It was one of those regular visits PM Narendra Modi makes to his home ground, Gujarat. However, on October 30 when he arrived to lay the foundation for development works worth Rs 14,000 crore in Bhildi town in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, it was different. It was a roadshow. Modi travelled in an open jeep, accompanied by chief minister Bhupendra Patel and deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi, from the helipad to the Banas Dairy plant in the village.  People gathered in large numbers on both sides of the road to greet him. Modi waved at the crowds, who shouted his name and raised various slogans. However, the most interesting bit was that they also carried placards bearing the slogan, “Jab tak Bharat viksit nahi hoga, Modi kahin nahi jayega” (Modi will not go anywhere till India becomes self-reliant). Another placard read, “Modi will not go anywhere till India becomes one of the top economies of the world”. The placards were clearly responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent remarks made in Patna, Bihar that even “Modi’s father will have to go”. The Congress leader had dragged in Modi’s father in the party’s desperate bid to oust the BJP from power at the Centre. It was interesting to see a poll-bound Gujarat rally behind Modi. Of course, PM Modi is too pre-eminent to be endorsed by just one state or community; he transcended limitations of state boundaries and is accepted across the nation. Meanwhile, Modi will be attending the Ekta parade in Ekta Nagar, Kevadia on October 31 to mark Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary.

It may be part of the usual push to showcase cleaning of River Yamuna ahead of Chhat Puja in Delhi. And what better way to do that than have a splash in the river. BJP MP – North East Delhi – Manoj Tiwari took a dip in the Yamuna and tasted its water at Sonia Vihar recently claiming that the river’s pollution load had been reduced by half under the Rekha Gupta-led government. Tiwari’s assertion about clean Yamuna was of course challenged by the AAP. While the BJP’s Delhi unit claimed that the government had achieved in two years what the Congress and AAP could not accomplish in 27 years. The AAP is of course sceptical about BJP’s claims, questioning whether the water at Sonia Vihar represented the condition of the entire river in Delhi. But then BJP has announced projects to clean Yamuna by May 2029.  A few days ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched 43 projects worth Rs 8,941 crore aimed at cleaning the Yamuna which flows for around 52 km through the national capital. Even as the AAP mocked Tiwari’s river splash, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju rallied behind his colleague’s effort. He offered a swimming competition on Yamuna. “Manoj ji, don’t you think that in Yamuna ji’s much cleaner water, there could be a swimming competition between the two of us?” To which Tiwari made it clear that beating the minister in swimming would not be easy, he agreed that competitive swimming would be a great idea.” Let’s fix the date”.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP and spokesman Sanjay Raut has given a clean chit to absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Refusing to call Mallya an ‘absconder’ (Bhagoda), Raut feels that he should have been bailed out by the Modi government, which he said has anyway done for a number of defaulters. These and other observations and claims of Raut are part of his upcoming new book, “Bodh Keertan.” Raut has written 17 books so far, the latest being about his 100 days in ED custody. The book did not cause ripples as expected. However, the new book may become sensational but its contents are known only selectively at the moment. Also, the possible date of release is not made known so far. The book consists Raut’s observations, memories, anecdotes and mini poems. In the book, Raut has reiterated his prophecy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be out of power by April 2027. While these are not taken seriously, his fulsome praise of Mallya has raised many eyebrows. Recalling a meeting with the elusive distiller at Mumbai airport, Raut has vividly described how Mallya was sporting a tilak on his forehead and carrying a pooja flower. The timing of the book teaser is considered significant in view of a closed-door meeting of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with Uddhav and Raj Thackeray at a book launch event.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hit two birds with the same single stone while taunting Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and MNS leader Raj Thackeray. The occasion was the launch of a compilation of cartoons which have appeared in Marathi publications over the past one hundred years called ‘Hasya Reshaa.’ Taking a dig at the cousins, Fadanvis said, “Uddhav is an ace photographer, Raj is an accomplished cartoonist while I am good in politics. I feel that each of us should pursue the path we have chosen.” Expectedly, there was a huge applause. The event became memorable since Fadnavis and Uddhav were sharing a stage for the first time after the Shiv Sena (UBT) was divested of power in 2022. Fadnavis did not fail to again quip, “I was never hesitant about attending any programme but they (UBT) never invited me.” Compiler of the volume Prashant Kulkarni revealed that it was Raj Thackeray’s idea to invite the CM. Seizing the opportunity, Raj remarked, “Many more invites can be extended to Fadnavis. But just keep him in his seat till 2029.” The oblique reference was to the current developments in Maharashtra in the aftermath of the legislative council elections in which the ruling NDA was drubbed. The Sena (Shinde) and the BJP are at each other’s throat for the debacle. Interestingly, none of the three leaders failed to glorify Maharashtra’s liberal political culture which does not allow party policies to come in the way of personal relationships.

