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Last week, as Congress leaders protested against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s so-called “anti-Ambedkar” remark in Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi joined his party MPs in a blue T-shirt, giving up his trademark white polo T-shirt. His sister Priyanka also twinned with him wearing a blue sari. Clearly the Gandhi siblings opted to go for a very visual protest against Shah’s remarks. The choice of the colour of clothes of the Leader of Opposition (LoP) — usually spotted donning plain white T-shirts raised eyebrows. The colour blue has been associated with Dalit politics since 1942, when Dr BR Ambedkar established the Scheduled Castes Federation to campaign for the rights of the Dalit community. The body adopted a blue flag featuring Ashok Chakra. The flag was later retained by the Republican Party of India (RPI), founded by Ambedkar in 1956. Over time, blue became very closely associated with Dalit identity and activism. Even political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party and the ASP, which champions Dalit welfare, embraced blue colour in their branding. As the Gandhi siblings lead the protest, it was the choice of colour of their clothes that caught everyone’s attention!
The Winter Session which saw a two-day discussion on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution and introduction of One Nation One Election (ONOE) Bill has come to a close. It brought out sharp divisions over discussions and bills at least in two political parties — the Congress and DMK. In the Congress, if a first term MP Priyanka Vadra was seen opening the discussion on the Constitution in the Lok Sabha, for some reason senior leader and eminent lawyer P Chidambaram did not get an opportunity to have his say about the Constitution in the Rajya Sabha. In the DMK, there was a clear division of views between the DMK parliamentary party leader TR Baalu and deputy leader Kanimozhi. While Baalu endorsed the government’s offer to refer the Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee, Kanimozhi seemed completely surprised by his stand and insisted that her party was opposed to the Bill and demanded its withdrawal.”DMK has consistently opposed the entire Bill. We do not accept that there can be ONOE because it is against the Constitution. It is against federal rights and it is against the will of the people. People choose state governments for 5 years, I don’t think you can take that right away from the people and give it to the EC to decide how many years governments can last or not. So, this is completely against the state, against federalism” said Kanimozhi. While her stand reflects TN assembly resolution passed in February against ONOE Bill this year, the media is awash with reports about how her late father Kalaignar M Karunanidhi had highlighted the benefits of simultaneous polls in his autobiography Nenjuku Neethi. Incidentally, Karunanidhi had advanced state polls to 1971 to coincide with LS polls.
The Thursday (Dec 19) visit of BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde) MLAs to the RSS headquarters in Nagpur has become a hot political topic though there are other reasons, too, for intense politicking. Firstly, the MLAs belonging to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar did not join the event. Secondly, those disgruntled due to their non-inclusion in the council of ministers have started expressing their anger openly. Like earlier two occasions, Ajit Pawar and most of his followers distanced themselves from the visit organized by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The presence of former CM Eknath Shinde and his MLAs proved to be another highlight. However, the discontent brewing within Mahayuti on other counts is now becoming more vocal. Political heavyweight Chhagan Bhujbal was the first to articulate it. His open criticism of Ajit Pawar surprised many since he had stayed by the side of Pawar all through. Now, there are reports that some of Bhujbal’s supporters want him to join the BJP to end his political wilderness. So far, Bhujbal has maintained that he is with the NCP (Ajit). The other notable leader to become the subject of political speculation is the legislative council’s deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe. Her detractors, mainly the recent Sena (UBT) entrant Sushama Andhare, have started hinting at Gorhe’s plans to go with the BJP. Gorhe, too, has not reacted to the talk. Ajit’s sudden disappearance for two days from the winter session only added grist to the grapevine. His explanation that he was down with a throat infection is hardly swallowed. More murmurs are expected to be heard once Fadnavis announces the allocation of the portfolios.
The Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has started preparing for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, expected to take place early next year. This will be the fight for political survival for Thackeray because the Sena has been in power in India’s richest civic body since 1985. Taking stock of the situation, other political parties, too, have begun their planning. The picture this time will be fundamentally different since the BJP has emerged as the largest party in the state after the assembly election. Its estrangement with the Sena (UBT), which split in 2022 owing to Eknath Shinde’s decision to walk out of it, will be a major factor in the coming election in which the Congress will be an insignificant player, given its lacklustre performance in Mumbai and the state as a whole. Equally exasperating is the condition of the state Congress committee as its president Nana Patole is perceived as an ineffective leader by the rank and file. The BMC’s last election saw the Sena winning 84 seats in the 227-member house while the BJP had captured 82. Owing to the alliance ethics, the BJP had made no effort to bag the mayoralty of the financial capital of India. However, the BJP is not prepared to take any chance this time and a decision about its Mumbai president is likely to be taken soon. Sitting chief Ashish Shelar is among the hopefuls though his inclusion in the council of ministers could be a decisive factor in the final choice.
This was to happen one day or the other with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) putting its foot down saying it will not send its national teams to India for any signature event of the ICC, like the World Cups in the two formats in men, women and the juniors. This was the PCB’s riposte to the long-standing BCCI position — citing security concerns — that it will not send its team across the border for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and that it will play only at a neutral venue. For three World Test Championship (WTC) the two nations have taken themselves off the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The cricketers of the two countries may enjoy good relationships when they lock horns in neutral country venues and have fans across the border, but the Indian government has been steadfast in denying permission to the BCCI. The latest communication from the ICC has confirmed that in the 2024-2027 cycle all ICC events given to India and Pakistan, the matches featuring the two countries will be held at a neutral country chosen by the host country; in the Champions Trophy case the PCB is the host. What all this means is the elimination of high security arrangements that India had to do when Pakistan played last year’s World Cup matches in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. It took hard bargaining by the PCB with the ICC — with Jay Shah in Chair since December 1, 2024 — for it to agree to a hybrid model in order to ensure that it remains the host in a neutral country venue as well and where India will play and this country is said to be the United Arab Emirates.
The massive success of Pushpa 2, has reignited the debate over screen allocation in West Bengal’s single-screen theatres. While the blockbuster continues to dominate the box office, its stronghold has created challenges for four Bengali films— Khadaan, Shontaan, Chaalchitro, and 5 No. Swapnamoy Lane—which targeted Christmas Day for their releases. The overlap has sparked a heated controversy over securing adequate slots in single-screen theatres, which remain a key audience base for Bengali cinema. Single-screen theatres across Bengal are grappling with the balancing act of accommodating these films while catering to the massive demand for Pushpa 2. Tollywood’s Christmas lineup has been significantly impacted, with producer-actor Dev expressing frustration on social media. He alleged that Khadan’s shows and advance bookings were disrupted due to the overwhelming presence of Pushpa 2. Arijit Dutta, owner of Priya Theatre, reported dividing slots among the films: Khadaan (two shows), Chaalchitro (one), 5 No. Swapnamoy Lane (one), and Pushpa 2 (one). However, veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty’s Shontaan was left out entirely, sparking outrage from its director Raj Chakraborty, who criticized the lack of consistent support for Bengali cinema. A distributor, speaking anonymously, blamed the simultaneous release of multiple Bengali films during the festive season, suggesting a lack of coordination among producers. He pointed to Bollywood’s strategy of staggering releases as a model Tollywood could emulate. Star Theatre owner Joydeep Mukherjee called for better planning within the Bengali film industry to avoid internal competition. Interestingly, allegations have resurfaced about Shontaan‘s producer, pressuring hall owners to prioritize its films. This history has led some distributors to side with independent producers in the current clash.
Sunday’s swearing in of 33 (16:9:8 ratio for BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP respectively) mostly young cabinet ministers in CM Devendra Fadnavis’ 3.0 government was not followed up by expected portfolio allocations even late Thursday (Dec 19). The unrelenting clamour for one specific portfolio by a senior BJP minister-in-waiting (in apparent conflict of interest), aspiration to improve upon earlier performance in power sector by another are in the open awaiting the Maha Chanakya to coolly decide upon. Scribes housed at the state government ‘Suyog’ facility within the Family court premises near Vidhan Bhavan enjoy the Nagpur chill over familial evenings at ‘Sneh Bojans’ hosted by these as-yet ‘Anamika’ ministers. DCM Eknath Shinde’s camp brews hostility from left out veteran MLAs and cherry-picking ministers-in-waiting who threaten boiling point anytime soon. This is unlike the chill that has set upon the near deserted NCP office at Vidhan Bhavan sans activity, notwithstanding the bustling beehive of activity right outside and within the state legislature that is hosting its winter session. It is probably the first time in Maharashtra’s political history for such an ongoing legislature session without specifically assigned ministers manning questions on the floor of the state assembly and council while responding to public interest issues of state. For now, all portfolios rest with CM Fadnavis. NCP veteran Chhagan Bhujbal, Sena’s Tanaji Sawant complain vociferously from out in the cold even as some BJP MLAs rue their bad luck despite winning big in Mumbai city where the richest civic body will face the hustings very soon.
