said the agitations against his government were taking place since ‘resources’ were provided to them. He did not spell out any names but said, “We are committed to providing social justice and have already granted 10% reservation to the Maratha caste.” The gravity of Hake’s charge has increased since it concerns a Mahayuti partner, the NCP of Ajit Pawar. Although Hake has not elaborated on his statement, there is a caste undertone to it as the NCP is seen, by and large, a party of the Marathas. Incidentally, both deputy CMs of Maharashtra – Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar – are Marathas.
Over the past week, the electronic media coverage of Maharashtra has been hovering around just two topics. Firstly, the agitation launched by Manoj Jarange Patil to press the demand for granting reservations to his caste is the hottest issue. Secondly, a meeting between two Thackerays – Uddhav and Raj – has dominated the TV bulletins. The impact of the Trump Tariff, the footage of devastating floods, the destruction caused by incessant rains to the crops and all such subjects have been pushed to the backburner. Jarange monopolised the TV time in connection with his agitation, which is recurring many times over. Last year, too, he had come to Mumbai and went back after getting assurances from the government. Over the three years, he has done eight fasts unto death. As far as the Thackeray cousins are concerned, their second meet, which took place at Raj’s Shivaji Park residence, was constantly in the news, before, during and after. Pressing issues like the pitiable condition of roads, internal and highways, received scant coverage. Those active on Social Media have lambasted the TV Marathi channels for this situation. They have expressed chagrin since the matters concerning the nation have been ignored by the electronic media houses. The honchos administering the media have pleaded that it is their duty to reflect what is going on in the state so that public education is done. However, this defence has few takers.
As Bengal gears up for the 2026 Assembly elections, Nandigram has once again returned to the political spotlight. The constituency, which staged the dramatic face-off between Mamata Banerjee and Suvendu Adhikari in the last polls, is already buzzing with speculation and strategy. The controversy from the previous election still lingers. Trinamool Congress (TMC) had accused the BJP of manipulating votes through orchestrated power cuts, and the case continues in court. Yet, long before a verdict, the battlefield is being readied for the next round. The central question remains whether Mamata Banerjee would contest from Nandigram in 2026 or not. The BJP seems convinced. Pralay Pal, Tamluk district vice-president, declared on social media that “confidential sources” and a “secret report” by TMC’s National General Secretary and Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, confirm the West Bengal chief minister’s candidature from Nandigram in 2026. He went further, asserting that the BJP would repeat its victory. The TMC camp, however, is striking back with confidence. However, Bappaditya Garg, president of Nandigram Block 1 TMC, dismissed the BJP’s claims and stressed that the party’s candidate would be revealed in due course. Yet, he was emphatic on one point: Suvendu Adhikari will not fight from Nandigram again. Garg buttressed his claim with electoral data—TMC’s win in Adhikari’s own booth at Nandanayekbari during the cooperative polls, a 412-vote lead in his locality in the Lok Sabha election, and a 2,500-vote lead from Panchayat Samiti voters in the same.
Sunil Gavaskar was known as a man of “centuries” — with the willow in hands and dispersing the most fearsome fast bowlers of his time. There are a number of centuries to his credit; but a day after his statue was unveiled outside the Mumbai Cricket Association’s brand new Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum that’s located in between the Cricket Centre where the BCCI is a tenant and the Garware Club House, India’s all-time best batting maestro, must have created another century of sorts at his party, humbly shaking hands with over hundred people, all teammates of his school, college, Dadar Union Club, Mumbai and India teams, other teams and of course his dear friends from different walks of life. It’s a much-awaited SMG annual get-together, nay a convivial party with a strict “no no” to speeches, with the little giant of a man playing a perfect host. This time around he remembered teammates and friends who were full of beans in the previous year dos, but had sadly made their departure to the Elysian Fields. Milind Rege, Padmakar Shivalkar, Dileep Doshi, Vijay ‘Papa’ Karkhanis , Anshuman Gaekwad, Ehsan Hakim and Abdul Ismail’s names were displayed on miniature bat at the Boundary Hall of the MCA Recreation Centre. Only recently the Gavaskars had celebrated the centenary birth anniversary of their mother and soon after, the MCA inaugurated his life size statue that prompted Amul to announce to the world that “Sunny dais are here again.” A famous name in the sporting world, Gavaskar has been part of the cricketing canvas and folklore for around six decades!
At an interactive session marking Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s centenary celebrations in Delhi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made it clear that there weren’t any differences between the Sangh and BJP. Responding to a bunch of pre-submitted questions at Vigyan Bhawan, he made it clear that while there may be “struggle” between the two organisations, “there is no quarrel”. “There can be matbhed (difference of opinion) here, but no manbhed (heart-to-heart disagreement). We need to move forward in one direction, and not different ones,” he asserted. He added that the goals of the two organisations are the same. A big takeaway from Bhagwat’s interaction was that he clarified on his idea of retiring at 75 years of age, which was widely seen as a reference to PM Modi. Even as the event coordinator read out a question that said, in as many words, that his statement “was seen as a reference to PM Modi — he will turn 75 next month. Bhagwat, who is a week older than Modi, clarified that “I never said I will or someone else should retire. At the Sangh function in Nagpur, I was merely quoting a witticism by Moropant ji (senior Sangh leader Moreshwar Nilkanth Pingle aka ‘Moropant’) about how when someone gives you a ceremonial shawl at 75, you should think of retirement.” So, this is not for the retirement of anybody or myself he said. Another highlight was Bhagwat making it clear that Sangh doesn’t get to choose who will be next BJP president…if the RSS indeed had a say it would probably not have taken so long. In the same breath Bhagwat added that political leaders must have space to act independently.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin is currently the man for all reasons of political strategy …dumping an invitation for an Ayyappa event in Kerala, he winged his way to Bihar on August 27, to participate in Rahul Gandhi led Voter Rights Yatra to protest against the sudden deletion of 65 lakh “fake” voters from Bihar electorate. Stalin’s party heavyweights wondered about this trip, even as Stalin was scheduled to visit London and Germany on August 30. Meanwhile, despite his huge show of power, actor Vijay knows that a nascent party like TVK at best can divert votes, what he really needs is a sinewy party to really break the incumbent. And his Chanakyas, Aadav Arjun and John Arogyasami have marketed a Congress alliance like the Holy Grail. Vijay has already sought an appointment with Rahul Gandhi, a play that Rahul is said to have nimbly avoided being lured by the sound and fury of a cinematic organisation. Surely, Rahul and his party are well aware of the 360-degree strategic strength of the DMK. Why rock the boat when this Opposition alliance has gained respectable traction? But the Judas in every party will try their to open trap doors or pull up drawbridges . Established leaders like Thirunavukkarasu, Manikam Tagore, Selvakumar are enticing the party with claims that aligning with Vijay will fetch them 60 to 70 seats, and TVK will share power with Congress.
Naveen Patnaik headed Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is in a sticky situation. Being the principal opposition party in Odisha, all eyes are on BJD’s position vis a vis Vice-President election on September 9. The Congress is rooting for INDIA Bloc candidate B Sudershan Reddy. The question is who will BJD Supremo Patnaik support? NDA or INDIA Bloc… Once upon a time it would have been NDA because of his close proximity and respect for PM Modi. It was mutual. But post 2024 polls where BJP turfed out BJD, the scenario has changed. Political observers say BJD’s decision has consequences over V-P poll. Should he go with the INDIA Bloc then he is openly challenging PM Modi. That does not augur well for a party whose future is hanging in balance because of succession issue. His man Friday VK Pandian who went under the radar for more than a year is now openly seen with Patnaik. He was holding his mentor’s hand and leading him out of the hospital. An speculations are rife that Pandian could well take over the reins of the party. What goes against him, he is an outsider –Tamilian from Tamil Nadu. If Naveen goes by Pandian’s advise chances are BJD will back NDA candidate. In the end the options before Patnaik is: One, abstain from voting , two, side with Congress instead, three, go for conscience voting like last time which divided BJD party members, four , support NDA’s choice.