As the BJP prepares for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections, a shortage of leaders with experience in civic administration has emerged as a challenge for the party, forcing it to weigh organisational loyalty against electoral and administrative competence. The party has invited applications from aspirants through a dropbox. However, state president Samik Bhattacharya and poll strategy in-charge Sukanta Majumdar have ruled out tickets for former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, narrowing the pool of candidates with governance experience. The challenge has become more pronounced following delimitation, which increased Kolkata’s wards from 144 to 209 and Howrah’s from 50 to 68. Several of the BJP’s experienced hands have links to the TMC or civic bodies outside Kolkata. State minister Tapas Roy and MLA Sajal Ghosh have TMC roots, while Meena Devi Purohit served as KMC deputy mayor from 2000 to 2005 under a TMC-BJP alliance. Other leaders with municipal experience include former Bhatpara municipality chairman Arjun Singh, his son Pawan Singh, and Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh, who served on the mayor-in-council of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation. Meanwhile, speculation over possible defections has added another layer to the contest, with at least 44 former TMC councillors, including Ananya Banerjee, Jui Biswas and Devlina Kumar, daughter of former councillor Debashis Kumar, are reportedly seeking BJP tickets. Despite Majumdar’s insistence that the party has enough credible leaders, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s meeting with Sudip Bandyopadhyay has fuelled political speculation. For the BJP, the KMC polls will test not just its electoral strength but also its ability to build a credible urban governance team without alienating its grassroots base.

Questions have emerged over coordination between the CPI(M)’s national leadership and its West Bengal unit following reports party’s Kerala leaders reaching out to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Delhi. The reported outreach has triggered speculation over whether the Bengal unit was kept in the loop. The issue has brought the party’s internal communication and decision-making process under scrutiny, particularly given the sharply contrasting political positions adopted by the CPI(M) at the national level and in West Bengal. In Bengal, the TMC remains one of the CPI(M)’s principal political rivals. The Left party has consistently campaigned against it. However, the need for coordination among Opposition parties at the national level to counter the BJP also remains a significant consideration. The reported contacts have therefore highlighted the challenge of balancing broader national political objectives with the distinct electoral and political realities of individual states. Most importantly, party’s national general secretary MA Baby had written to all Opposition leaders including TMC chief Mamata Banerjee recently on the SIR and ECI chief Gyanesh Kumar issue. He even had a telephonic conversation with Mamata after she reciprocated on the issue. Close sources to Mamata confirmed that Didi is in touch with the Keralam unit ever since the SIR issue has taken shape. However, CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty sought to draw a distinction between the two political contexts, making it clear that efforts to build unity among anti-BJP parties at the national level should not be interpreted as an indication of an alliance with the TMC in West Bengal. The developments have brought the question of organisational coordination within the CPI(M) into focus. While the party may need to engage with other Opposition forces at the national level, its Bengal unit continues to view the TMC as a key political opponent.

It has been barely six months since the TVK rode to power on an anti-corruption plank against the DMK in Tamil Nadu. Yet, chief minister C Joseph Vijay has managed to keep his poll promise of penalising the corrupt; he put the corrupt DMK leader — Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi — behind bars soon after he lost his anticipatory bail plea. Anbil, former TN Education Minister, was arrested by the Greater Chennai Police in connection with an alleged Rs100 crore private schools scam. The DMK claimed Vijay’s government arrested Anbil to clinch a by-poll in Trichy East. The complaint against Anbil was lodged by DC Ilangovan, secretary of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools in Tamil Nadu, alleging that money was collected from private school managements on the promise of securing government approvals, including permanent recognition, school upgradation, clearances and other permissions. According to the police, around 177 private schools were linked to the alleged collection of more than Rs 100 crore. Several prominent people including techies like Sridhar Vembu of Zoho fame had spoken about difficulties in getting permission to open schools under the DMK regime. Four months back, Vembu had posted on X how the DMK “ecosystem” had made it difficult for him to run/ manage schools in rural TN. “We run two rural schools, both free NIOS schools under the Kalaivani Kalvi Maiyam umbrella. The Theni school was originally started and run by a retired IPS officer, an honest and upright man. He built very nice facilities but had to shut down his CBSE school because the state government demanded too much money to issue the NOC.” Today, Vembu must be happy. So must be many others like him. Also, Vijay’s approach to fighting corruption starkly differs from PM Modi’s who has so far not acted against the Gandhis!

The Mohan Charan Majhi-led government in Odisha now faces a new dilemma. There is no settlement on the territorial dispute with Andhra Pradesh has been reached even after BJP came to power in the state three years back. The territorial dispute relates to Kotia villages which has been historically recognised as part of Odisha since 1936. Resolving the territorial dispute with Andhra was the poll promises of the BJP. Now it is learnt that Andhra Pradesh has announced Panchayat Elections date for three villages in the controversial Kotia will be held on November 3. This festering issue has now rekindled the decades-long territorial claim against Odisha, for which a solution has not been found even at the Supreme Court level. While historically Kotia was recognized as a part of Odisha since 1936, the region has been contested by Andhra Pradesh since 1971. Can the Odisha government resolve the issue without escalating into inter-state conflict? Odisha’s Opposition party Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik has targeted CM Majhi for his failure to resolve the issue.