The events outside Parliament House that led to injuries to two BJP MPs was best summed up by FM Nirmala Sitharaman in her X post. She explained how “During the INDI Alliance’s protest inside Parliament premises today, Rahul Gandhi had forcefully pushed an MP, causing a domino effect that injured 2 BJP MPs –Pratap Sarangi (Balasore, Odisha) and Mukesh Rajput (Farrukhabad, UP)” Both the MPs are now hospitalised as they have sustained head injuries. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was surprised that the Congress had so far not even bothered to say sorry. “I was wondering what was the purpose of Kharge-Rahul Gandhi’s presser, if they can’t say sorry. Our Nagaland MP, a tribal woman leader Phangnon Konyak had voiced discomfort that was caused to her by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.” She has written a letter to the RS Chairman. Adding further he said, “We feel Rahul simply does not deserve to be the LoP. When the Opposition is holding a protest, we usually take another gate. What was the need for Rahul Gandhi to wade into the area where BJP MPs were standing? He should simply quit as LoP.” BJP MPs including Anurag Thakur and Bansuri Swaraj filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi at the Parliament Street Police station in connection with the scuffle between Opposition and NDA MPs. It is learnt that security forces repeatedly requested the Congress MP to use an alternative path, specifically arranged for a peaceful entry into Parliament. However, Rahul Gandhi declined the request. BJP’s Thakur said “The kind of attitude Rahul Gandhi has, he thinks he is above the law.” Responding to the allegations, Rahul said BJP MPs were trying to stop him and were threatening him “
Home Minister Amit Shah whose intervention in discussions on the 75th anniversary of the Constitution sparked off a row and seemed to have majorly united the Opposition. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge charged him of insulting Dr BR Ambedkar.. He accused his rivals of being “anti-Ambedkar” and “anti-Constitution”, and “spreading lies”. In his concluding remarks in the Rajya Sabha, Shah sarcastically said, “It has become the fashion to say ‘Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar…’ If they (the opposition) took God’s name so many times, they will get a place in heaven.” At a Press Conference, he charged the Congress of distorting his comments in the Rajya Sabha saying the Congress had put out an edited version of his speech. “I come from a party which follows the ideals of Ambedkar,” asserted Shah.” Rebuffing calls for his resignation by Kharge, Shah made it clear that he had no intention of stepping down. “Kharge is asking for my resignation. If that will make him feel happy, then I’ll give it. But the Congress has to sit in the opposition for at least 15 more years. “In an unusual move — perhaps underlining the impact of the Opposition’s attack on this issue — PM Modi and senior ministers rallied behind Shah. “If the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken!” said PM Modi. Amidst this, PM Modi and Shah met Rahul Gandhi and Kharge to appoint the next NHRC chief. TMC leader Derek O’Brien has moved a privilege notice against Shah in the Rajya Sabha for his remarks on Dr Ambedkar.
Ravichandran Ashwin was adroit in bowling the carom or knuckle ball or the doosra, but on Wednesday afternoon, Brisbane time, the nonconformist off-spinner of 13 years in the big league of the game deployed the “bombshell” to bring an end to his illustrious career. At the conclusion of the rain-marred third Test at the Gabba, the finger spinner with a few sobriquets, “scientist” being the most used among the media, Ashwin sitting beside his beleaguered captain, Rohit Sharma, matter of fact said: Today (Wednesday, December 18) was his last day as an international cricketer across formats and that he will be seen in action in club cricket, meaning IPL etc. The seasoned campaigner, starting his Test career in November 2011, was capped 106 times, and he missed 25 Tests after his debut; he featured in 61 wins, 47@home and 14 overseas. He read the writing on the wall about him losing the primacy as the No 1 spinner of the team in flannels after Washington Sundar was chosen for the first Test in Perth. Then being dropped to bring in Ravindra Jadeja for the third Test in Brisbane convinced him that his time was up…to hang up his boots. The home series against New Zealand that India lost 3-0 was a bitter pill to swallow for him. His numbers — 765 wickets in the three formats, including 537 wickets in Tests alone speaks of his right to be called a legend. It was a bold, practical call to take a bow while not in the field and that was an unhappy part that Indian cricket could not give one of its icons a fitting farewell. Ashwin has perhaps shown the way for a few more to bid adieu, sooner than later! They are over the hill, indeed.
Since winning the panchayat and urban body elections, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been pulling out all the stops to kickstart Tata Steel’s Rs 5,000 crore Subarnarekha deep-sea all-weather port in Balasore district. He hopes to complete the project before the 2024 general election and, is moving quickly on the land acquisition front; with nearly 146 acres of land almost acquired. The state has already provided 700 acres of land for port construction near the Chaumukh seashore, Baliapal. However, for the construction of a new rail line from Amarda Road to the port at Chaumukh and widening of existing roads and creating new ones, it needs to acquire another 300 acres. According to Sudarshan Chakravarti, Collector & District Magistrate, Balasore “Of the 300 acres requirement of land 154 acres has already been acquired with the balance to be acquired soon.” Land acquisition may not be a problem as the government is paying a good compensation — three times more than the registered value. Tata’s project will have the first mover advantage over Adani Group which is setting up a green field port at Tajpur in West Bengal which is literally next door. When both ports become operational East India will emerge as the new regional maritime hub.
The senior DMK minister Durai Murugan may have set a record of sorts missing his flight to Dubai, twice on a single day. Having landed up at the VIP room of Chennai airport, the minister realized he had processed his Dubai visa on his old expired passport. He rushed back to the city to rectify the error through back-and-forth calls being made to Dubai. Armed with the rightly secured visa, the minister returned to the airport hours later the same day and, not wishing to waste any more time, advanced his departure by opting for an Air India flight. Seated in the business class and all set to fly, the minister received a call on his mobile from the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s office advising him to cancel his trip. The cockpit door to the pilots’ domain not having closed for departure, the minister was allowed to deplane and go back home to Kotturpuram. The CM’s decision to call off his senior minister’s Dubai trip was partly owing to carping criticism by the opposition AIADMK party that had also found fault with Stalin’s own trip to Dubai earlier with family for which DMK party had paid the charter fare.
Mission 2024 has commenced for BJP in West Bengal with Union Home Minister Amit Shah setting his sights on Mamata Didi’s political turf, once again. With a more realistic objective this time around, the BJP wants to retain the number of MPs elected in 2019. Shah’s multi-pronged attack upon the TMC government got a shot in the arm by the court directed hand over of investigations into the Birbhum murder, arson killings to the CBI. The BJP also cited public statements by TMC MLA Naren Chakraborty from Asansol asking TMC cadres to warn BJP voters against casting their ballots on pain of death, for the scheduled bye-poll. “If you vote we will presume you voted for BJP and after the election you will be living at your own risk,” Chakraborty said. The EC imposed a seven-day campaign ban on the MLA after the video of his speech emerged. The BJP is pursuing a criminal case against the MLA for threatening people against exercising their vote without fear. A BJP leader told shortpost.in, “Didi is using strong-arm tactics like the erstwhile CPM government of WB employed to keep its grip on power, by hook or by crook. The Congress shoots itself in the foot by keeping mum only to keep the BJP out, like a man willing to die to ensure another woman is widowed also.”
European hospitals say 80 % of Covid patients lose the sense of smell, not regaining that sensitivity even after recovery. When the sense of smell is gone, vital sensory cognition is lost too. The five crucial senses of cognition and life are now viewed in a new light, as marketers and manufacturers perceive newer horizons to tap, post pandemic. Aradhna Krishna, the Dwight F Benton Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan cites the intricacies of our sensory reach that marketers are engaging with. Scents from the past and present possess a unique signature, sensory cues. “Smell is vital to our existence, essential for taste, even foretelling danger like smelling smoke or bad food.” The Harvard Business Review acknowledges her as “the foremost expert in the field of sensory marketing”. Her book, Customer Sense provides researched insight on how the five senses influence human buying behaviour. Her paper on Olfactory Imagery postulates that imagining/imaging odours affects human responses towards products. No wonder India with its cultural and gastronomic diversities is so amenable to marketing products that evoke a positive response. Now restaurants may simply market their signature Panneer Tikka or Kerala Chatti Meen Kuzhambu by opening a vent directly onto the streets and, the hungry will just follow the aroma trail for an actual taste of their drool worthy dish.