Karnataka government’s decision to invite Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dussehra festivities was censured after a video went viral in which she was seen criticising the worship of the Kannada language in the form of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari. At the 2023 Jana Sahitya Sammelana, Banu Mushtaq had said the appropriation of Kannada as Goddess Bhuvaneshwari draped in yellow and red, the colours of turmeric and vermilion, was “exclusionary” to people like her (minorities). BJP state president BY Vijayendra asked Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate the Mysuru Dussehra only after accepting the Sanatana culture and rituals. “The Sanatana Dharma includes idol worship and offering prayers to the deity. Do you agree with that?” He also took exception to Siddaramaiah’s decision to invite only Banu Mushtaq and ignore translator Deepa Basthi. Hindutva proponents asked how Banu Mushtaq agreed to “bow down before Chamundeshwari’s grandeur when “she cannot tolerate Kannada Bhuvaneshwari”. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya claimed that there was a bigger “game plan” behind having Banu Mushtaq. He felt these were not isolated moves… “The so-called Anti-Communal Task Force, the Hate Speech Bill, the Rohith Vemula Bill pushed at Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on the dubious Dharmasthala SIT, and now the Congress government’s decision to invite Banu Mushtaq…are part of a single, well-orchestrated game plan scripted by urban naxals and Marxists, executed with the full enthusiasm of Siddaramaiah government.” On her part, Banu Mushtaq made course corrections. She termed Dussehra a state festival and said referring to Mother Chamundeshwari with love and affection is a part of our culture. “That’s why it is dear to me as well. People call her Mother Chamundeshwari. I respect the people’s sentiment.”
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has decided to skip the ‘Global Ayyappa Sangamam’ being organised by the Travancore Devaswom Board at Pampa in Kerala as part of its 75th anniversary on September 20. Oddly, he has cited “prior commitments” in his letter to his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, and has deputed two state ministers to participate. The political buzz is that Stalin most likely excused himself from the event because of the pressure exerted by the BJP. The invitation from Kerala CM had kicked up a political row with the BJP criticising the invitation extended to Stalin. TN BJP president Nainar Nagenthran, in his post on X, wrote that deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin, minister TRB Rajaa, former Minister K Ponmudy and DMK treasurer TR Baalu had made “disgraceful remarks” against Hindus. Nagenthran had said if Stalin intends to attend the event, as a first step, he should make the above DMK leaders apologise for their remarks. Besides, Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar strongly objected to Stalin’s participation. He demanded that both chief ministers apologise to Hindus “Pinarayi, Stalin and his Deputy Chief Minister son Udhayanidhi Stalin have hurt the sentiments of the Hindus and are trying to sabotage Hindu beliefs. Pinarayi government jailed many Ayyappa devotees and unleashed brutal police attacks against devotees who tried to protect the belief on restriction on women’s entry to Sabarima Ayyappa temple,” Chandrasekhar said in a statement. It is most likely in this backdrop that Stalin has chosen to skip visiting Kerala.
Can Opposition leaders like Trinamool Congress Supremo Mamata Banerjee or Congress CM Siddaramaiah or AAP CM Bhagwant Mann shun a high-level panel being set up by the Centre to prepare for the centennial birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee? Just because they are politically opposed to PM Modi. Of course, not. The Ministry of Culture has notified three high-level committees for the commemoration of 150th birth anniversaries of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Birsa Munda, and the centennial birth anniversary of Vajpayee. PM Modi will chair each committee which as members have several CMs as well as union ministers. The committee for Sardar Patel will have 124 members is top heavy panel and includes former Presidents Pratibha Patil, Ramnath Kovind, Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and has 21 CMs, including Opposition CMs Siddaramaiah, Omar Abdullah, Sikhvinder Singh Sukkhu, MK Stalin and Revanth Reddy. The committee also has Patel’s family members Nandini and Diribhai Patel. The committee on Birsa Munda has 118 members, including President Patil and President Kovind, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, several cabinet ministers and 20 Governors and L-Gs. The committee also has over 20 CMs, including Opposition CMs Hemant Soren, Pinarayi Vijayan and Revanth Reddy, besides Naidu and Advani. The Committee on Vajpayee has 124 members, and in addition to the former Presidents and Cabinet ministers, Advani and Naidu, 19 Governors and L-Gs and 17 CMs including Mamata Banerjee and Bhagwant Mann, besides Soren and Siddaramaiah. This committee also has as members Ranjan Gogoi, spiritual guru Ravi Shankar, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Ram Madhav, Suresh Prabhu, Kapil Dev, Azim Premji as well as Advani’s daughter Pratibha Advani.
Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) is determined to fork out on his own path if the BJP pushes him too hard to take back OPS and Sasikala to make a united AIADMK. If push comes to shove, EPS will not hesitate to break the alliance with the BJP provided he is secure in the legal status quo of his heading the party with the Two Leaves symbol and the Lloyds Road HQ. The local BJP chief K Annamalai asserted recently that the BJP-AIADMK alliance is intact and that the AIADMK lead by EPS will lead that alliance into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The national leadership seems, however, to favour a united AIADMK party along with the two politicians who are right now out in the cold – OPS and Sasikala. OPS made a show of going out to meet Amit Shah at the India Cements diamond jubilee celebrations but all he got was a perfunctory greeting from the Home Minister who later went into a huddle with his own party men in Chennai rather than invite allies over. The Prime Minister was in Tamil Nadu too but on a schedule in four states in two days too busy to pay much attention to Tamil Nadu politics.
A phone call made several months ago was instrumental in Team England cruising into the final of the T20 World Cup. The call was made by the protagonist himself as Alex Hales picked up his mobile and called Rob Key, MD of England cricket, to present his case the moment he heard of Jonny Bairstow’s freak golf accident. Kept out of the England team from before the 2019 World Cup because he had failed a drug test twice, Hales was in cricketing wilderness for three years before he saw a door opening for him. His old partner in opening the innings in white ball cricket Jason Roy was woefully out of form and England’s captain Eoin Morgan had called it quits. Hales backed himself to fill the void. To Key’s credit, he took Hales’ case to the selectors, and they too agreed to give him a chance at redemption. The team management kept their cool as Hales came back into a difficult tour of Pakistan. Having recaptured his form in stands with his skipper Buttler, including in the game against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup league and then against Sri Lanka in a must win game, Hales simply took the Indian bowling attack to the cleaners, treating it with contempt at one of his favourite Adelaide Oval where had once scored a century in the Big Bash.
Bookmakers have made Team India the favourite for the T20 World Cup. They are at 2.25 as against 2.5 for England, 3-1 New Zealand and 3.5 for Pakistan. The expectation is that the winner will come from the India-England semi-final. The slower Adelaide pitch and conditions can be said to favour India more with the short side boundaries suiting the team’s explosive batting. T20i cricket may be the hardest to predict but the chances are this Team India is rolling in higher gear now since beating Pakistan in the opening game. Starting trouble that used to plague India in Cup events is not there this time, which is another reason why the prospects of this team getting to the final seems better. England have a specialist T20 team too but what could hamper them is they are dependent on the top order to get them rolling and the top three could be hemmed in by the kind of movement available for Arshdeep and Bhuvi in the late spring conditions prevailing in Australia now. There is only one selection dilemma and that is probably already solved by Team India wishing to give Rishabh Pant more than just the one chance. He is a better bet to come off on the bouncier Aussie pitch than Karthik who may not be able to force the ball given the bounce.
The Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi may make mysterious air dashes to the capital New Delhi. But, when in Chennai, he does what he can to light a match under the DMK’s ideological stand on various issues, most of all religion and NEET. The Governor can do little about the national entrance test as it is a Supreme Court cleared reform, apart from sitting on the legislation that the Assembly passes Where the Governor tends to get on the nerves of the rulers of the land of the Dravidians is when he harps on sanatana dharma, which is more a personal matter of faith though it becomes political as it clashes with the DMK’s ideological belief in atheism. The Stalin government has tried to make Governor Ravi the enemy No.1 of the state on the grounds that he sits on Bills and breaches Constitutional propriety. Clashes with Governors are not a new thing even in Tamil Nadu where Jayalalithaa passed a resolution in the House against Chenna Reddy with whom she had running battles. With regard to god and religion, the DMK has changed somewhat over time as the party line is one of leaving faith and religion to the individual. But, as the Centre is unlikely to budge on the Governor, TN can only disparage him rather than unseat him.