Actor Trisha Krishnan generated a lot of political interest as she visited Coimbatore on a private engagement over the weekend.  There were fangirl moments among TVK supporters as the actor arrived   at the airport. She also pulled crowds when she went on a brief roadshow after opening a mobile store. Her sway over the crowd naturally led the media to wonder whether she would enter politics just as former AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa had done. Would Trisha enter Rajya Sabha? Trisha merely smiled and walked away without responding. Did Trisha deliberately make a public appearance just a day ahead of actor Dhanush’s possible launch of a political party? At this stage, it is not clear if the TVK is merely hoping to take attention away from Dhanush’s political entry via Trisha. Visuals of Trisha in a bright red sari waving to an enthusiastic crowd on a roadshow could briefly cloud out some serious political stuff. Yet that may not be enough. It must be said that the TVK is under pressure to perform and deliver.  More so because ever since chief minister C Joseph Vijay had the courage and imagination to end the rule of duopoly of the DMK and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu,  a number of Tamil film stars are reportedly planning to enter politics. In the forefront is actor Dhanush, former son-in-law of Rajnikanth. He held a meeting with his fan club office bearers in Chennai on October 25. Dhanush made many trips to Delhi and has been consulting political pundits on how to launch a political party. Another Tamil film star who also imagines he can make the transition is Shivakartikeyan. Like Vijay, he too has been invoking MGR’s legacy in his public utterances.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Baramati visit has been postponed one more time, though not cancelled. Modi was to reach NCP boss Sharad Pawar’s home town on 3rd November. The earlier scheduled date was in October. That was revised and now changed again. Pawar’s grandson Yugendra Pawar, a trustee of Vidya Pratishthan, said the PM’s visit has been postponed. There is no official communication confirming the probable next date, 16 November 16. Modi was scheduled to inaugurate Prerna Sthal, a structure developed within the Vidya Pratishthan campus in Baramati. The friendly relations between Modi and Pawar are no secret. Both have repeatedly asserted that these are on a personal level and there is no political angle. Still, Pawar’s supporters and detractors are equally befuddled about his future moves. This includes his own daughter Supriya Sule, who has described her father as unpredictable. Pawar has stood by Modi, not caring about the Congress stand though his party is a member of the INDIA bloc. Another sore point for the Congress party is Pawar’s steadfast amity with industrialist Gautam Adani. When the business giant was the focus of some serious allegations, Pawar had dismissed the demand to set up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe them. As far as Maharashtra is concerned, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his ministers have treated Pawar with utmost respect. This sweet relationship is needling the state Congress but Pawar has remained unfazed. As and when Modi lands in Baramati, the knot of friendship between the two will become tighter, it is said.

BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde has been entrusted with the task of looking for party aspirants for the UP-2027 assembly election. So far, his team has completed survey of about 125 assembly constituencies as part of a study to finalise party candidates. Tawde’s has been a classic case of loyalty and reward, the BJP formula that has been tested time and again. An influential leader in Maharashtra BJP, Tawde’s name off and on figured in the list of potential CM aspirants. But everybody was shocked when he was refused the 2019 assembly election candidature. Tawde maintained a stiff upper lip and did not utter a word about the party decision. In the days to come, he was asked by the high command to shift base to Delhi and was entrusted with one task after another. The most prominent of these was the Bihar assembly election, for which Tawde had toiled tirelessly. His stock grew after the BJP emerged the winner and finally installed its own CM in Patna. Uttar Pradesh being the largest state, it is important for every political party. It has been ruled by the BJP for the past decade under Yogi Adityanath. Still, not to take any chance, the BJP has appointed Tawde to make preparations for the assembly election scheduled to take place in early 2027. As the election is dubbed as a dress rehearsal for the 2029 Lok Sabha election, Tawde’s responsibility has increased manifold since he will have to recommend some new faces in the 403-seat UP assembly.

Was raising last-minute objections to photo exhibits of Raihan Vadra, 26-year old son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra by the Bikaner House in New Delhi serve any purpose? Apparently, it did. Bikaner House is the seat of Rajasthan government in Delhi. When Rajasthan government officials objected to display of some “political photographs” of recent protests among Raihan’s exhibits, citing “current tense” situation, it naturally brought forth a protective mother in Priyanka in defence of her son. Raihan himself said he had held around 12–15 shows at the same venue over the past six years and described it as one of his favourite places. The Wayanad MP took a swipe at PM Modi saying “when someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn’t know it but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect.” Meanwhile Kerala chief minister V D Satheeshan offered to host Rahihan’s photo exhibition in Keralam. Ordinary Congress leaders however found it odd that Priyanka should come out battling for her son.”Priyanka ji should have made no reference to this issue. These days people don’t like nepotism. Everyone was asking why is she promoting her son now? Is Raihan going to contest UP assembly elections? Whether we like it or not, Modi has shown the way of not promoting family, ” said a Muslim Congress leader. In fact, speaking at an NDTV event, PM Modi took a dig at the Gandhi family’s many attempts to launch Rahul Gandhi as PM material. He also charged Rahul of trying to take foreign help — he is currently in Vietnam — to organise protests in the country.