Vasundhara Raje has fortified her continued reign over Rajasthan, as the BJP’s CM face, thanks in no small measure to her face-to-face with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last fortnight. Raje was on the radar of the BJP high command for quite some time when the party leadership was actively looking at alternatives to replace her, with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat first and then Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla being seriously considered for the job. Things have settled down now for the Rani, who celebrated her birthday bash in Boondi, Rajasthan on March 8, 2022, through a show of strength, even as 42 BJP MLAs and a few MPs were in attendance. According to a BJP leader, however, “The Rani made strong statements against the Congress party announcing her serious political intentions. More importantly, Vasundhara Raje has visibly shed her arrogance and even reached out to PM Modi who met her recently in New Delhi where she promised better coordination with the high command going ahead.” With elections to the Rajasthan state assemblies scheduled in December 2023, the BJP high command for its part, after failingly prospecting for an alternative to the Rani, has finally buried the hatchet in the larger interest of the party. With Modi’s sanction Vasundhara is here to stay in Rajasthan.
Alia Bhatt has clarified she is not upset with director SS Rajamouli for limiting her role in RRR. Alia should know, however, that her fans are upset over her minuscule performance in the magnum opus that registered a roaring box office success. Industry insiders explain that Rajamouli’s focus was on making a film featuring Jr NTR and Ram Charan, with a limited role for Alia but, he did also make Bahubali with two leading ladies each dominating with fabulous roles. So, was casting Alia merely a marketing tool to appeal to Hindi speaking audiences? That would explain why Ajay Devgn, also featured with a 10-minute role in RRR, stayed away from the film’s promotion. A similar experience was faced by Priyanka Chopra during her initial days in Hollywood. It was only her strong PR management team that made her the star she is today. Why then are Bollywood stars still keen to be part of south Indian projects, to feature in blink-and-miss roles? South Indian films do not need Bollywood stars to boost business. In fact, it is the other way round. Alia may do well to note that a brief post on social media may not placate her fan following although she plays the heroine of RRR and shares credit for the film raking in Rs 600 crore.
The Citi never sleeps. Citibank literally rode on this famous tag line for an increased mind share even as India was only just opening up to the world in the early 90s. The MNC bank left no stone unturned embarking on its aggressive business expansion. Somewhere along the line, however, the aggressive instinct for growth turned ugly and, Citibank went about issuing credit cards without any let or hindrance, to onboard lakhs of customers. Citibank had indeed re-laid the retail thrust in the Indian banking industry. Many in Indian industry did follow the Citi line but, somewhere along the way, Citi went overboard as an incident in the early 90s hit national headlines. In its zest to recover dues, its agents waylaid a top bureaucrat in the Central government on the Bombay-Pune Highway in a case of mistaken identity. The script went horribly wrong and Citi should have realised the `retail difficulty’ in India. It did slug it out for several seasons thereafter. Though it launched credit cards in India in 1987, Citi’s market share has slumped to 4% from 13% just a decade and, it has decided to sell its retail business to Axis Bank. After 119 years in India, Citi is restructuring and exiting the consumer banking business. Over the last few years was Citi out of sync in India?
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, in Delhi on a three-day visit, has a jam-packed schedule. Details of his engagements released by the CMO revealed back-to-back meetings lined up with several Union ministers on day one itself. He first met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament House at 1 pm. Thereafter, Stalin had a meeting lined up with Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari at his residence at 2.30 pm. An hour later, it was back to Parliament House for tete-e-tete with Home Minister Amit Shah with the TN CM concluding his day by calling upon Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at his Akbar Road residence. In between these meetings Stalin also dropped in at the Central Hall of Parliament to catch up with his DMK MPs. Interestingly, while Stalin was at the DMK office, senior DMK leader TR Baalu brought along Congress President Sonia Gandhi for a brief interaction. On day two of his sojourn, he will call upon Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and end the work day meeting with Commerce & Industry minister Piyush Goyal at Udyog Bhawan. Stalin will also meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the afternoon with the duo going to inspect government schools and Mohalla clinics. On the third day, Stalin is expected to meet up with Opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi.
Farewells are always an emotional time more so, in the Rajya Sabha where biennial elections are held every second year when one-third of the members retire. On March 31, the Rajya Sabha chair had set aside the entire day to bid farewell to the 72 members whose term will end come early July. Even as some members got emotional, there were some lighter moments witnessed too. Like when DMK leader Tiruchi Shiva reminisced and said he would miss the presence of Congress deputy leader Anand Sharma — he is retiring as Himachal MP– in the opposition bench right in front of him. Sharma would always borrow his pen whenever he needed one within the house. An amused Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who was presiding as chair of the house, asked Shiva if Sharma made it a point to return his pen after use. Shiv revealed his house secret then and said, “I used to only give Sharma the pen but retain the cap with me.” At this point, Naidu recalled how, when he and S Jaipal Reddy worked together; they similarly encountered resistance from other members they asked to share their pens. “When we would ask people for pens, they would hide it in their trouser pockets,” he said.
Looks like Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot afford to ignore Karnataka any more. Governance issues in the state have been long ignored because of the BJP central leadership’s preoccupation with elections to the five state assemblies. This has led to the situation really deteriorating. Chief Minister BS Bommai has a clean image but, reports of rampant corruption are being made out against his ministers – not only against those who joined the BJP from the Congress, but also those originally hailing from the BJP. Home Minister Amit Shah flew into Karnataka to attend the 115th birth anniversary of Lingayat seer Siddalinga Shivakumar Swami in Tumkur. The event was a show of strength by former Chief Minister BS Yediyuruppa and his son, Vijayendra. Until March 10 the Congress was very confident of making a comeback, whenever the elections were held. This notwithstanding, the fact is that PCC chief DK Shivkumar and the CLP leader K Siddaramiah do not see eye to eye. Morale of Congress workers touched a new low after the BJP swept the assembly elections – winning four out of five states. It is in this context that Rahul Gandhi has begun his 2-day visit to the state to boost the sagging mood of the Congress’ state unit. He also paid a visit to the Lingayat seer in Tumkur.
Chennai Super Kings is feeling the pinch without seamer Deepak Chahar. Last year CSK thrived on the wicket taking habit of Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Australian Josh Hazelwood. The threesome accounted for 46 scalps in IPL-14 on the pitches of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. But Chahar is injured and Thakur and Hazelwood are with other franchises. As a consequence of their absence, the four time winner of the league has been beaten in its first two outings of the Tata IPL-15 played in Mumbai. The Chennai team retained Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali and went all out to stop Chahar’s bidding at Rs 14 crore, and it also bought Dwayne Bravo at the auction. Unfortunately Chahar damaged his right quadricep and went into rehab for eight weeks. At the auction, the Parth Jindal owned Delhi Capitals bought Thakur and the United Spirits (of the Diageo Group) owned Royal Challengers Bangalore took Hazelwood. On Thursday (March 31) night against the new IPL team Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne, CSK which made 210, was hit for nine 6s and eighteen 4s, and it lost its second match. West Indian Evin Lewis hammered the CSK bowlers for a 23-ball unbeaten 55. Not a good start for new captain Jadeja, but CSK has the wherewithal to advance to the play-offs.
The Hindi language was a barrier for yesteryear superstars from down south like Kamal Haasan, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh and Arvind Swamy; they did not gain a foothold in Bollywood. Some lost out because of south Indian looks and returned to doing regional films after acting in a few Hindi films. But, the new crop of popular stars are defying conventional wisdom. Allu Arjun, Rock Star Yash, and Prabhas have proved that you don’t really need to move lock, stock and barrel to Mumbai to make a mark in Bollywood. The movie can be dubbed or, simultaneously shot in two languages Telugu/Tamil and Hindi and it will fly. By doing so, they have crossed over virtually through their movies and have become mainstream heroes of Bollywood. Trade pundits feel although Bahubali restarted the trend of the return of the south stars, it was Pushpa that showed that language was no barrier to woo audiences; Allu Arjun literally took over the throne of cross-over from Prabhas. Now our very own indigenous Akira Kurusawa, SS Rajamouli, with RRR has introduced two more megastars to Bollywood — Ram Charan and Jr NTR, with the inconspicuous presence of Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn. Meanwhile, in an interesting development, Kannada superstar Rockstar Yash, Malayalam superstar Prithviraj and Karan Johar are working towards the amalgamation of Kollywood, Tollywood into Bollywood – a la Hollywood style.