The Munugode by-election is a barometer for the 2024 polls in Telangana. Tied in a three-way battle with the Congress and the BJP, it is prestigious for the ruling TRS of KCR. The BJP is fighting tooth and nail with KCR, drawing him out in a personal battle over his daughter they call ‘Liquor Rani’, to come up at least a close second to trigger a series of defections before the big event two years hence. The battle used to be between the Congress and the TDP in the constituency for decades before Telangana was formed and TRS came into the picture. But the Congress got so busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra of its prince that it brought campaigning to a halt to go to the neighbouring district when barely days remained for the poll on November 3 (result on Nov 6). The BJP, already engaged in a large but shady campaign of wooing TRS MLAs over with inducements, is hoping to seriously challenge the TRS in Telangana in the coming Assembly elections. Surveys indicate a huge anti-incumbency building against TRS and KCR in India’s youngest state and BJP is aiming to not only take Telangana but also try to boost its tally of MPs from a non-BJP state in the south in 2024. It appears the Congress has willingly put itself in a third position where it should have been battling for a comeback.
DMK spokesperson Saidai Sadiq is on a sticky wicket after having called actors-turned-netas such as Khushbu Sundar and Gowthami as “items”. He may have believed he had picked soft targets but ran into a doughty Khushbu who took it up on social media with such force as a defender of women that Sadiq had to make a grovelling apology on TV. But that came only after Kanimozhi, DMK MP, had tendered an apology to Khushbu and others, saying such sexism cannot be tolerated. The high- profile daughter of M Karunanidhi has just been elevated in the party as a Deputy General Secretary and has clout with the top party brass, which is why Saidai’s position is looking increasingly shaky. Also, in picking on Khushbu, he may have strayed into very sensitive territory for, as a member of the DMK before she crossed over to BJP, she was very close to the first family, having known three generation of male leaders in Karunanidhi, Stalin and Udhayanidhi by dint of their film industry links. The issue at hand is, however, clearly about the denigration of women and to say they are an “item” was most demeaning. The speaker is certain to face his party’s wrath for only recently Stalin had said publicly that he has spent sleepless nights because of such unwarranted remarks from his partymen.
It will not only be a great moment in British history but also that of Indian history as Rishi Sunak takes over at 10 Downing Street after being voted in as Tory Party leader on Diwali day. It is 75 years since Winston Churchill, Britain’s greatest hero of World War II, made the terrible remark on Indians saying – “All Indian leaders will be of low calibre & men of straw”. And that was said by a man who is considered as responsible for the Bengal Famine of the 1940s when he allowed Indians to starve while the grain was earmarked for British troops. Only seven years ago was the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi as the apostle of peace and fighter of freedom for India recognised as his statue was installed in the British Parliament in 2015. Britain gets an Indian origin Prime Minister. At 42, he is Britain’s youngest PM in 200 years, educated at Oxford in true blue Britain and Stanford in the US, as rich as royalty thanks to his wife Akshata, daughter of Narayana Murthy of Infosys fame, and as fund manager at Goldman Sachs conversant with the financial markets. The controversies over his wife’s non-domiciled tax status in the UK and the US green card he kept for too long are behind him now. He is expected to unite Britain at a time of a grave financial crisis.
The return of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of Britain is a distinct possibility. He will be up against his former protégé and now rival Rishi Sunak for the right to reside on Downing Street. There is reason to believe that Boris deliberately and cynically backed Liz Truss as the candidate for PM against Rishi though he knew he was backing the wrong candidate for the job. This was his way of creating a comeback trail for himself. Had he proposed the correct candidate in Rishi he may not have stood this chance of getting back in the job because Tory MPs would have realised what their wrong choice could do to the country and its economy. The master and his protégé had fallen out during the partygate crisis after Rishi had first stood by Prime Minister Boris. But, as the crisis grew in such proportions that Boris was in danger of being dethroned, Rishi pulled out to make a play for the top job. And that is when Boris plumped for Truss in the hope of swinging the nomination for her. This was cynical politics at its best and Boris was never averse to pursuing it. In what could be a shortened contest in view of the emergency situation in Britain, it might become a straight fight between Boris and Rishi with Penny Mordaunt likely to be left behind, once again.
Teorex Inpaint Crack
The finger of suspicion pointing at VK Sasikala and others in the matter of the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa might spell the end of her political ambitions. Already disqualified from contesting elections till 2027 after going to jail on a disproportionate assets charge, the former confidante of Jaya might find very few willing to join hands with her in promoting her political future. She might find a faithful loyalist in the pliant O Panneerselvam who was substitute CM whenever Jaya was not qualified to hold the CM post or ill. But none would take her seriously any more in Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian political scene after Justice Arumugasamy Commission indicted her. Having taken charge of everything during Jaya’s illness, including ordering the CCTV cameras in the CCU unit of Apollo Hospital to be switched off, she and her kin who is a doctor took the final call on several decisions regarding Jaya’s medical treatment. No one else, not even acting CM OPS, had access to the CCU area that was cordoned off. Bureaucrats who took orders directly from Sasikala will also be under the scanner when the government orders an inquiry. Any chance of rapprochement with the AIADMK party claimed by Edappadi K Palaniswami may have also evaporated as none would be ready to associate with a hanger-on suspected of doing away with her mentor in the hope of capturing her powerful seat.
The West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee came out strongly in support of hometown boy and displaced BCCI President Sourav Ganguly. She wants the BJP government at the Centre to back Dada for the ICC president’s post. But it may be too late already as only a couple of days are left for filing a nomination for President ahead of the ICC meet in November. Didi made it clear that she was only batting for youngsters as she also supported Jay Shah continuing for a second term as BCCI Secretary. Ganguly got ejected from the ticket thanks to N Srinivasan, the former CSK owner and de facto boss, shooting down Dada when the cricket group met at Amit Shah’s house where Roger Binny’s candidature to replace Dada was worked out. The sitting ICC President Greg Barclay is seeking a second term and the BCCI may not like to rock the boat there. All Didi got in response to her backing for Dada is a snarky comment from BJP brass asking her why she cannot replace Shah Rukh Khan as Brand Ambassador for Bengal and give Ganguly the endorsement package. Dada lost out because he chose commerce over leadership role in BCCI by signing on with companies competing with the Board’s official sponsors in such fields as betting and gaming.
The much-anticipated Indo-UK trade deal is a non-starter. A Diwali deadline had been put on its signing by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former British PM Boris Johnson. But the deal is on a back burner now despite Liz Truss wanting to move things along. In fact, it was suggested that PM Modi take a flying trip to the UK to meet Truss and speed up the deal, but that idea was shot down after Suella Braverman, Britain’s Home Secretary, swam into the picture to cloud up the waters with her gripe against Indians. An Indian-origin migrant born to Indian parents, Suella targeted Indians as the worst kind of visa over stayers in the UK. While statistically that may be true, there was little need for her to take off on a rant above Indian migrants at this juncture. The Indian foreign office is miffed with Suella’s tirade, which they see as a spoke in the wheel of the trade deal. Tending to the visa regime and laying down guidelines favouring India in visas was part of the deal. But the Tory government is on such shaky ground regarding the British economy and the mini-Budget that Kwarteng presented under Truss’ tutelage that the India trade deal has taken a back seat. The Diwali deadline is set to run out in 10 days from now.
There was an intriguing sample of the kind of bizarre events likely to crop up during the T20 World Cup. The warm-up games, while providing plenty of action, are also a teaser to how players may react to Mankading and even “obstructing the field” incidents. Jos Buttler, the England captain who was once the victim of a controversial Mankad run out by Ravi Ashwin in the IPL, was at the centre of the storm as Team England was subject to a clear case of obstruction when the bowler Mark Wood was prevented from going for a return catch by Matthew Wade putting a hand on his chest. Wicket-keeper Buttler saw the event differently. He said his team were just setting out on a very long tour of Australia that includes The Ashes and he didn’t want to have an early brush with the notorious Australian crowds with a fair quota of yobos, hecklers and downright racist punters. “They asked if I wanted to appeal and I said ‘no’. I’ve only just got to Australia so I thought just carry on with the game,” Buttler said. He took the diplomatic route out, but his example is unlikely to be followed by players in the T20 World Cup who will exploit every opportunity to win matches. After all, the debate over Mankading is yet to settle after the Deepti-Charlie event in the women’s T20 in England.