Twenty-six years ago, when the U.S. President Bill Clinton visited India in March 2000, Reliance Industries founder Dhirubhai Ambani enjoyed unusual access to the world’s most powerful leader. Dhirubhai Ambani then reportedly hosted the U.S. President Clinton a private breakfast at The Oberoi Towers in Mumbai. It was attended by his two sons Mukesh and Anil. This private breakfast of four people was facilitated by the Congress leader Murli Deora, a close friend of both Ambanis and Clintons. A year later, Clinton, now a former President, was hosted to a private lunch by Dhirubhai at his Mumbai residence. Fast-forward to 2026, and you have Mukesh Ambani and his son meeting senior American officials at Jamnagar. The Ambanis are once again playing host to America’s powerful political establishment. This time, it was the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accompanied by the U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, who visited Reliance’s sprawling Jamnagar complex. Mukesh Ambani and his youngest son Anant welcomed the American delegation. What makes the visit significant is that Jamnagar is home to the world’s largest single-site refining complex, processing around 1.4 million barrels of crude daily. Washington is keen to leverage Reliance’s capabilities, particularly for processing Venezuelan crude. Clearly, the Ambanis’ influence extends far beyond India’s corporate corridors. From Dhirubhai’s personal relationships with global political leaders to Mukesh’s strategic importance in international energy markets, the family has maintained remarkable access across generations. The message from Jamnagar is unmistakable: the Ambanis are not merely meeting global power. Global power is coming to their doorstep.

The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) may not have gained much traction with their recent protests in Delhi against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, however, one hears the DMK is planning to use the CJP to reconnect with the youth in Tamil Nadu. With the ruling TVK consolidating its position in the TN, the DMK one hears is feeling a compulsion to distance itself from the Congress that has been spearheading the political protest against the poll body. The political positioning was spelt out at a meeting of DMK MPs chaired by former chief minister MK Stalin over the weekend. Interestingly, the party not only demanded removal of CEC but also scrapping of the very SIR — that the DMK regime — had presided over before it was voted out of office early this year. Political analysts find DMK objections to SIR in TN rather odd.  In fact, everyone is asking — if the TVK headed by Vijay was voted in post-SIR, why is DMK making a fuss about it now? It is being said that DMK MP A Raja has been tasked with the responsibility of reaching out to CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke and invite him to Chennai to create nuisance in streets against SIR. That means DMK is bent on creating a false storm in Chennai against Vijay and the TVK government. The moot point is will people of Chennai really have a short memory and flock to the Dipke’s show? Will the CJP be allowed to run amok in Chennai attacking the cops like the way they hit the Delhi cops on July 20?  One thing is certain, the courts may not give a long rope to either the roaches or the DMK this time round.

Senior BJP MP and former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan always had one eye on his home state Odisha. Forced to resign over NEET exam paper leak, he now seems to be taking more active interest in his state.  Sources say that Pradhan being a national level BJP leader is now seen nurturing a new weapon “formal letter politics”. His objective being to improve state level administration since trackable letter will force state authorities to take actionable steps spread over collectors, police and others rather than letting the issue stay confined to a private conversation.  Speculation is Pradhan may succeed in his plan since he has substantial backing by ruling BJP MLA’s and ministers. Pradhan, it is learnt, has written formal request letters to both the Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Union Minister Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari demanding stringent crackdown on illegal and hazardous parking of heavy commercial trucks along the state and national highways. He has mooted the idea of having a designated parking place for trucks, levying heavy penalty on violators including seizure of vehicles, and launching public awareness campaigns.  To support his views Pradhan has highlighted Supreme Court ruling regarding vehicle seizure provision. He has also urged the Odisha government to invoke Section 76 against industrial and mining companies whose transport logistics contributed to trafficking congestion and unsafe parking. Apart from this Pradhan is already pushing for having dedicated truck bays and logistics hubs in Odisha.

Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay has been taking pride in providing a corruption free govt in the short while that his party — the TVK — has been in office. At the same time, he has also vociferously been attacking the DMK for its corruption legacy. It seems Vijay’s political theme of a “corruption free govt” has made no impact at least on its post poll ally — the Congress– which switched sides after the TVK came to power. In fact, the Congress with 5 MLAs and 2 ministers in the TVK government, has been quite an embarrassment– in the manner in which its leaders were found conducting themselves. It is being said that conduct of Congress MP Manickam Tagore has been particularly worrisome — the way he raised funds to organise a grand welcome for Rahul Gandhi in Chennai early this month. It was Rahul’s first visit after the TVK had come to power. Congress leaders used their proximity to government to collect funds. CM Vijay didn’t know how to put a stop to the way the Congress was going about its “collection” drive to organise “Chatron ki goonj” or interaction with students. In his one-to-one meeting with CM Vijay, Rahul had apparently warned Vijay about PM Modi. On his part, Vijay wisely followed protocol and did what was in the best interest of the state. Striking the right notes with PM Modi helped Vijay sort out pending issues. Soon he was off to Vijaywada for a meeting with Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu where he discussed Krishna-Godavari river linking issue and also investment plans for the state.

It seems Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is perhaps the only leader who can dare speak a few home truths to Rahul Gandhi. That’s precisely what he did given his stature and age. During a recent casual discussion at the Congress headquarters in Indira Bhawan, Gandhi as the LoP in the Lok Sabha was taking pot shots at Cong leaders who had quit the party and praised those who stayed back to take on the BJP and the RSS. Rahul said he had always believed that party workers were Babbar Sher (lions)who were not afraid of political pressure or cases. He said those who had remained with the Cong had continued to fight the BJP and RSS rather than give in to intimidation. Taking a swipe at those who had left, Gandhi described them as “cowards” and “greedy”, suggesting that some had quit under pressure or in pursuit of personal interests. He cited the exits of leaders including Jyotiraditya Scindia, RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada. Kharge did not keep quiet; he reportedly remarked that all those who had quit to join the BJP were all Rahul’s friends–“your friends”. They were all Doon School elites just as Rahul was. Scindia left the party in 2020 and joined the BJP. So did RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada switching to the BJP. The political significance of Kharge’s remark lay in its timing: Gandhi was drawing a contrast between those who had left and those who had continued to stand by the Congress, while the party president reminded him of the personal associations some of the departing leaders had once shared with him.