Will Stalin Forgive And Forget UPA-2 Tribulations Of DMK And Back PC After Sonia Meet Up On April 2?
Congressmen are keenly awaiting Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on April 2 in Delhi at the inauguration of DMK’s new office. The three- storied DMK office on Deendayal Upadhyay Marg, built as per Supreme Court orders, may well cause much heartburn all the same. The DMK was allotted the land in 2009 and has become the second party, after BJP, to move into its own building. The BJP relocated into its headquarters constructed on the same road in February 2018. The Congress is yet to begin work on its plot. The Sonia-Stalin meeting is expected to settle matters for the Rajya Sabha biennial polls coming up in June in Tamil Nadu. The DMK had offered a RS seat as per the seat sharing pact it entered into with Congress during the 2021 assembly polls. Intense jostling for this one seat is ongoing with former Finance Minister P Chidambaram foremost among aspirants. Currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, Chidambaram’s wishes to get elected from Tamil Nadu. He went out of his way to woo Stalin. Sources, however, say it will be difficult for Stalin to forget the harrowing time the Karunanidhi family faced in 2013 under UPA-2 from various enforcement agencies and still back Chidambaram.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, did not decide upon his cabinet, leaving it to the high command. Even as Union Home Minister Amit Shah camped in UP for three days before Yogi’s swearing in ceremony, the CM designate said he had no favourites to recommend as cabinet colleagues. A BJP leader told shortpost.in, “Yogi had no role on BJP candidates in 2017 assemblies, while he handled the show by himself in 2022. He was reluctant about Maurya being made his deputy since the latter did not work during the elections.” However, the RSS insisted upon Keshav Prasad Maurya as Dy CM against Yogi’s advice, though he lost elections from the Sirathu assembly constituency. “Dinesh Sharma, who was also Dy CM in Yogi 1.0, declined any interest in not only contesting elections in 2022 but also, any political post, returning to work full time for the RSS. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh then proposed Brajesh Pathak’s, a Brahmin who came from BSP in 2016, candidature as the second DCM face in UP as 90% Brahmin voters had backed the BJP. Bulldozer Baba, for his part, has launched into 2.0 immediately not only announcing free rations for three months for poor citizens but also, adding three more commodities to the monthly food-grains hamper, that now includes edible oil and sugar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was caught completely off guard recently when Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann paid him a courtesy visit. What took the PM by surprise during the one-on-one meeting was the manner in which the AAP CM, who is a Lok Sabha MP, made a personal pitch to Modi for a bail out for Punjab out of its financial mess, while seeking Rs 50,000 crore annually for two years to maintain Punjab’s fiscal health. Mann made a fervent plea for a Central Government financial package of Rs 1 lakh crore in stark contrast to the arrogance displayed by AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal since winning the state assemblies. A more down to earth, Mann is aware of the impending trouble ahead so, the simple man CM displayed touching humility while seemingly anxious to fulfil poll promises. Clearly, the AAP which got a humongous mandate sees no way it can keep the promises made, including Rs 1,000 for every woman per household or, even free power without hand holding from Modi. Mann blamed previous governments for leaving a whopping burden of Rs 3 lakh crore. It is not just AAP that finds it difficult to fulfil election promises as even the DMK, which rode into power using Prashant Kishor’s freebie lollipops, has since not implemented anything tangible after one year in office.
A section of the media is gung-ho about the pointedly brief interaction between first-time MLAs, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav in the Uttar Pradesh assembly on Monday (March 28). While both exchanged smiles and the CM even patted the SP supremo’s arm, body language exhibited uneasiness and awkwardness. According to an expert, Yogi didn’t even look Akhilesh in the eye and there was a sense of gawkiness in his smile. To conclude that all’s well between the leaders will be wrong. In fact, the CM shook hands with the SP leader and even shrugged him off – at the same instant. A senior BJP leader from Lucknow confirmed this on condition of anonymity and told shortpost.in, “Being a sage, Baba may forgive Akhilesh Yadav. However, SP leaders know that just like PM Modi, even CM Yogi doesn’t forget things.” He added that the bulldozers will work overtime now to raze all the inflated egos of netas who thought very highly of themselves. SP leaders claim Akhilesh greeted the CM out of basic protocol and courtesy. The BJP too knows the reason why Akhileshji gave up his parliamentary seat. He’ll finish the unfinished business in the 2024 general elections and will make life difficult for the ruling party in the subsequent state assemblies.
Gautam Gambhir, BJP MP from East Delhi was at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday (March 28) night watching the TATA IPL-15 debutants’ match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) with a keen eye. After winning the ownership of the team last October paying Rs 7090 crore, Lucknow got the first chance after five months to step on the field with KL Rahul as captain. In a sort of dire straits at 29 for 4, a grim LSG dug out looked upon the tyro from Delhi Ayush Badoni to perform the double act of rescuing it first and then enable it to post a decent total. Some 11 years ago Gambhir had played a similar role in the ICC World Cup final against Sri Lanka making a gritty 97 off 122 balls after which India went on to win the title. Gambhir is the mentor of the team and Badoni delivered some deadly punches to make a 41-ball 54 with four 4s and three 6s. The young right-hander reached 50 with a six after hitting out at rival captain Hardik Pandya. Gambhir was pleased with Badoni’s fine debut, but his team lost to GT, a good start for first time IPL captain Hardik, who did better with the bat than with the ball; the national selectors though wanted him to excel with the ball.
Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) absolute sweep in the recently held rural panchayat polls and urban body elections raises serious doubts about BJP’s political future in Odisha. The misery for the BJP was apparent as it could not even win a single mayoral seat in the urban body polls, even as the initial buzz of support around Modi dissipated. Political analysts say BJP failed to match BJD’s organisational infrastructure. Besides, the towering leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik helped to sweep the elections through good governance that has transformed the state reaching people at the bottom of the pyramid. Die-hard BJP supporters feel the initial buzz around BJP’s consolidation is history now in the face of depleting BJP support base in the west Odisha electorate, which is slowly spreading to other parts of the state. Why did the BJP fail? Unlike the BJD, with Naveen babu as its face, the BJP state leadership in the state has no one to talk about. Also, the Central government’s development schemes could not overshadow Patnaik’s welfare schemes vis a vis and the positive image he has cultivated over the years. Modi’s constant praise of Patnaik for his spirit of co-operative federalism, his reforms and reluctance to criticise him openly also sent signals that Modi was not keen to fight Naveen babu.
In some ways the complete rout of the Congress in the five assembly elections seems to be doing some good to the party. It has got the party leadership back to the drawing board. Sonia Gandhi has taken charge of the situation and reached out to all those who worked with her in the past. She has essentially got in touch with her core personal staff, the people acquainted with the Congress culture and its core leaders. She is relying on inputs of Vincent George, PP Madhavan and SV Pillai to help her navigate through these troubled times. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh, with whom Sonia held meetings, may be given a key organisational role. Singh, a two- term CM, is a good bet as he likes to interact with people. Sonia is falling back on Singh after Kamal Nath refused to shoulder any AICC responsibility as he prefers to focus on MP. Sonia also exposed the hollowness of rebellion of the G-23 leaders. She exposed them by showing the petty and narrow aspirations of some of these leaders. Most of them became quiet after meeting her. If Bhupinder Hooda’s limited interest was to ensure control of Haryana PCC, another G-23 signatory Anand Sharma wanted to be projected as Himachal CM; he even lobbied among Himachal MLAs without much success.
UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, once considered a replacement for Prime Minister Boris Johnson if, Partygate had hit his party, is under fire now over his wife’s Rs 430 crore stake in the company her father Narayana Murthy founded. Infosys still runs its Moscow office and delivery office though the company is at pains explaining that its office serves global clients locally in Russia sans any active relationships with Russian companies. Having advised British companies to cut ties with Russia, the Chancellor is facing the challenge of his wife Akshata’s fortune that is facing calls for full disclosure in the UK. He had said, “We must collectively go further in our mission to inflict maximum economic pain and to stop further bloodshed,” Rishi is under pressure to explain his family wealth through his wife’s holding in India’s second biggest IT company. Rishi was pointedly asked whether he was giving advice to others that he was not following in his own home and he replied – “I’m an elected politician, and I’m here to talk to you about what I am responsible for. My wife is not.” Regardless of how the Ukraine situation goes while raising such questions, one thing is clear and that is Rishi Sunak may have already lost out in the race to the British Prime Ministership.