The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance that totally bans all games of chance with money or other stakes goes further than most states in curbing what is an uncontrolled menace in the country. The ordinance says online gambling is addictive, causes suicides due to unsustainable debts and leads to financial distress and ruined families. It’s not certain how the ban will apply online as net trawlers may know how to get around outright bans. But features like geo-tagging may make it tougher for the ordinary web user to get on to gambling sites from Tamil Nadu. Based on the recommendations of the 5-member committee headed by Justice (Retd) K Chandru, the ordinance was brought in with the clinching evidence from a survey of 2 lakh school teachers revealing that concentration in children was impacted, eye defects were detected, intelligence quotient decreased, writing skills and creativity affected, self-esteem lowered and anger and indiscipline increased. The ordinance provides for setting up a ‘Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority’ to exercise powers and regulate the gaming industry and prohibits banks, financial institutions and payment gateway providers from extending any financial services to the gaming industry. Only 27 people out of 10,735 who sent mails expressing their opinion on online gambling and games, did not want a ban.
Another Hindu festival season is passing without a greeting for the people by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. While the Governor and leaders of all political parties wished the people for Ayudha Pooja, when all workers of the State spare a thought for the machines that enable their livelihood, etc., Stalin remained silent. In this, he follows his father’s footsteps in not wishing Hindus on their festivals while making it a point to wish the minorities on theirs. The exception is Pongal, which Kalaignar believed was the real New Year of the Tamils and not the birth of the Chithiari month, which is usually followed as Tamil New Year by a vast majority of Tamils. However, Stalin may have embarrassed himself as recently he wished people on Onam. Did he not know that Onam is also a Hindu festival? He tried to fob off his greeting in Malayalam as one for a festival of togetherness and solidarity to strengthen Dravidian links with Kerala and not intended as recognition of any religious festival of the Hindus. BJP’s Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai lost no time in reminding the public the Tamils that Stalin had wished Malayalis on Onam but would not do so for the Puja or Deepavali or any of the significant Hindu festivals. Stalin might find it difficult to justify his Onam greetings as opposed to his silence in the Puja season.
Team India’s Ferrari of a fast bowler has broken down and needs repairs. Only a lengthy time out can come to the aid of Jasprit Bumrah, the quick with a quirky action. A stress fracture of the lower back is about the worst injury that any fast bowler has to endure because rest and rehab rather than a quick-fix surgery is the only way out. Any expectation that Bumrah will be available for the T20 World Cup is overly optimistic. Ask Dennis Lillee, the guru among modern fast bowlers, and he will tell you all about lower back injuries and how painful fixing them can be. Neither front-on or square-on delivery style is to be blamed for fast bowlers tend to break down regardless of what is done. And modern fast bowlers have the additional burden of hard workouts at the gym every day, besides bowling. The BCCI and its IPL franchises may claim to have the best medical support teams at hand but there is no remedy for the stress, strain and the pivotal tensions that fast bowlers have to suffer. And Bumrah’s action is so unusual in the sense that it depends on his back strength more than momentum built up in the run-up. The Ferrari needs to go to the “garage” before hitting the road again. And that is a pity as it affects Team India’s chances in the T20 World Cup.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is making a curious gambit. He is to announce the founding of his national party BRS (Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti) with regional TRS to merge with it on Dussehra day (Oct. 5). The new party will retain the TRS flag, its car symbol as well as the party colour pink. TRS, which came into prominence during the emotional agitation for a separate Telangana, will soon be consigned to history. Will the KCR gambit work is the question as long time Andhra-Telangana observers see a huge wave of anti-incumbency sentiment against KCR. While it is possible that KCR is doing away with the name TRS on the advice of soothsayers, it is his national foray into 150 seats that is loaded with risk. Those trying to unite the Opposition for 2024 are convinced that a single entity to take on the BJP will work better, as it may have been proved in the recent Italian elections where the Right coalition fielded a united single candidate in most seats. KCR’s national opposition unity moves, which he began in flashy meetings with Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar and HD Kumaraswami are also being met with scepticism by the likes of Mamata and Sonia Gandhi’s Congress. The BRS will dictate who will be PM in 2024, the new party’s intending founder KCR has been heard saying.
Tamil Nadu finance minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan’s grouse about the nature of revenue gathering having changed in India is credible criticism of the system as it exists after the introduction of GST. Before the “great and simple tax” came into being, states were free to raise revenues through indirect taxes which allowed financial freedom to make policies. States are now dependent on federal fund transfers that have become too political. Today, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two states with the least population growth and best fulfilment of parameters of progress in child health, education and several other social spheres, are suffering the most in terms of being denied a fair share of revenue. The two States are among the worst off in terms of the differential between transfers from the Union and their own tax revenue. Thiagarajan’s complaint about States having become virtual municipalities in terms of managing their own finances has more than a ring of truth to it. The chart from a data scientist carried by the BBC brings out the enormity of the unfair nature of federal revenue transfers. Given the population parameter by which revenues are distributed, the south, well-known for population control measures that have been woven into the system through education and awareness, is likely to suffer even more if the delimitation process is completed this decade and seats to Parliament are decided.
It’s not often that an active party member resigns when the party is in power. But that is what former Union Minister Subbalakshmi Jagadeesan has done. She was currently Deputy General Secretary of the DMK when she sent her resignation to party president MK Stalin declaring that she was retiring from politics. Insiders, however, say that she was unhappy about her prospects in the party after being denied a Rajya Sabha seat nomination that she was expecting considering her seniority. She was in the UPA-1 Cabinet (2004-09) as Minister State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Her husband Jagadeesan may not have helped her cause by putting out posts on the social media critical of the party, the contents of which were promptly relayed back to the party command. The party president did ask his senior minister Durai Murugan to find out what the problem was but, apparently, the lady said she was suffering health issues and that she wanted to retire from politics. Stalin had no option then but to accept the resignation. Heading a party that believes in transparency in dealing with its senior members and pays a lot of attention to its cadre-based strengths, Stalin had done his bit to keep the senior former minister in the fold. Her departure may not mean much as it is not the start of defections or desertions.
A Raja, a favourite of the ruling DMK’s first family, may have got away with the airing of his opinion on Hindus that stirred a hornet’s nest. Apart from fringe Hindu groups in the Nilgiris, the home district of the former Telecom Minister infamous for the 2G scam that rocked Indian politics, not too many took serious note of the MP’s comments. His controversial statement comparing Hindus with “shudras” had kicked up a religious and political storm with the Tamil Nadu BJP taking exception to it and accusing the politician of spewing hatred against a section of people. But not much came of it as Raja was mouthing a theory that would have pleased Periyarists who form a majority of the DMK party. The party chief MK Stalin may have been indulgent towards Raja in not rebuking him even privately. The suspicion is the first family may not be averse to prominent party members expressing opinions provided that they do not take on the top BJP brass with whom the CM has cordial relations. And Raja has always been considered close enough to the family for his excesses to be forgiven. In fact, it was Raja’s doings at the telecom ministry that had led to him and Kanimozhi spending a long time in Tihar jail at the height of the 2G scandal.
They give him caffeine shots, which is perfectly legal, of course. And then they sometimes have to give him mild sleeping medication so he can rest properly, that is after hot and cold contrast baths. Every bit of his recovery from time on the court in competition is monitored by his team, which is why Carlos Alcaraz, the tennis player with a comet-like trail in becoming the youngest ever World No 1 at 19 and a Grand Slam winner as a teenager, is considered the Real McCoy of tennis. He was marked out for greatness some years ago but it took him a while to win a tour title. Once he did so last season, he broke through with four titles in the USA and Europe, beating Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the Madrid Open, before going on to win the U.S. Open title. He is no cyborg, but every inch the modern tennis player with a scientific training programme and on-court coaching with a former world No. 1 in Juan Carlos Ferrero. His trainer says he has a good genetic predisposition towards hard work. Alcaraz himself says, not immodestly, that he deserves respect – “I am 19 years old and I have worked a lot in a very hard way.” He is not going to fade out like other young winners of Grand Slams who broke the monopoly of the trio of all-time greats.