While the Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray is fighting in the Supreme Court to regain its name and symbol, a soft launch of another Thackeray scion appears to be gaining traction unobtrusively. The youngest member of the Thackeray clan, Tejas (31), has so far maintained a low profile, standing behind elder brother Aaditya. But that phase appears to be getting over. The Thackeray family’s love for birds and exotic fish is quite known. Tejas too has inherited it. The Thackeray Wildlife Foundation led by Tejas has begun his public posturing by writing a letter to Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav to urge immediate intervention to prevent the rampant poaching and illegal selling of the endemic Borna Snakehead (𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘶𝘴) fish found in the Chel river in West Bengal. The Foundation has discovered several rare fish species, many of them from India and Nepal. A student of Bombay Scottish School, Mahim in Mumbai, Tejas is seen off and on publicly. His latest appearance was a few days ago with Aaditya leading a protest demonstration against the Modi government at Dadar. Thus, both Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, as well their sons are now in active politics. It is said that his mother Rashmi was keen for the entry of Tejas in politics since the health of Uddhav has remained indifferent for some time. Tejas himself is known for his reticence. Hence, some statement from him is awaited eagerly.

Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay had politically a significant week –back-to-back visits by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and PM Narendra Modi. Communicating in fluent English with Rahul Gandhi (who would not even “posture” in a Tamil identity), then pleasing the PM in both English and Tamil.  The PM at least attempts to please the crowd…Vanakkam Tamizh Nadu, and by now the oft-rehearsed reference to Thiruvalluvar and the Kural. So, what is Vijay’s return gift? Vijay proved that he could be just as comfortable addressing the crowd in English as his Tamil fluency …an attempt to reiterate subtly that TN is firm on its two-language policy, no Hindi agenda.  P Chidambaram was all praise for Vijay’s skill in addressing in English, “His fluent English speech on the states two language policy impressed me. His clear pronunciation of English words made me very happy”. Vijay, the Brown Saab has already learnt leverage. Tamilians are particular that their children learn to converse in the colonial Lingua Franca…they may not be polyglots but in Public if they struggle to converse in English, it is a blow to their self-esteem. Any wonder that Shashi Tharoor is admired as an English walkie- talkie and his esoteric words often send people scurrying for a dictionary? Has the CM Vijay passed the first test of the Congress? Keep the pressure on the BJP that any attempt to impose Hindi is not welcome in TN. But then the BJP uses ingenious ways to bring Hindi and make people learn basics …many a public sector bank’s branch has Biharis, Madhya Pradeshis and UPites in authority. They communicate only in Hindi and the staff are “forced” to learn basics of Hindi.

The RSS Bengali weekly Swastika has cautioned the BJP against inducting former Trinamool Congress (TMC) members in West Bengal, alleging that some new entrants are damaging the party’s image. In its October 12 issue, the magazine urged the BJP to remove what it described as “garbage” from its ranks. The warning comes amid allegations of extortion and anti-party activities involving some BJP workers. The magazine alleged that unruly elements from the TMC were joining the BJP and tarnishing its reputation. The article mentions BJP as a party of “bhadraloks” (gentlemen), which has dislodged thieves from office clearly implying TMC. However, there is a concerted effort to break that image of BJP, the article claimed. Cautioning senior BJP leadership against the entry of “rowdies”, Swastika claimed these elements were exploiting the restraint shown by party leaders and workers to undermine the organisation’s standing. Concerns have also been raised over whether chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government is taking adequate measures to promote its developmental work, amid Opposition parties allegedly spreading propaganda against it. The magazine had issued a similar warning in August, cautioning that the BJP risked losing voter support if people began viewing it as another version of the TMC. It was then claimed that even if 2% voters feel that the present BJP is a replica of the Trinamool thugs who governed the state for 15 years, 90% voters will shift from BJP. The article urged the BJP to remove the five per cent of “thugs” who had allegedly entered its ranks. The warnings indicate that the RSS is closely monitoring the BJP’s functioning. The organisation played a pivotal role in spreading Hindutva ideology across the state through its shakhas.

In a major push to consolidate its political footprint across West Bengal, the BJP has set in motion an ambitious infrastructure expansion drive, focusing primarily on its newly carved strongholds in the southern districts. To accommodate its growing cadre base following recent gains in the state Assembly elections, senior leaders launched foundational bhoomi pujan ceremonies across seven organizational districts. The organisational push is strategically aligned with the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, where the party views West Bengal as vital to securing a fourth term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Party state president Samik Bhattacharya and Bengal observer Sunil Bansal presided over foundation ceremonies in Howrah Rural and Asansol, respectively. Simultaneously, State General Secretary (Organisation) Amitava Chakraborty led the rituals in Hooghly’s Chinsurah. Similar events were conducted by Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar in Barrackpore, Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Sinha in Kolkata North Suburban, State General Secretary Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato in Jhargram, and Vice-President Ramapada Das in Behrampore. Confirming the initiative, Bhattacharya stated that plots acquired years ago are finally being developed after election-related delays. Emphasizing the party’s rapid growth since assuming power in the state, he revealed that all 43 organizational districts would soon feature upgraded premises. Party insiders noted that while district units currently operate out of existing spaces, these have proven inadequate for scaled-up political operations since the BJP’s breakthrough performance in the 2019 parliamentary polls. Each proposed district headquarters will feature a modern five-storey complex complete with state-of-the-art amenities, expansive conference halls, dedicated spaces for affiliate wings, and private quarters for visiting leadership. The infrastructural scaling comes amid heightened political ambitions. Both Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and Bhattacharya...