Star Sports’ five-season all-encompassing global television media and digital rights over the glamorous Indian Premier League (IPL) will end at the conclusion of the Tata IPL Season-15 starting on March 26 at the Wankhede Stadium. There is no denying the fact that the IPL has become the money making machine for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the Rs 93 lakh deficit it posted in mid-nineties. From a whopping Rs 8200 crore that SONY Pictures Network paid for the first 10 years from 2008 to 2017, Star India almost doubled it — Rs 16,347.50 crore — for TV (Star Sports) and digital (Hotstar) platforms for five seasons (2018-22). The mastermind, the then Chairman and CEO of Star India, Uday Shankar, averred that the price his company successfully bid was “not outrageous” and that the per match fee of Rs 54 crore was “not exorbitant” reasoning that after 10 years, the IPL had become a tried and tested and a premium product. SONY itself had put in a sum of Rs 11050 crore. Experts reckon that the IPL media rights (TV and Digital) for 2023-2027 will definitely touch Rs 35000 crore plus for five seasons and the e-auction could make the desperate, more desperate to own IPL, the most sought after hot property in the world of cricket. Five years ago there were 13 bidders, including five for digital.
Kerala’s hottest topic these days regards the proposed 530 km K-Rail project between north and south Kerala. Also called the Silverline Rail Project, it promises a time save of eight hours in travel time between Trivandrum and Kasaragod, currently taking 12 hours. The Rs 67,000 crore project cost has the Kerala government swearing by a five-year timeline to project completion, though it has taken 15 to 20 years to build simpler by-passes and flyovers in the state. The promise appears too difficult to keep like the 25 km Cochin Metro project that took six years to complete @ 4.7 km per year notwithstanding Metro-man, E Sreedharan at the helm. By this yardstick the Silverline project will need 37 years, says economist KP Kannan. But why the clamour for a project none wants? KPCC Chief K Sudhakaran has alleged a 10% kickback accruing to the Kerala Government. Japanese agency JICA will loan Rs 50,000 crore at 0.25% interest if, the Government of India stands guarantor. Sources say the Union Government won’t oblige till it gets its pound of flesh. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s meeting with the PM Narendra Modi is also being seen in this light. Either way, the railway project is not expecting completion anytime soon!
Supreme Court directions to CBI to take over investigations into criminal complaints lodged in Maharashtra against suspended state Home Guards Chief, Param Bir Singh, has unfolded into a classic study on criminal investigative science. The CBI will need exemplary skills to unravel one side of its brief, probe complaints registered against Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh, Anil Parab and others (by complainant Singh), while also establishing criminality in over seven FIRs registered against Singh himself who is accused of corruption in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. One notion that the central investigative agency was going soft on Parambir Singh, will likely dissipate following Singh’s impending arrest by CBI. Importantly, he is a complainant in ongoing CBI investigations on corruption in Maharashtra but now, Singh’s statements as accused in fresh FIRs to be probed, will likely open a can of worms in the coming days. “The CBI will need to demonstrably show extreme efficiency, professionalism to clinically cover investigations into apparently opposite ended criminal complaints in these FIRs, where a former complainant is now an accused,” an intelligence source tells shortpost.in. Now BMC Chief Iqbal Chahal has received summons to appear before the I-T department in a probe against BMC Standing Committee Chairman Yaswanth Kamalakar Jadhav. Meanwhile, former Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, mysteriously relegated as Director, Maharashtra State Security Guards Board from his high-profile role as Mumbai police commissioner, is yet to take charge nearly a month since his transfer.
Sharad Pawar is sitting pretty with the Shiv Sena and Congress parties. With BMC elections in Mumbai deferred for six months, an imminent face-off between erstwhile alliance partners in Maharashtra — BJP and Shiv Sena — stands temporarily averted. Maharashtra’s MVA government will fight the BMC polls, Thane civic elections and other pending local body elections in alliance, single-mindedly to defeat BJP, with Congress also fully on board now. A BJP leader says, “While the MVA alliance may prove a daunting challenge for us, the Sena will lose out on absolute power it enjoys in BMC to the Congress and NCP. They would have won and yet lost.” The NCP with a single digit representation in BMC will improve its tally on the back of the minority vote bank (that holds significant influence in 52 seats) it stirred up over L’affaire Nawab Malik while Congress will seek to ensure its current tally of 37 corporators rises to over 50. The BJP elected 83 party corporators in 2017 BMC polls when in direct contest against the Sena (85), even as Congress and NCP fought each other, and is still hoping to get over 70 corporators elected this time around. Meanwhile, the political slugfest has intensified with cases registered against MVA stakeholders and kin, just as shortpost.in had predicted, even as counter cases against BJP stakeholders have also been preferred.
Do you need a chairman for a company? You may not. But you need someone to chair shareholders’ meetings and to conduct the proceedings. Any board member may preside over and conduct such meetings. Nothing amiss about this. There are dime-a-dozen organisations where the top slot has remained unfilled for several reasons and, they are running quite well and this is not peculiar to any specific field. For instance, the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) is sans a president at this very moment. Since Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, stepped down as its president in September 2019, the position at GCA has not been filled. As it is often said, life has simply moved on. And, the game of cricket has not stopped either! After all, cricket is bigger than individuals. There are no two views on that, however, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India is the parent body governing the game of Cricket in the State of Tamil Nadu. In December 2021 Rupa Gurunath, daughter of N Srinivasan of India Cements stepped down as president of TNCA after holding the reins for over two years. The heavens did not fall on TNCA because it is without a president. It’s business as usual. If GCA can run smoothly as before, why won’t the TNCA?
Six-time Member of Parliament, senior DMK leader T R Baalu is personally inviting leaders across political parties for the grand opening ceremony of the party’s spanking new office and memorial centre, Anna Kalaignar Arivalayam, to be inaugurated by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on April 2, 2022. Eyebrows were raised when the 81-year-old Baalu went to invite Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Was he trying to cross sides or was DMK trying to buy peace with the Modi Government? Ever since RN Ravi’s appointment as Governor of TN, Stalin and he have been unable to see eye-to-eye on a number of governance issues, including NEET. A peeved Stalin was rallying opposition leaders to stop the BJP juggernaut in the 2024 general elections. But, with the BJP recently winning four out of the five state assembly elections in March, Stalin may have decided to recalibrate his strategy. This also comes in the backdrop of a strong whisper campaign around the flight of capital amounting to Rs 5000 crore to Dubai. The DMK machinery, on its part, while dismissing the rumour, is at pains to elucidate further on the four-day Dubai visit by Stalin along with wife Durga for the inauguration of the TN Pavilion and to woo investors into the state for an economic transformation.
Should a film on genocide be exempted from state entertainment tax? Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s brazen attack on The Kashmir Files – a defining movie on genocidal horrors and forced exodus suffered by Kashmiri Pandits – not only killed the tax-free debate but also resurrected a new low, “You (BJP) don’t look good putting Jhoothi picture.” The genocide denial has led to a tide of opprobrium. Sikh social worker Manjinder Singh Sirsa tweeted, “Laughing at #TheKashmirFiles and calling it a lie!! Sorry to say @ArvindKejriwal you don’t deserve to be called a human being.” Earlier, came scathing remarks from BJP’s Amit Malviya: “Only an inhuman, cruel and depraved mind can laugh at and deny the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. Kejriwal has ripped open the wounds of the Hindu community, who have been forced to live as refugees in their own country, for 32 long years, by calling #KashmirFiles a jhoothi film.” Aditya Raj Kaul, a veteran journalist, pointed out, “Denying persecution, forced exodus and genocide of a minority community is a criminal act. I hope you will apologise to the victims of terrorism, Mr Arvind Kejriwal. Hate for Modi, BJP and filmmaker is one thing but to deny a historic reality is absolutely shocking.” Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Schindler’s List suffered the same genocide denial mindset and was banned from screening in many Islamic countries, including Pakistan.
What peace deal have the Gandhis — Sonia and Rahul – worked out with G-23 leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Bhupinder Singh Hooda? Though leaders who met the Gandhis merely talk of an inclusive leadership, buzz is that some G-23 signatories will get party assignments. Azad, who is already in the CWC, is tipped to take charge of poll-bound Karnataka, as pressure mounts on Rahul Gandhi to put his boys like KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Harish Chaudhary and IAS officer K Raju out to pasture for ruining Congress fortunes in the recent polls. Venugopal remained unfazed and went on to claim his presence when Rahul chatted up with Hooda. Asked to confirm the same, a miffed Hooda said: “He walked in to meet Rahul when I was leaving.” For some reason Rahul is unable to forego Venugopal who hails from Kerala, who was the reason he picked Jebi Mather as the Kerala Rajya Sabha candidate over many seniors, raising the hackles within the party. Many are questioning the undue promotion of Mather and feel it could force Rahul to search for a Lok Sabha seat outside Kerala come 2024.