Having spent a few months quietly, attending to duties in Chennai and around the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister roared back to form in response to Amit Shah’s comment on Hindi being a friend of all languages. “This is India, not Hindia,” Stalin said, reminding the Home Minister that Hindi is not the national language and not even the sole official language of the country. His advice to the HM was to celebrate an “Indian languages Day” and not a national Hindi Day. Shah may need no reminding that his assiduous promotion of Hindi is not going to work in Tamil Nadu, which is a kind of last bastion against the language thanks to its history of anti-Hindi sentiment. In fact, it was the anti-Hindi wave that brought the Dravidian parties to power in 1967 with CN Annadurai, the Tamil writer from Kancheepuram, becoming the first non-Congress CM of the state. Since then, no national party has posed so much as a threat to the Dravidian duopoly in 55 years. Any central agency, including the airport and its security teams, have been at the receiving end of language chauvinism opposing their use of Hindi. Of course, Amit Shah makes the point that unless local languages coexist with Hindi, India cannot run the country in its own languages.
The one thing that Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to suffer from on his long walk is lack of fitness. He has serious claims to being the fittest politician among the lot who are prominent on the national scene. Apart from being a Black Belt in karate, Rahul is also credited with deep sea diving feats that might surprise the U.S. Marines who pride themselves on their fitness and endurance feats. Rahul is credited with being able to free-dive to depths that the fittest Marines would not find easy to match. So, Rahul’s endurance will probably not be on test so much in the course of his planned 3,570-km walk in about 150 days. The first complaint to be registered as the Bharat Jodo Yatra began was from his security detail who found it difficult to keep pace with his strong gait. It wasn’t so much the speed as the difficulty faced in being able to track any threats from different directions as Rahul raced on his feet on the first day. His feedback team seems to have done a good job as the problem was taken back to the former Congress President who immediately course-corrected by walking much slower from Day 2.
The Indianisation of Rahul Gandhi begins on Wednesday (Sep 7). The real test for him as he takes up a padayatra in the fashion of many in India, from Mahatma Gandhi downwards, is whether he can sustain a 150-day walk covering 3,570 kms. The padayatra is his biggest attempt to revive a sinking party as he hits the ground that he has rarely done as a politician more prone to taking foreign breaks periodically. He is to begin this campaign with a visit to his father’s memorial in Sriperumbudur on September 7 morning and then to the starting point of the padayatra where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will give him a national flag to carry on his march. The walk is loaded with symbolism and if Rahul is serious enough in walking from one end of India to the other, he stands some chance of washing off the image of a person born with a silver spoon in a political dynasty. While he is still inclined not to worry about who becomes the Congress President, he will assume the mantle of campaign leader for the 2024 elections. If he can simply double the Congress 2019 tally of 52, he would be giving his party and the combined opposition half a chance to down the BJP. But first, he would have to be seen walking like an Indian on home soil.
There have been more twists and turns than in an India-Pakistan cricket match in the legal battle for the AIADMK party control. Now, after a division bench of the Madras High Court gave its verdict, Edappadi K Palaniswami is restored as the (interim) General Secretary of the party. The legality of the July 11 meeting that EPS had convened and in which he became the party supremo has been restored. There are still many “overs” to be played in this match as the matter is certain to go to the Supreme Court. But, given the speed at which the top court disposes of cases, it can be safely assumed that EPS will be heading the party for a while from here. The division-bench shot down most of the assumptions in a single judge order that had taken the status quo to before the first meeting held on June 23 in which the question of who will head the party if its cadre wishes to have a single leader surfaced. EPS had proved that he had the majority of the party behind him then. The idea of a unified party with EPS, OPS, V Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, appears even more unattainable now after the one-man commission to probe Jayalalithaa’s death recommended that Sasikala be investigated for her role in the time that treatment was being given to the former CM in the Apollo Hospital.
To do nothing with the Jayalalithaa death probe report submitted by the Justice (Retired) A Arumugasamy commission is probably the best course of action that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin may have decided upon. The very decision to first place the report in front of the Assembly, which is not due to meet till December 2022, is a clear indicator that the government does not wish to take any of the recommendations too seriously. Primarily, it has to do with a death that occurred in December 2016. And Stalin would be the last one to wish to interfere in the Opposition Party matters. The AIADMK is already doing enough to damage itself as the principal opposition. It needs no action from the ruling party to call for a probe into Jaya’s aide and confidante V Sasikala, who anyway met her Waterloo in the Disproportionate Asset case and spent four years in jail while also being ineligible to contest any election for another six years. Also, it suits the DMK to watch on as the AIADMK implodes with the EPS versus OPS fighting for the spoils and the not inconsiderable Rs 3,000 crore party kitty that lies in two trust accounts. At worst, the government may call for action on the people named in the report without pushing the police seriously to probe them.
The Congress is in turmoil over electing its President. It won’t be Rahul Gandhi if he has his way. Since owning up to the 2019 defeat, he has been steadfast in not only staying away from heading it but also insisting on someone from outside the Rajiv Gandhi family to take the mantle. While those like Ghulam Nabi Azad who are dissatisfied with his way of wanting power without responsibility are quitting, the field is narrowing. Azad, only a long shot for the job – bookies had him at 100-1 as he is one of the G-23 rebels – is out of the race now. Among the non-Gandhi family members likely to head the party, if Sonia Gandhi and both her children do give the green signal for it are: P Chidambaram, who the bookies place at 3-1, on par with Jairam Ramesh who has gained traction since being a sober and disciplined soldier of the party and family as the chief spokesperson. But the overwhelming favourite among bookmakers is Ashok Gehlot at evens since rumours are that he has already been offered the job by Sonia. At 10-1 beyond the favourites is the debonair Shashi Tharoor who might even be a bright face for the party provided Sonia is okay with him being in the contest.
The ‘Prime Time’ of PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan, Tamil Nadu’s finance Minister, has been all the rage for a while now as he dared to take on the Prime Minister and his plenipotentiaries questioning their pronouncements over freebies. The PM had opened up a big debate after comparing freebies to the coarse sweet ‘Revdi’ and Opposition states took it up big time. PTR was on the warpath everywhere, including in an Oxford debate, in which he compared the Modi regime to British rule. He questioned whether the Centre had performed so well on the economy front that everyone had to follow its dictates. Not to be outdone by someone who took on the highest in the land, the BJP’s mouthpieces began digging into the Tamil Nadu economy to point out that its finance minister was just bragging about a Dravidian model while he was sustaining government expenditure by simply borrowing – as much as Rs 72,500 crore in 2021-22, to be scaled up to Rs. 90,000 crore in 2022-23. After PTR took over, the State’s debt ballooned to Rs 3.02 lakh per family from Rs 2.63 lakh per family. The percentage of debt to GSDP is also on an upward curve even as the Dravidian state leans on liquor sales to sustain its expenditure, boosted of course by freebies like free electricity for farmers and others.
Former Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi Palaniswami declared war in the AIADMK against O Panneerselvam. Declining his offer of an olive branch a day after the high court reined in EPS’ moves to get himself elected as General Secretary, EPS went on to demolish OPS’ character at a media conference, alluding even to his role of canvassing against J Jayalalithaa in the 1989 elections. He declared that OPS only seeks posts for himself and his son. He accused him of going to court to try and stop the GC meeting and, worse, getting into the party HQ on the day of the meeting and demolishing the place. Not only was the party office damaged and jewellery stolen but also key property files were taken away. EPS also rammed home the fact that had OPS commanded enough of a following in the party, he would have challenged him on the floor instead of staying away from the GC venue on July 11. He challenged the reporters to name one worthwhile scheme that OPS had initiated when he was CM several times in place of Jayalalithaa while she was fighting disproportionate assets cases against her. So outspoken was EPS in putting down OPS that a long legal battle is the only way forward now for the main Opposition party in Tami Nadu, which might just make way for the BJP to assume that role.