Five months after West Bengal’s political change, silence has descended on several artists, writers and intellectuals who once stood firmly behind Mamata Banerjee. From Kabir Suman and Jogen Chowdhury to Abul Bashar, many familiar faces from her political platforms have largely disappeared from public view. Artist Shuvaprasanna has stayed largely out of the public eye since May. A pivotal figure during the 2006–07 Singur-Nandigram movements, he hosted strategy meets at his Salt Lake residence—attended by Kabir Suman, Joy Goswami, Jogen Chowdhury, Shaoli Mitra and Bibhas Chakraborty. After halting in 2011 upon Trinamool’s rise, these gatherings resumed in 2018 with the BJP’s emergence. Shuvaprasanna taught Mamata painting, coordinated her exhibitions, held railway and Heritage Commission posts, received the Bangabibhushan award, and vigorously defended her 2022 Bangla Akademi award. However, on September 20, he inaugurated an exhibition alongside BJP minister Dilip Ghosh and leader Bishwapriya Roy, a month after BJP minister Agnimitra Paul attended his wife Shipra Bhattacharya’s exhibition. Nationally-acclaimed painter and former Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Jogen Chowdhury (88) has also receded from public life. Singer Kabir Suman (78), who experienced a volatile relationship with Mamata—once predicting a temple in her honour before distancing himself and considering backing a compassionate Left party—refused direct comment. Yet, an October video showed him thanking local BJP MLA Papiya Adhikari for civic improvements in local infrastructure, water, and power. Author Abul Bashar, who once declared that leaders like Mamata are born only once in a while, deferred his remarks. Meanwhile, poet Joy Goswami—who once lauded Mamata’s humanity but later sparked debate by exiting an RSS-linked event over Taslima Nasrin’s presence—remains the sole voice expressing sorrow over her plight.

A day after meeting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi whose MLAs are part of his government, Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay did the most audacious thing – he went to the airport to receive PM Narendra Modi on his first visit to Chennai after TN polls and sort of rolled out the red carpet. He used PM Modi’s visit to the state to sort out all pending issues — early approval for new Metro projects and the unconditional release of Rs 5,100 crore in pending education funds. Speaking at the at the inauguration of a Chennai Metro stretch –15-km Poonamallee Bypass–Vadapalani section — Vijay outlined demands covering urban transport, education funds, and river linking. He urged the Centre to expedite approval for Chennai Metro’s Phase III to improve connectivity across the metropolitan area. He also sought Metro projects for Coimbatore and Madurai to serve western and southern TN, and an interstate link between Hosur in Tamil Nadu and Bommasandra in Karnataka. Vijay thanked PM Modi for the Chennai–Bengaluru and Chennai–Hyderabad high-speed rail corridors announced in the 2026 Union Budget. Vijay also called for linking the Godavari and Kaveri rivers to ensure equitable water availability across states. On his part, PM Modi assured Vijay all possible help. Political analysts contrast Vijay’s tactical handling of pending state issues with Centre and the manner in which he raised it as a superb move. It apparently contrasts with the hostile manner in which then CM M K Stalin had heckled PM Modi publicly in Chennai in 2021. If PM Modi cedes to Vijay’s demands it will certainly be the end of the road for the DMK. That’s why a silly DMK claimed that PM Modi had “merely” flagged projects it had launched when it was in power.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has dismissed incumbent Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam with immediate effect following an inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment. According to a university order dated October 9 and signed by Vice-Chancellor Santishree D Pandit, JNU’s Internal Committee conducted the inquiry and recommended a major punishment. The university said it decided to dismiss Akoijam after following due process and considering the available facts and the committee’s report. The issue had taken a political turn, with BJP’s students wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staging a protest at the university last month to demand action over complaints that had been filed by 11 women students. Akoijam had rejected the allegations, accusing what he described as “racist schemers” of trying to damage his reputation through unverified allegations and lies. Akoijam taught at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems in JNU’s School of Social Sciences. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Manipur’s Inner Manipur constituency in 2024 on a Congress ticket. So far the Congress has not officially reacted to action on him. JNU V-C was heard saying that Akokijam had played truant and was not responding to “some 300 emails sent to him” by the Inquiry Committee. He was reportedly calling the women students home which were objected to by the students. The V-C went on record praising the women students who had the courage to see through their complaints. The complaints took a political hue with BJP’s Mahila Morcha planning to hold protest outside Congress offices across the country