During the Covid lockdown Akshay Kumar ruled Bollywood with releases like Laxmii, Bell Bottom, Sooryavanshi and Atrangi Re. But, his latest movie Bachchhan Paandey reportedly made at a cost of Rs165 crore has suffered a huge setback due to The Kashmir Files made by Vivek Agnihotri at a cost of merely Rs 15 crore in comparison. With the movie achieving proportions of a people’s movement The Kashmir Files is set to cross the Rs 200 crore mark. Bachchhan Paandey’s collections were poor from day one and may not gross good returns for the producers even as Akshay Kumar is believed to have charged Rs 99 crore for the film. Despite attempts by Akshay Kumar’s fan clubs to save the film The Kashmir Files tsunami continues to storm the box office with nearly 4000 screens added after the initial 650 screens as on March 10. Producers of Bachchhan Paandey know that at this critical juncture any marketing gimmick will fall flat. For his part, Akshay Kumar did not score brownie points by announcing he would watch The Kashmir Files. Bachchhan Paandey may well be written off as a flop because of the bad timing. Nobody anticipated that The Kashmir Files would stir hornet’s nest and evoke positive response worldwide. Meanwhile Akshay Kumar has moved on to shoot for his next film Selfiee.
Luxury yacht ‘Scheherazade’ with an estimated worth over Rs 525 crore, is thought to belong to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The yacht has come under the scanner even as it lies anchored at an Italian marina. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has once indicated that the yacht might belong to the Russian President. Its crew members are drawn from the Russian Federal Security Force (FSO), the same force that secures Putin’s luxury villa off the Black Sea coast in Sochi. So far, about $17 billion in assets thought to belong to 34 oligarchs close to Putin have been processed and are ready to be seized though the super-rich Russian President himself is believed to own hidden assets worth about $100 billion. As Putin emerged last week in a blue, knee-length Rs 10.5 lakh Italian designer coat and roll neck sweater worth Rs 3 lakh at a public rally to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Russia’s annexure of Crimea, there were clear signs of the many fine things that Putin fancies. Scheherazade is said to be the world’s most expensive superyacht whose owner has not been identified. With six decks and two helicopter landing areas, spa, sauna, gym and golden fittings in toilets, the yacht drips with luxury that adorns Putin, whose official salary is Rs 70 lakhs a year.
Come Saturday, the Tata IPL-15 will get off the ground at the Wankhede Stadium with a lung opener between four-time winner Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). CSK is owned by India Cements, led by the irrepressible Mahendra Singh Dhoni, aka Thala and, coached by the suave Kiwi Stephen Fleming. KKR is owned by Red Chillies Entertainment, Jay Mehta Group of course the Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan and actor Juhi Chawla. The two-time winner has a new captain in Shreyas Iyer whose was with Delhi Capitals in the last edition. KKR has the nonpareil record of winning 14 matches in a row in the league founded in 2008 and, whose Head Coach Brendon McCullum gave a roaring start to KKR’s campaign in the inaugural year with a breath-taking 158 against Royal Challengers, Bangalore. The stage is set for an electrifying start to the IPL 15 that returns to four Indian venues in Maharashtra. The government has allowed 25% attendance at each venue but, the BCCI is hopeful more paying spectators will be allowed as the league enters April and May, before the play-offs begin. So happy days are back again for the IPL fans because Season 14 in full and more than half of Season 13 were held in the United Arab Emirates.
Much has been written about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s immense interest in his own state of Gujarat that goes to polls later this year. Of course, Gujaratis do not need him to do a 9 km road show from Ahmedabad airport to the BJP party office in Gandhinagar to vote back a party that has been in power in the state since 1995. It is enough for them that Modi is PM; it makes every Gujarati feel he is presiding over India’s fate from South Block. But then, when it comes to elections and people’s choices Modi is not one to take any chances. The Gujarat state has already seen three CMs — Anandiben Patel, Vijay Rupani and Bhupendra Patel – after he left it in 2014 and became PM. Rupani’s five years in office ended in September 2021 after becoming an area of concern for Modi. It has been his effort to ensure that the fall out of the Rupani years did not dovetail incumbent CM Bhupendra Patel’s tenure. That is why in the two days that he spent in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, Modi consciously avoided sending out grim reminders from the Rupani era. He even avoided sharing a platform with Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Gandhinagar on one of his official programmes. Reason: Rupani was seen as being close to Shah.
Since the advent of IPL (Indian Premier League) many seasons ago, the game of cricket has undergone a major metamorphosis. Cricket watching, too, has seen a whole lot of transformation. The IPL has also managed to swing on board a hitherto uninterested segment of the audience into binge cricket watching. Today, cricket watching, be it in stadiums or on television, has turned into a sort of family entertainment. Not surprisingly, everybody wants to have a share of cricket. The humungous audience interest has triggered a tiff between the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) and the Madras Race Club (MRC). Under the old arrangement between the two, MRC was given a sizable number of tickets from TNCA. This arrangement came into force during the tenure of late MA Chidambaram when he was the president of TNCA reportedly, as part of a property pact. Was this an indefinite arrangement? MRC thinks so, however, TNCA feels otherwise. Even as the two are engaged in a quarrel over the longevity and interpretation of the arrangement, the state cricket association has decided to put an end to the ticket-sharing practice. TNCA’s move indicates that there was nothing indefinite about the practice. Well, the tiff has now spilled over into the legal playing field!
Initially, Punjab Congress leaders were enamoured when Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was ostensibly left “alone” to expand his Cabinet. No one from the AAP Delhi high command supervised the inductions of 10 ministers. Former PCC chief Sunil Jhakhar tweeted: “Seems Mann has come of age already much to the chagrin of AAP bosses in Delhi. That explains the absence of even the two regents, what to talk of Supremo himself at the oath ceremony. It’s good, as Punjab deserves a CM who is an authority unto himself (rather) than a remote controlled one.” When five Rajya Sabha picks — Cricketer Harbhajan Singh , Delhi IIT Assistant Prof Sandeep Pathak, Delhi AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, Lovely University founder Ashok Mittal and Ludhiana businessman Sanjeev Arora who is into cancer care — were announced and, as the new ministers settled in, it became apparent the hands off approach was only a facade. What is at work is Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi Model in Punjab. Though Kejriwal did not attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers, he web chatted with them online the same day. Every minister has an AAP worker from Delhi attached to them. It is said that Kejriwal tries to be like Modi without the apparent wherewithal. Buzz in political circles also revolves around Kejriwal likely to ease out Mann sooner than later to assume control of a full state himself.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is planning a cabinet reshuffle, it is reliably learnt. The move was necessitated to prepare for future state elections and needed transformation for effective governance. Jagan may introduce new ministerial faces, retaining some old favourites to maintain caste balances, and push out others with district leadership responsibilities to enhance their vote gathering skills. “It is more a political messaging,” say YSR Congress Party insiders of the financially strapped government. Political observers in AP say “The recent history of cabinet reshuffles tells us two things. It is both, a political call and a diversionary vote catching tactic.” Jagan, wants to send a message to the electorate while facing an imminent economic collapse, that the cabinet rejig will induct the right political leadership using voters’ feedback on MLAs over performance parameters while also signalling the impermanence of cabinet positions. This exercise is also being done on the fear of an eroding electoral base with very little development work done in Andhra, says a clued-in political analyst. Not wishing to take chances, Jagan is asking his MLAs to go for door-to-door campaigns and connect with the people. Will such superficiality work?
In an interesting development, Pushkar Singh Dhami was elected leader of BJP’s Uttarakhand Legislature Party, ending a fortnight-long suspense over his swearing-in as Chief Minister since he lost the election from the Khatima assembly seat. Forty-six-year-old Dhami was chosen by PM Narendra Modi, who backed the young leader, being impressed by the former’s working style. In the last eight months, Dhami restored the BJP’s credibility and helped the party win 47 seats. Soon after news of Dhami’s defeat, Modi called him up over his work to boost the party’s fortunes. The PM was aware Dhami’s defeat was a result of political intrigue hatched by BJP leaders like Ramesh Pokhriyal and decided to support him. Even some Congress MLAs (besides BJP MLAs) have now offered their own seats to get him elected to the state assembly. The one person happy with Dhami’s elevation as CM is Uttar Pradesh’s former deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, who similarly lost polls from Phulpur. As an MLC, he too feels he can comeback just like Dhami and was quick to greet the new CM. In Goa, Modi ensured that his choice Pramod Sawant got re-elected as CM and put paid to the ambitious Vishwajit Rane who delayed government formation over his candidature. Modi is repeating all four CMs in the states just won by BJP.