Former CM Edappadi Palaniswami took a massive hit in the Madras high court which restored the status quo in the AIADMK party that existed before the contentious July 11 General Council meeting that he had convened and in which he was appointed as interim General Secretary. His colleague O Panneerselvam is now celebrating the restoration of the party to dual control after he had been expelled by EPS. The high court order is not the final word as it is bound to be challenged by EPS in the Supreme Court. OPS had not attended the GC meeting on July 11 but had gone for an earlier meeting. He had walked out when heckled and water bottles were thrown at him. The court order means the party is back to the status which had prevailed after the death of J Jayalalithaa and the imprisonment of her aide and confidante VK Sasikala in February 2017. After being together in his reign as CM of more than four years, EPS had manoeuvred his way to take over the party, his ambition being fulfilled as he had the clear majority of the party members. That majority is in question now as both he and OPS have to steer AIADMK through party polls and they are not even on talking terms.
Cricket is broken, they said when Ben Stokes gave up ODIs to concentrate on his Test career. But even as the death of the 50-overs format was being freely predicted, ICC’s future tours programme is dotted with cricket in all three formats, as busy as ever. It’s not cricket that is broken but the bodies of star cricketers who are playing too much. The greatest danger ahead even as Trent Boult quits the New Zealand contract and predicates his playing future around various T20 leagues is that T20 franchises will soon be ruling world cricket. Indian IPL owners have bought into the Caribbean, South African and UAE leagues and soon the stars may be forced to make a difficult choice between club and country. Cricket Australia is prepared to spend a hefty packet to keep David Warner interested in the Big Bash rather than travel to UAE as expanding T20 leagues start cutting into the southern summer cricket scheduling in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Spectators used to own the game until the TV stations came along with their multi-million-dollar rights bids. And now it appears the T20 franchise owners, like the club-owning oligarchs of English football, are set to dominate world cricket.
Impressive as the medal tally and a fourth place among countries, India’s performance at the Commonwealth Games is not to be judged only on the strength of the medal haul of 61. The intensity to push oneself to perform better and win medals on the strength of best personal effort marked India’s presence in Birmingham. Eight medals from Track & Field, traditionally India’s weakest area, included one from steeplechase with Avinash Sable, the first non-Kenyan to win a medal (silver) since 1994. A number of medals from India’s base strengths like in wrestling and boxing, besides badminton, helped boost the tally to a healthy level. The sweep in badminton in the men’s and women’s singles and men’s doubles was a triple delight but nothing may have warmed the cockles more than Sharath Kamal’s feat in winning four medals in table tennis at the ripe age of 40. Not only has he slayed the hackneyed phrase – age is just a number – but also proved that such a winner were he to be a country, he would have finished 16th in the medals tally. The women cricketers fluffed a great chance to down the Australians, failing to finish a chase they were handling so well so long as the skipper Kaur was in. India’s sporting enterprise is all set to conquer more frontiers in the forthcoming Asian Games and the Olympics.
Grandmasters from close to 190 nations are battling it out on the boards for the blue ribbon of team events at the Olympiad near Chennai. But there is an even bigger war going on in Mamallapuram, also the venue where 200 countries will be voting on August 7 to decide who will run world chess for the next four years. In a highly political race between teams of politicians and Grandmasters for President and Deputy President of FIDE, the favourite duo is current President Arkady Dvorkovich, a Russian politician seeking re-election and whose right-hand man is India’s first world champion Viswanathan Anand. A clear favourite among four teams endorsed by more countries than the minimum required to contest, Dvorkovich may use Anand to reorganise world chess, including bringing fundamental changes to the world title match, which is getting boring according to reigning champion Magnus Carlsen. Opposing them fiercely is former Ukraine chess champion and U.S. resident Andrii Baryshpolets, who is convinced a Russian politician has no business heading FIDE and that the world must stand up to the aggressor against Ukraine. Whether the real war being fought in his home country has any effect on the election or not, a polarised world is reflected in the chess election too. There are two other tickets of four candidates but Dvorkovich and Baryshpolets may be the dominant players.
The Tamil Nadu political scene will remain settled for a while at least after Chief Minister M K Stalin’s assertion that the DMK-led alliance is an ideological one and not only for polls. That should put an end to the noises that came from the local Congress honchos who were smarting under the usual grievance of not being given enough importance. The Prime Minister and Chief Minister meeting on a couple of occasions last week in Chennai and the warm vibes they shared had got the rumour mills going about cracks in the DMK-Congress alliance. The CM has set the record straight and the message has gone out to TNCC not to rock the boat. It is the principal opposition party AIADMK that is in a bit of a turmoil after the Edappadi Palaniswami coup on the plank of a pressing need for a single leader. That leaves another former CM, O Panneerselvam (OPS) out in the cold. So annoyed was he that even the EC refused to recognise his position that he sent his representative uninvited to the meeting to examine the Aadhaar-electoral roll linking proposal. The only alternative for OPS seems to be to join his old tormentors Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran in a parallel party they could well name as Jaya AIADMK. Any merger of forces nurtured by MGR and Jaya would have to wait for much longer.
The Modi-Stalin bonhomie at the inaugural of the Chess Olympiad would not have gone unnoticed. The DMK and BJP may be daggers drawn in Tamil Nadu but the top brass of both parties are such pals in public that the signals can be confusing to the cadres. The good vibes between the leaders, despite the crosscurrents of Tamil pride versus Indian nationalism, may however lead to changes in political alignments. The DMK-Congress ties are already strained in the State. The local Congress honcho put out a statement criticising the police for selective action with regard to sticking of PM Narendra Modi’s images on images by the BJP on the hoardings and billboards promoting the chess event and the blackening of those images by DMK men. Knowing full well that Stalin is in charge of the Home Department and the police come directly under him, the Congress statement seems deliberate. The theory that the AIADMK is cosying up to Congress in Tamil Nadu in order to woo the minority voters in the next Assembly polls may be outlandish. The fact is anything is possible in politics, even in Tamil Nadu where DMK has been with the Congress much longer than in its ties with the NDA and BJP in occasional trysts for a share of capital power.
The release of the book ‘Maverick Commissioner’ by Boria Mazumdar, which could also be the basis for a movie on the cricket admin hotshot who invented the IPL, created waves among cricket circles. Laudatory in many parts of the man who dreamed up a professional cricket league that subsequently became such a success as to attract more than a billion dollars a year in TV and digital rights, the book does not however bring out the details of why Lalit Modi remains a fugitive residing in the UK. It is no secret that Modi, the scion of an industrial family with a history pockmarked with eventful incidents in his student life in the USA, will be arrested by the Chennai Police the moment he sets foot in India. There is an embezzlement charge against him pertaining to alleged pocketing of $80 million facilitation fee from a labyrinth of payments of TV rights. A court in Mumbai is said to have ruled very recently in his favour while stating the principle that facilitation fees are part of legitimate deal making. Whether that extends to an individual allegedly taking it at the expense of the game is another matter. There is no denying that Lalit Modi marketed a fantastic product melding cricket, glitz, glamour and big biz that has become a global super hit in 15 years. However, he remains a fugitive.
The basic conservatism of Britain may kick in when it comes to the final contest between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss for UK prime ministership. The PIO whose parents moved from East Africa to the UK was frontrunner for PM up to the moment Tory MPs were the electorate. Now that the polling moves on to 2 lakh primary members of the Tory Party, the odds shifted in favour of the Foreign Secretary to Boris Johnson who stood by her boss till the bitter end. Truss leapfrogged the Trade Secretary Penny Mordaunt into the final head-to-head contest for PM. Even Rishi softened his approach to his rival in saying he respects his opponent as well as her proposals for tax cuts in his Op-Ed article in the Daily Telegraph of July 21. Rishi made it known that he is the successor to Margaret Thatcher and that he will bring the economy back to shape despite a 40-year inflation high beyond 9%. There are a dozen in-person hustings (debates) to be run before the votes are to be counted and the results declared on September 5. But the odds are that Liz Truss has already taken the lead among the party voters. Rishi’s background, his personal wealth and his rich wife’s non-domicile tax status may work against him in the final count.