Veteran leader Sharad Pawar’s grandson-in-law has been allotted 1200 acres of land by the Maharashtra government on lease in Ahilyanagar’s district of western Maharashtra. The plot in Haregaon village has been entrusted to Vishwaraj Renewables Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based company owned by Sarang Lakhani, son-in-law of Supriya Sule, daughter of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo. As soon as the government’s decision came under fire, Supriya Sule maintained that her son-in-law’s business and professional activities were entirely his personal matter. She refused to say anything beyond that. Interestingly, Sarang is the son of BJP MLC Arun Lakhani, an ardent RSS volunteer from Nagpur. Arun is considered close to various bigwigs of the saffron organisation. The land held by the Maharashtra State Farming Corporation has been leased to the Lakhani company for 49 years, according to an order issued on October 5. The allotment comes within two weeks of the government allotting on lease 1500 acres of land to another private firm, Nibe Group, in the same cluster. The state government has also allotted 1500 acres to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Social activist Anjali Damania has questioned the allotment decision, taken without following a tender process. Damania claimed that the government had decided to develop a green energy park on the land through “Maha Urja” but just three months later, the same 1200 acres was allotted directly to a single private company in September. Revenue minister Chandrakant Bawankule has defended the decision, ruling out likelihood of any further fireworks.

It took the imagination of TVK and its leading film star   C Joseph Vijay to smash Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu. Atleast emergence of Vijay as chief minister has raised a lot of hopes in Tamil Nadu politics. Or else how does one explain the unusual interest Latha Rajinikanth has begun showing to make some headway into politics. Yes, she has been camping in Delhi for the past few days. The buzz is Latha is lobbying to become an MP. If not her, she reportedly wants her superstar husband Rajinikanth to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha as an MP. It is being said Latha wishes for a parliamentary role for Rajinikanth since his contemporary Kamal Haasan is already an Rajya Sabha MP, courtesy DMK. The other buzz is that Dhanush, former son-in-law of the Rajinikanth and Latha, is also trying to register his political party. Latha, it seems, has already met with central ministers including Prahlad Joshi, Rajnath Singh and others. Latha has been wanting to meet with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. What may come in the way of Latha being considered for a Rajya Sabha berth are some ticklish legal issues. Media reports indicate petty municipal dues that could eventually get sorted out.

It is now becoming increasingly clear Congress leaders — Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — stole the show at the INDIA bloc march to the Election Commission’s office in Delhi on October 6 with the sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan. They were simply not bothered about coordinating with other Opposition parties nor were they worried about Opposition unity. They seemed more worried to better the CJP record of protest — which incidentally is going to be held on October 10. Surely, the media focus on Gandhi siblings’ antics on the streets in the past two days so upset Congress’s allies that many leaders felt the mega protest eventually became a Gandhi siblings’ show. Many leaders questioned the Gandhis’ move for a sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan while other Opposition leaders were being detained. Apparently, the sit-in protest was not part of the plan. While Rahul’s aides tried to explain about the Gandhis sit-in protest at Akashvani as a move to get appointment with the CEC, many Opposition leaders found Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on meeting the CEC as very odd. Did the Gandhis take 200 Opposition MPs who had gathered at Parliament’s Makar Dwar on October 6 for granted? So it was not just the DMK that skipped the Opposition event. Even Samajwadi Party not only chose to keep away from the Gandhi show but also skipped the Cong lunch invite at Sagar Ratna. Explaining the many who missed the lunch event, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in post on X insisted that all INDIA janbandhan parties had been invited for the lunch. However, since the decision for the lunch had been taken late last night and communicated. It was therefore natural that some parties could not be represented.” At the same time, he protested about the Gandhis being arrested once again. Meanwhile there was outrage on X about Rahul Gandhi spotted manhandling a Delhi woman police official.

It seems Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and leader of Odisha opposition Naveen Patnaik is now shifting from his quiet demeanour to an active communication offensive. He and his party members are now getting ready for an all-out media war against Mohan Charan Majhi’s government by having a highly coordinated media and public outreach strategy. The idea is to expose, highlight the state government’s failures, lapses and mis-governance to the people at large. As part of this plan, Naveen Patnaik has already reorganised BJD’s media cell. This means restructuring the party’s communication road map covering digital, print, and electronic media. Objective is to divert growing public discontent of BJP’s administrative failure into a structured, state-wide campaign against Majhi’s government. Political analysts decoding Patnaik’s new strategy say that Naveen babu has realised that his earlier defeat was due to BJD’s weak social media narrative. And the current media strategy is an antidote to the earlier gap. The job ahead for BJD media team is cut out because it’s taking the role of self- managed PR strategy which has its distinct strategic benefits but also challenges with regard to core execution requirements.

In a heart-warming move, PM Modi had a emotional chat with Captain Smit Machchhar, who survived a savage axe attack inflicted on him by an Omani co-pilot on the ill-fated Flydubai flight on September 30. Incidentally the Modi-Machchhar chat on Oct 2 managed to puncture the opposition protests on the CEC. As the emotional conversation dominated news headlines, slogans at Jantar Mantar became a faint echo. Incidentally, on the day Modi connected with Capt Smit, UAE Presidential Advisor Anwar Gargash described the attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv as a “terrorist act”.  Gargash also praised Indian Captain Smit Machchhar as a “true hero” for helping avert a potential disaster. Abu Dhabi publicly condemning an attack targeting a flight to Israel was seen as a bid to strengthen Israel-UAE ties. PM Modi praised the captain’s bravery in saving numerous lives. During the video call, Machchhar, who is currently recovering at a hospital in the UAE, shared his personal experience and explained that chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ gave him courage during the incident. “I was fighting for my life. I realised at that time that if I don’t show courage, then 170 passengers will lose their lives.” PM Modi had spoken to Capt’s wife and parents, a day earlier and assured them full support from Indian missions. As the pilot apologised to PM Modi for breaking down mid-call, he said that he never imagined that he would get the opportunity to speak to the PM. Modi and the pilot exchanged a few words in Gujarati. It is perhaps this Gujarat connection that must have made the Congress and Rahul Gandhi go silent on not celebrating a hero toasted by the nation! UAE is also probing if the Omani hijacker had Pak links.