Popular Tamil star Dhanush had a dream film run from 2004 after he married superstar Rajinikanth’s daughter. Eighteen years, two smart boys, cinematic fame, and a hectic professional life later, the couple opted for divorce. Suddenly Dhanush found his trusted producers, directors acting hard to get, almost avoiding him like a Covid variant. His last film, Maran fared below par, and Dhanush headed straight to Vetrrimaran, his go to confidante and alter ego, to sign up for his next film. Vettrimaran tactfully dodged, citing his full portfolio. That’s when it hit Dhanush. Hell hath no fury like a mother-in-law scorned, a sasuma spited. Talk is rife in film circles that Lata Rajinikanth, the strong lady of the family has imposed sanctions, warning producers and directors close to her Damaad to stay away. Dhanush, on the other hand, is shouting hoarse that his talent and hard work alone produced super hits like Karnan, Maari, Velaiilla Pattadhari, Raanjhana, Shamitabh, Atrangi Re. But when an also ran, middle class Hero marries a superstar’s daughter, the union is not among equals, There is a salacious media report of his efforts to see sasuma and have an open confrontation and how he was turned away by the gate security. Lata, it is said, did not relent.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is taking on what seems politically impossible at the moment – bringing together firebrand West Bengal prima donna Mamata Banerjee and Chief of the fast-fading Congress party, Sonia Gandhi. Stalin’s plan is overly ambitious even as a phenomenal clash of egos will surely ensue between the two over leading a united charge against BJP and its supremo Narendra Modi. Stalin, however, seeks to work in right earnest to bring about a political rapprochement to forge opposition unity and will be using the occasion of the inauguration of the DMK party office in New Delhi on April 2 for the purpose. He is hoping not only to have the two ladies present but also a galaxy of opposition figures including the new rising star Arvind Kejriwal, besides veterans like Sharad Pawar. He wants it to be a big political occasion that will set the ball rolling for the 2024 fight against Narendra Modi’s juggernaut. Egged on by poll strategist Prashant Kishor, the West Bengal CM fancies herself as the one who will take the battle to Modi but Stalin is a loyalist when it comes to the Congress and he would like the national party to be in the mix. April 2 might be the next big date in the Indian political calendar
The March 10 results of state assemblies held in five states of India has most political formations now analyzing the fallout on future polls except the BJP. Rather than sitting pretty on its laurels (read having bagged four out of the five states) Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched into election mode, reaching Gujarat while his second-in-command, Union Home Minister Amit Shah similarly, left for Tripura. While the Congress Working Committee met on Sunday (March 13, 2022) to draw poll inferences and un-wrangle intra-party differences, the same day Modi and Shah had already completed the first phase of their respective Gujarat and Tripura sojourns. Gujarat, where the BJP returned to power in the last assembly, although its tally dipped below 100 elected MLAs, due to the Patel (majority) conundrum, is high on Modi’s agenda prompting his yatra across the urban centers of the state. Similarly, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sought to make her national presence felt and, deployed former Indira Gandhi era cabinet minister Santosh Mohan Dev’s daughter, Sushmita (TMC Rajya Sabha MP) in Manipur to no avail. While the BJP comfortably won the elections, 32 MLAs elected, Shah has launched into the Tripura political battlefield where another former Congress man Hemanta Biswas Sarma (now BJP CM of Assam) will place the key role for the BJP, yet again.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Yogi Adityanath visited New Delhi to confer with the BJP top brass, including PM Narendra Modi, over the final touches to his new cabinet. A number of new faces are expected to replace the previous cabinet as also the set of Deputy Chief Ministers. Erstwhile Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya lost the elections while Dinesh Sharma who did not contest elections may also not find a place in the Cabinet. Yogi may go in for four deputy CMs this time around, including a woman, with a focus on streamlining governance. Baby Rani Maurya, former Uttarakhand Governor, who contested from Agra Rural is likely to be inducted as Deputy CM. A Jatav leader, she belongs to the same caste as BSP supremo Mayawati. Others tipped to make Deputy CMs this time around are: Brajesh Pathak, a Brahmin BSP leader who joined BJP, Satish Mahana, seven-term MLA from Kanpur, and AK Sharma, former IAS officer in the PMO and Bhumihar leader who is an MLC. While Mahana’s elevation may not be an issue, Yogi had resisted inducting Modi’s man AK Sharma into his team last year. In his second term Yogi will have little choice to resist Modi’s picks. Others tipped to join Yogi’s team are: Former ED Director Rajeshwar Singh and former Kanpur police Commissioner Aseem Arun.
Free and frank deliberations at the Congress Working Committee meeting, where G-23 leaders swore by the Gandhi family, brought an anticlimactic end to the dismal Congress performance in five state assemblies. The Congress cadre is upbeat on the likely prospect of “Organisational Changes” post Holi that party chief Sonia Gandhi will undertake. Many party leaders want Sonia to rein in some of the men working in Rahul Gandhi’s office who are blamed for adversely impacting ticket distribution in Punjab. At the CWC meet, Sonia herself was quite forthcoming about her mistakes in dealing with Punjab. When G-23 leader Ghulam Nabi Azad pointed out that Captain Amarinder Singh shouldn’t have been removed so close to elections — Sonia admitted that it was all her mistake. She had delayed replacing the CM and, protected him even in the face of complaints coming in from MLAs. AICC in charge for Punjab Harish Chaudhary, however, pinned the blame for the Congress rout on Navjot Singh Sidhu and his constant feuds with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. Surprisingly, unlike her mother Priyanka brazened out her dismal performance of just two seats in UP — a fall from seven in 2017 — to renewed efforts she had made after nearly a decade. Playing the youth icon, Rahul pushed for the inclusion of those below 30 in party posts.
Prabhas reigns as a cinematic brand that few could match after the Bahubali super hits. And audiences expect him to exemplify that same brand film after film. After the pandemic pause, Radhe Shyam also released to sky high expectations but the film, shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi, turned out to be Candy floss, just fluff, no bite. Advertised as a big budget film (Rs 300-350 crore) boasting over the top visual effects, lavish locales of Europe with each frame mounted to draw gasps of astonishment, Prabhas and Pooja Hegde elicited groans instead even as the screenplay and narrative fell flat as pointless piffle. The Telugu version fared somewhat better, but the Hindi version faced the humiliation of rejection even compared to the low budget yet, intensely riveting The Kashmir Files. Prabhas, cast as a phenomenal palmist (the Einstein of Palmistry, Nostradamus of prediction) has to convince audiences that life lines on one’s palm determines your destiny, and yet it is possible to change destiny by sheer determination. Prabhas playing a palmist challenges destiny but, ultimately gets the girl he loves, Prerna, after super human efforts. Whatever the claims by the makers over box office collections (Rs 150 crore in first three days), even palmist Prabhas didn’t predict revenues would lag way behind the Rs 300 crore spent.
Late DC Kothari was a tall name in the industrial landscape of Tamil Nadu. And, Kothari Industrial Corporation Ltd (KICL), the agro input (fertilisers and insecticides) company promoted by him, an iconic entity. After him, the onus fell upon son Pradip D Kothari but, it hasn’t been a smooth ride. He had to fend off incursions from cousin, the late Shyam Kothari (son-in-law of the late Dhirubhai Ambani). Pradip Kothari did succeed in barricading KICL. That legal battle in the 90s did make national headlines then. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. KICL now appears to have undergone a major overhaul and, sports new names on the management list. Of course, Pradip Kothari remains the Chairman. But it is driven by self-taught entrepreneur Jinnah Rafiq Ahmed, who is now the vice-chairman & MD of KICL. Parveen Roadways, his key venture, does quite a lot of work for the Southern Railways showing his experience with the contracts business model. Will this push the well-networked Ahmed to opt for contract manufacturing of fertilisers sold under the brand name Horse? This could see the company do well and get re-listed soon after internal issues saw its share trading being suspended many moons ago. Hopefully, investors holding KICL shares would soon find a window to cash out.