Tamil Nadu cops of Chinnasalem in the central district of Kallakurichi were caught napping on a Sunday morning when protesters gathered in force around a school in which a Class 10 girl died in mysterious circumstances. Police were hopelessly outnumbered when they woke up to the protesters having scaled the walls of the school property. When they tried to gather in force, they were told by protesters not to come near until their vandalism of the school was complete. School Infrastructure, including buses to ferry students, worth around Rs 10 crore may have been damaged beyond redemption by the time the cops were engaged by the protesters in a stone throwing contest. Police had to fire in the air and use tear gas freely to try and rein in the protesters. The police were heard giving the lame excuse that the mob had used social media to gather in numbers. The truth may be closer to the fact that a Sunday morning was a quiet time for the law enforcers. The high court passed strictures against the police while ordering a CBCID probe and a SIT to deal with those who were seen destroying school property in several videos that were shot on the scene. The TN police force may pride itself on being one of the smarter ones in the country but this time they had slipped up.
It was with certain relish that sections of supporters of Eelam in Tamil Nadu celebrated the news that Gotobaya Rajapaksa had fled Sri Lanka. They have never forgiven the Sri Lankan Army for killing all of the Velupillai Prabhakaran clan towards the end of the war around May 18, 2009 and Gotobaya had a direct role to play in this as the news of Prabhakaran’s capture was conveyed to him. He asked Sarath Fonseka, chief of the army, to rush to the venue of the capture and ensure that Prabhakaran and his people were eliminated. Fonseka carried out the order to the T also eliminating Prabhakaran’s young son who may have had little to do with his father’s revolutionary movement. The word from Gotobaya, then Defence Secretary, was to get rid of all the clan as not a DNA of the family should linger. The little told story of Prabhakaran’s final hours was to do with how he and his guerrillas had been wiped out but he refused to bite the cyanide bullet as he would rather stand up to the enemy. Instructed to wipe out the family DNA, the army chief acted as told and then the pictures of Prabhakaran’s body lying in the field was leaked because sections of the media had said that the chief of the Tigers was still alive. Gotobaya was the one who gave the order to shoot.
India is fascinated with a PIO as the front runner for occupying 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister of the world’s fifth largest economy but the anticipation among Tories is that Penny Mordaunt might be able to beat him in the head-to-head runoff. She nearly doubled her support to 67 votes behind Sunak’s 88 as Nadhim Zahawi and Jeremy Hunt were eliminated. In an intense phase of campaigning, Sunak is using a staff of 20 besides a personal chauffeur to rush around London while Penny has been clever in making her campaign – “PM (Penny Mordaunt) for PM.” A new poll among Conservative Party members suggests that PM will indeed become PM. As a former military woman, she made some startling observations, including stating the fact that women cannot have a penis in order to ward off criticism that she is too “woke” to be leading the Tories. While Sunak is promising to run the economy like Margaret Thatcher, Penny feels a lot more is needed than just tax cuts to revive the $3.4 trillion economy that is in danger of going into recession in the face of runaway inflation. Under fire for his wife’s non-domicile tax status in the UK, the son-in-law of former Infosys czar NR Narayana Murthy is still certain to take a good shot at becoming UK’s Prime Minister.
Presented with a fait accompli of a General Council meeting ratifying Edappadi Palaniswamy as the Interim General Secretary until elections are formally held in the AIADMK party, former CM and now former Coordinator O Panneerselvem will be exhausting all legal avenues before charting his future path. In seizing total control over the party, EPS also had OPS ejected from party membership saying he had been given enough opportunities to discuss issues and sort out differences. The only recourse available now for OPS would be to approach the courts with his claim that the entire GC meeting was illegal as he had not co-signed the notice convening the meeting. The courts did not take kindly to OPS seeking to stop the meeting and OPS didn’t attend the meeting either, preferring to go to the party HQ on Lloyds Road and camp there with his supporters. The BJP washed its hands of the AIADMK internecine tussle and will sit it out until it’s clear who is legally and officially in control of the party. OPS had no support from the top duo of BJP and is out in the political wilderness. He tried to play his cards too smartly, keeping a foot in the Sasikala camp while keeping channels open to the DMK leadership. OPS’ hold was on the treasury but he has lost that too.
Novak Djokovic had the last laugh in his bromance with Nick Kyrgios as he kept his date with destiny in his 21st Grand Slam win. But just about. For a major part of the first set and in many parts thereafter, the explosive Aussie seemed the better player, serving solidly and dominating the exchanges as the Serb struggled to read his serve. It was his temperament that kept letting Kyrgios down as he muttered to himself, chattered to people in his box and imploded in the fourth set tiebreaker. The statistics are awesome – Djokovic is unbeaten at Wimbledon since 2013 across 39 matches but they don’t tell the real tale. Grass is not Djoker’s best surface though he has won seven Wimbledon titles, same as Pete Sampras and one behind Roger Federer. He has equalled Borg, Sampras and Federer in winning four Wimbledon titles on the trot. The grace of a multiple times champion, who has the albatross of being an anti-vaxxer on his shoulders, Djokovic came through in a difficult year in which he was hounded out of Australia and was underdone when Rafael Nadal outplayed him in a quarter-final at Roland Garros. It was poetic justice as a player a Covid-struck world loved to hate raised his game to beat Kyrgios and keep the long running race for Grand Slams with Nadal and Federer alive.
The decks are clear for Edappadi K Palanisamy to take over the AIADMK party as its General Secretary at the July 11 meeting to be held in Chennai. A division bench of the Madras High Court on July 7 dismissed a contempt application seeking to punish the former CM and AIADMK leader and his supporters for alleged non-implementation of its earlier orders. The bench of Justices M Duraiswamy and Sundar Mohan also dismissed the applications to stay the general council meeting and the one against Tamil Magan Hussain, who had been nominated as the permanent presidium chairman of the party at its June 23 general council meeting. Since their orders passed in the small hours of June 23 had been stayed by the Supreme Court on July 6, the judges said they were dismissing the applications and petitions. OPS has lost the battle because EPS was able to gather a brute majority favouring a “single leader” rule that had been in force till the death of party supremo and CM J Jayalalithaa in 2016. EPS ran a sustained campaign in the background to woo all important party functionaries to his side. His clever portrayal of OPS as a “double agent” leaning towards Sasikala as well as the ruling DMK helped swing support. Only the anointing of EPS as leader of the principal Opposition party in TN remains to be completed now.
In the middle of a net session before the second Test in Galle, Australian batsman Steve Smith suddenly shouted “Bazball”. He was mocking the new buzzword to enter the cricket dictionary. But the English are mighty proud of having invented it to name it after their revolutionary new coach Brendon McCullum. He has taught them this method of a fearless approach to Test cricket in which they go after the bowling regardless of how tough or challenging the conditions or the state of the match were. Smith believes Bazball may not work when there is green in the pitch or the ball is turning square. But, in four remarkable fourth innings chases, England have rewritten the rules of batting and it has made cricket entertaining to watch. Bazball may not apply to all conditions but it is one hell of a way to play modern Test cricket, which would otherwise descend to chore-ridden cricket that even less people would watch than now. Many of the modern batsmen do play their own versions of the Bazball – like Pantball that Rishabh Pant plays. Team India may have been at the receiving end of Bazball but it was exhilarating to watch and they could adapt it too provided they can get over the superstardom of some of their greats like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and play more like a team with a positive approach.