Bulldozer toys are selling briskly, like hot vadas, all over Uttar Pradesh. Parents are indulging children with toy replicas of bulldozers following BJP’s victory! This was one election when bulldozers and JCB machines could trump the Lotus symbol for their sheer public fancy. In fact, even as BJP workers celebrated the victory, the bulldozer turned into a mascot for the party. This was because Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had forewarned gangsters, henchmen and the remaining UP mafia bosses to expect steamrolling governance that would bulldoze them to the ground if he came back to power. The bulldozer was an almost constant in Yogi’s campaign speeches. He even famously said once, that while bulldozers were used to build expressways and highways, “At the same time, we are (also) using it to crush the mafia that exploited people to build their (illegal) properties.” It is pertinent to note that Yogi’s main political rival in UP, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had pejoratively termed Yogi as ‘Baba Bulldozer’ while claiming the BJP CM would lose the elections. Interestingly, since BJP came to power in 2017, over 67,000 acres of government land was unshackled from the hands of goons and mafias in the state through the rampant use of bulldozers.
Vivek Kumar, Founder & Director of the Padukone-Dravid Centre For Sports Excellence (PDCSE) near Bengaluru city is the go-to man for the Central, State governments and Corporates to create and finance sports infrastructure without much capital expenditure. Four years into existence, the institution for training elite sports persons and budding talent has already created a buzz around the development of Lakshya Sen at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, and Olympic swimmer Srihari Nataraj at its Olympic size pool, which operate within the facility named after two legends, Prakash Padukone and Rahul Dravid. Vivek Kumar, a former India junior badminton player, has invested around Rs 100 crore which includes 17-acre land. The PDCSE has facilities for athletics, badminton, swimming, 10 m shooting, football, squash, table tennis, volleyball, basketball and cricket. “The 10 m shooting range was created in the storage area for cricket. It cost about Rs15 lakh. Abhinav Bindra wanted a shooting range for the refugee shooters preparing for the Olympics. We spent more money to get the latest technology based swimming pool in order to reduce maintenance cost,” revealed Vivek, related to the Kirloskar family. Former India player, Vimal Kumar, who trained Sen to become a world-class player says: “Full credit to Vivek for creating the facility for India’s sports persons. The PDCSE is a boon for all sports.”
Devendra Fadnavis has emerged as the singular face of the party in Maharashtra bolstered by political results in Goa achieved under his leadership. A well-placed source told shortpost.in, “A conscious decision was taken last week on the subject. The BJP leadership is keen to project Fadnavis as the sole face of BJP and has directed a cessation of distracting and divergent statements from other party stakeholders including Kirit Somaiya. All of them have been told to hold their horses for a while.” Somaiya, it may be recalled with the blessings of senior party leaders and, his inimitable style of announcing one scam a day, has been raising heat against Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders predominantly Shiv Sena. Even other State BJP leaders have been asked to dial down even as Fadnavis has thrown the gauntlet at the MVA government with the single-minded focus on bringing it down. Even the MVA, which deferred the BMC and other local polls in Maharashtra to beyond May 2022, is facing rifts within its ranks. For one, home minister (NCP) Dilip Walse Patil was at pains explaining that Fadnavis was not summoned as accused but as witness by the BKC police and as an after-thought said that the police will visit Fadnavis’ residence to record his statement. With demand for jailed NCP minister Nawab Malik’s resignation rising, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray met to damage control the issue.
Frequenting courts and police stations may seem inept and despicable to any simple aam aadmi. However, if you are Narayan Tatu Rane, such things don’t bother you. Haggling with law-enforcement agencies since the 1960s — while running a poultry shop in suburban Chembur – the bold, bindaas, Union minister had mastered the craft. However, the arrogance effused by suddenly gaining power after losing all hope has landed the Ranes in a profound mess. While leaders and political parties were critical of the Shiv Sena ever since its formation, Rane crossed the Lakshman Rekha by targeting CM Uddhav Thackeray and his minister son Aaditya in the MVA government. “Soon after being made a minister at the Centre, Rane began making personal remarks on the Thackeray family and started calling them names,” said Ravindra Ambekar, a senior political analyst and founder of Max Maharashtra. Ambekar added, “As Shiv Sena is in power and has the responsibility of maintaining the law and order situation, it’s dealing with him legally.” As people don’t sympathize with Rane, his actions may cause harm to the BJP’s image. “Therefore, the BJP may even ask him to compromise with the Thackerays,” feels Ambekar.
There is a sense of awe that the BJP picked up all the eight assembly seats in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, with a comfortable majority. BJP sources said Lakhimpur Kheri which is barely 100 km away from Lucknow, couldn’t have voted differently from the rest of Awadh, a region hamstrung by poverty that boasts an eclectic mix of voters comprising poor Brahmins, Kurmis and other OBCs. What about anti-BJP sentiments whipped up in the aftermath of the four farmers mowed down by a car linked to Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son? Sikh farmers belonging to the Terai region did protest against the farm laws. Apparently, the protest did not find peoples’ favour. Four lives were also lost in the immediate aftermath of the car encounter, through public lynching that rubbed off any public sympathy or BJP antipathy, over the incident. Another optic BJP overcame was of bodies floating across the Ganges during the Covid-19 pandemic that was played up to the hilt by the opposition combine. Fact being, shallow burials along the riverside is common practice among the poor of central and eastern UP. It was not the first time this occurred; it happened in 2015 and 2018 too. In Western UP, the BJP managed to win 46 of the 58 seats, even retaining tricky propositions like in Deoband because of the SP-RLD tie-up.
There are certain advantages in being an unlisted, closely-held company. Owners of such firms, however, may encounter irritants coming their way. A few shareholders, with marginal holdings could prove to be an avoidable hindrance. One such unlisted, closely-held company is attempting to implement share consolidation ostensibly to ease the cumbersome procedural formalities in administration. It is also touted as a goodwill exercise offering small shareholders an exit option. In some instances, small shareholders do not see any goodwill in such an exercise. Rather, the move is viewed as an ill-intentioned initiative to get them out cheaply. The city of Chennai has seen Chettinad Cement, a well-known player in the bulk commodity space, delist its shares a few summers ago. But that has put its industrialist-shareholder AC Muthiah in a spot. If sources are to be believed, Muthiah is unable to get rid of his shares in the company at a price he considers equitable. The owner of Chettinad Cement appears to be playing it cool for now. The business, it may be recalled, is run by MAM Ramaswamy’s adopted son MAMR Muthiah who has an old score to settle with AC Muthiah, whom he had accused of usurping the company assets while his father was ailing. Alternatively, he doesn’t feel the need to acquire more shares, sitting comfortably as he is with a majority holding.
The historic re-election of an incumbent government in Uttar Pradesh after a gap of 37 years made Prime Minister Narendra Modi issue an appeal to intellectuals to stop analyzing it from the prism of caste or class. Please do not look for motives of castes/class in the way people vote, he urged. Things have changed in Uttar Pradesh, in his Varanasi — in his Lok Sabha constituency for two terms that he has represented. People are voting on deliverables. The spectacular re-election of Yogi with 255 BJP MLAs has an interesting backstory — some of its key ministers, in fact as many 11 of them had to bite dust. Yes, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya narrowly lost to Pallavi Patel of Samajwadi Party, sister of Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel from Sirathu. Apna Dal is an NDA ally. So did sugarcane minister Suresh Rana to Rashtriya Lok Dal in Shamli. As for Akhilesh Yadav, he finally came to terms with poll results and accepted he may not have won but improved his tally from 47 in 2017 to 111. He could not bail out defectors. Two BJP ministers who joined him like Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini were humbled. Only Dara Singh Chauhan managed to win.
Gundappa Ranganath Viswanath, aka GRV, or affectionately Vishy, and if you want the celebrated catchline the ‘Little Master’ found time with a seasoned and studious cricket writer, R Kaushik, to tell his cricket story to his legion of followers who were attracted towards the great noble game only because of his and his brother-in-law Sunil Manohar Gavaskar’s classic stroke play from the 1970s onwards and well into the 1980s and also the subsequent generations. A genial to the core, Vishy became a darling of the purists and others alike after he cut to size Australia’s Graham McKenzie, Allan Connolly, Johnny Gleeson and Ashley Mallett while carving a breathtaking 137 in the second innings of his debut Test at the Green Park, Kanpur, in the winter of 1969. Introduced to Indian cricket’s highest level by Chairman of the selection committee Vijay Merchant and captain, Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi, Vishy went on to charm the cricket world with strokes he executed with elan. Almost four decades after he bid adieu to the game in 1983 — the year India won the World Cup — Vishy has decided to recall his cricket and life story with Kaushik, who has over 100 Tests under his belt and knowledge to get the best out of a great. The book, to be published by Rupa & Co. is titled: Wrist Assured.
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.