It’s been 35 years since a fast bowler led India. Not since Kapil Dev was dethroned after the home World Cup of 1987 – due to issues involving commercial stickers on bats by Chancellor cigarettes rather than for losing to England in the semi-finals – has Team India even thought of a bowler as captain in Test cricket. While there is no taking away credit from Jasprit Bumrah for having risen to the Test captaincy, the BCCI must accept that it has created this captaincy muddle with so many bewildering changes. All of them were thrust on the team thanks to Rohit Sharma, elevated as triple format captain, running into all kinds of fitness problems before being infected with Covid in England. An ego clash between Virat Kohli and BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly had led to all the dramas we are witnessing today. By making a big issue out of Kohli’s desire to drop the T20i captaincy only to lessen the burdens of triple format captaincy, Ganguly had created the conditions for a peeved Kohli to quit captaincy altogether. Since then, we have had KL Rahul leading the Test side to cover for injury to Kohli and then Rishabh Pant leading in white ball cricket. Old timers might believe they have not seen two players more unsuited to leading Team India.
The online gaming industry may be in for a rude shock as the Tamil Nadu government seems bent on banning any site offering online gaming with a stake. By stake it means money you pay to place a bet. The government, worried over reports of suicides due to debt problems of some addicted gamers, had appointed a committee headed by retired Justice Chandru of the Madras High Court to recommend what action to take. The committee which submitted its report to Chief Minister MK Stalin on June 27, recommended that the government enforce a ban of not only gaming sites but also the advertisements that promote it which are often seen during the cricket telecasts. The problem is that a blanket ban will not care to distinguish between the legitimate e-gaming sites and the gambling sites, including many offshore sites that are operating freely in the internet environment as it exists. The three largest online skill games associations are already concerned over reports suggesting that the GST rates on online skill games are to go up from 18 % to 28 %. Banning by one state could be emulated by other states. Karnataka had been contemplating action on online gambling in which several sites are claiming revenues in excess of Rs 1,000 crore per annum.
Tennis’ great rivalry is set to resume at Wimbledon with Rafael Nadal, the champion with 22 Grand Slams, and Novak Djokovic seeded at the top to meet only in the final. Their quarter final at the French Open was a match for the ages in which Djokovic bowed to Nadal’s supremacy on clay. On grass, it will be a different Djokovic who could deny Nadal the greatest quest of his career of a calendar Grand Slam as the Australian and French Open winner of 2022 sniffs at a chance he has rarely had in his career. His 22 Grand Slams are weighted in favour of clay at 14 but he has two Wimbledon titles suggesting he can master the fastest of the four different surfaces too. Of course, Djokovic, the last player to come within a title of the calendar Grand Slam but was to be denied by Medvedev in 2021 when he was beaten in the U.S. Open, boasts of seven Wimbledon titles in his collection of 20. Nadal said after his French Open win that tennis was a passionate pursuit at which he also won titles but Djokovic is known to chase the record of Grand Slams. It will be 2022’s greatest match if the two gladiators get to the final.
Having exhausted all attempts to stop the conduct of the AIADMK General Council (GC) meeting, to be held on June 23, party coordinator O Panneerselvam (OPS), who is expecting to be ousted from his post, has decided to boycott the event. He refuses to be part of what could be the coronation of his party colleague, joint leader, and now enemy No 1 as he aims to crown himself the sole leader of the party. OPS had been telling his supporters in the GC to strategise counter moves to those of the Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) camp who are determined to raise the issue of a single leader and take control of the party. OPS could not scuttle the GC legally as the court refused to stay the meeting. He also wrote a letter to the Avadi Police Commissioner requesting him to deny permission for the meeting at Vanagaram that falls under his Avadi jurisdiction. But the police are unlikely to take OPS’ word as the party has officially convened the meeting. Police are expected to be present in good numbers as OPS has raised the bogey of violence both in the court and with them. It does appear OPS’ days are numbered in AIADMK and he may also lose the post of Treasurer presiding over two big trusts that control about Rs 3,000 crore corpus.
AIADMK, the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, is in turmoil. A tussle between the two factions headed by Joint coordinators Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and O Panneerselvam (OPS) has led even to skirmishes and a former minister’s car being thumped as he left HQ. Together, EPS and OPS mean something in Tamil Nadu politics but if they go their separate ways, the former ruling party, founded by MGR and nurtured by J Jayalalithaa, will lose ground rapidly. Prime Minister had played the peacemaker on his last visit to Chennai, telling both party honchos to stay united and play a constructive role as opposition party. What is causing stress now is the playbook of EPS supporters eyeing to bring back the old days of a unitary leader and to hold an election for a revived general secretary post. But, OPS, fearful that he may stand no chance in a party poll, would like to avoid a head-to-head contest. A compromise may be OPS’ best route out but he would end up losing whatever hold he has on the party. A hidden hand in this is, of course, that of the Jaya confidante VK Sasikala whose political ambitions run sky-high. Truth to tell, EPS is the party’s best-known face but he can assert himself only at the cost of the party splitting. June 23, when the party council meets, should be fraught with interest.
Telangana Chief Minister and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao wants to rebrand his party as Bharat Rashtra Samiti on the premise that he wants it to grow nationally. The whispers inside his own party are that their chief honcho is guided by astrologers who seem to have picked on the name ‘TRS’ as the reason why it won’t do well in the next polls. In fact, short of saying he may be heading for defeat for the first time since the State of Telangana was formed and the party its leading votary formed sweeping the polls twice, soothsayers may have warned KCR that the stars don’t foretell a great future beyond the elections that are due in 2023 in the state. By rebranding his party through a change to Bharat, KCR believes he can build on his national ambitions by seeking to expand beyond Telangana boundaries. While it is moot if the party can so much as seek to do well even in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, it’s likely KCR is thinking of projecting himself in the Hindi belt, towards which he would like to take on the avatar of a national leader, beginning with an active role in the Presidential polls in July. What the stars portend may be a fear driving him but KCR is convinced that a national role awaits him.
The term of the first ever President from BJP-RSS, Ram Nath Kovind, is getting over and the race for succession has been throwing up interesting names. While the Modi-Amit Shah-RSS chief trio may come up with an outreach name of their own choice to spring a surprise as they did last time, the importance of the person holding the post in 2024 in having to decide who to call to form the government is not to be underestimated. The odds are the name will be acceptable to allies on whom the BJP will be relying to get its candidate past the post. Kovind got more than two-thirds of the vote, which may not happen in these more polarised times. But the BJP is certain it will seal the numbers as the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party(YSRCP) will be its banker. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is an ally who has never stepped out of line, maybe because of his experience with the central agencies before sweeping the polls to become Andhra CM. The result is not in doubt thanks to Jagan deciding to stick with the rulers. The UPA has been toying with various names, including that of Nandan Nilekani whose brainchild is Aadhaar, but it lacks the numbers to make any great impression on Presidential polls that have always been won by the candidate of the ruling dispensation.
A message has gone out to DMK party members from the Stalin household to mind their language in public. A full licence has been given to keep knocking the Centre over Hindi and NEET but don’t get into caste politics by dragging names of communities is the message. Stalin has mastered the art of saying it nicely even if he is diametrically opposed to the Centre and its Governor but many down the line may have lost their way in packaging their messages. The DMK MP TKS Elangovan’s rant against Hindi imposition would have been fine with the party except for the twist given in dragging caste into it with the word “shudras”. The higher education minister K Ponmudy had also raved against Hindi and he also overstepped in calling all Hindi speaking people as “Paani-puri wallahs” but the humour had struck home. Having won the battle against caste hierarchy long ago after having come to power in 1967, the DMK would like to keep social justice as an ideological peg and not give it a spin by airing caste politics. Their high command may have enjoyed the divisions among the AIADMK over the BJP trying to take over, at least in voice, as the main opposition in the State but it does not wish to get tangled in rhetoric taking over practical politics.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
Yes, we have created a brand (in a limited sense), created demand (readers) and created supply (senior journalists). But we are facing teething problems like all start-ups. What makes us happy and confident is the recognition of our efforts. For instance, we have an arrangement with the OPEN Magazine, part of the $4.5 billion Kolkata-based Sanjiv Goenka-RPG Group. This arrangement sees around 10 Short Post stories posted on OPEN Magazine website every week. This arrangement is testimony that our content has been well received! Also, I may add that the Maharashtra government has recognised Short Post and has allowed our senior editor to cover the Assembly sessions. Ditto: Odisha.
Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.