BJP MLA Narendra Mehta has sparked off one more controversy, only to perform another volte face within hours following a huge backlash from almost all quarters. As soon as Mehta described the religious and cultural identity of Mira-Bhayandar, which is on the outskirts of Mumbai, as a “Jain city” and “Mini Rajasthan,” verbal attacks against the claim began. He immediately apologised but the embers of the offensive statement are still felt. In support of his claim, Mehta maintained that the township has more than 33 Jain temples, has nine Jain corporators and the mayor, too, is a Jain. It was just a few days ago that an advisory was issued by Seven Square Academy in Mira Road, a school founded by Mehta, asking students not to bring onion, garlic, potato, beetroot and other leafy vegetables or non-vegetarian food during the Jain Paryushan period. The suggestion was withdrawn following all-out opposition. Mira-Bhayandar is a BJP stronghold for a long time and Mehta is its face. His political enmity with the Shiv Sena (Shinde) is well known and he does not shy expressing it publicly time and again. Realising that his latest claim can become a huge headache for the BJP, Mehta has withdrawn it and emphasised that the city belongs to the Agri-Koli community, the original residents for centuries. He also has lauded Maharashtra and Marathi community, saying, “I am fully aware that Marathi people have elected me as their MLA. I apologise for my statement.” But the after effects of his audacious utterance will be felt for some time, at least.

Nandigram is set for its first electoral test since the BJP formed the government in West Bengal earlier this year; the October 6 bypoll carries wider political stakes. It will test the Congress-TMC tactical understanding, put West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s former seat back in focus and offer an early indication of how Bengal’s new political equation is taking shape. Adhikari won Nandigram in the 2026 Assembly election but vacated the seat after also winning Bhabanipur; he had defeated Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram in 2021. The Congress-TMC equation is an unusual one: the two parties are cooperating in Nandigram, but remain electoral rivals in Rejinagar. Banerjee’s faction withdrew its candidate in Nandigram and backed Congress nominee Milan Pradhan. The move followed a meeting between the TMC candidate and Adhikari, after which Banerjee announced her support for Pradhan. Pradhan was subsequently arrested in cases linked to the 2007 Nandigram land agitation and later secured interim bail. That contrast — tactical support in one seat and a direct contest in another — makes Nandigram a closely watched test of whether the two parties can convert limited cooperation into electoral support on the ground. A senior Congress leader said the Nandigram contest would test not just one seat but the extent of coordination among anti-BJP votes. A senior TMC leader said the support for the Congress candidate was aimed at stopping the BJP and should not be equated with the two parties’ separate contest in Rejinagar. The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has emerged as another major issue, with more than 6,000 appeals reportedly pending in Nandigram ahead of polling which will be held on October 6 and counting is scheduled for October 9.

The Bengal CPM’s attempt to put younger leaders in the political spotlight appears to have run into a deeper organisational problem. According to the party’s latest Party Letter No 1, members below 30 constitute just 4.55% of its total membership — a figure the document itself describes as “quite concerning”. The admission, on page three of the document, comes against the backdrop of a sustained effort by the party in recent years to project younger faces in elections as well as organisational positions. Leaders such as Meenakshi Mukherjee, Shatarup Ghosh, Dipita Dhar, Kaltan Dasgupta and Sayan Banerjee have been given greater political visibility over the past five-six years. Mukherjee’s rise has been particularly notable, with her induction into the CPM central committee. The party has also brought in age norms at different levels of its committees, ostensibly to make room for a younger generation. Yet the membership figures suggest that the changes at the leadership level have not translated into a significant shift in the composition of the organisation as a whole. The Party Letter also points to another difficulty: the party continues to struggle to attract members from SC/ST, and minority communities. A state secretariat member attributed the present imbalance to organisational decisions taken two decades or more ago, when, the leader said, the party failed to bring in a number of promising young people because of selective recruitment practices. Over time, that gap widened and became embedded in the organisation. The contrast is particularly significant at a time when a large section of the electorate belongs to Gen Z. For the Bengal CPM, therefore, the challenge is not simply to find younger faces for elections or committees, but to rebuild a wider organisational base that can sustain that transition.

In an interesting move ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early next year, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was found nominating Dhanraj Nathwani, son of a close Reliance aide Parimal Nathwani to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.  It is being said Dhanraj and Anant Ambani are very close buddies. Apparently, Delhi dispensation also gave its quiet nod. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was however kept out of the loop. It is also being said Dimple Yadav and Nita Ambani apparently settled the Rajya Sabha matter in London. Picking a Nathwani for Rajya Sabha was deemed to be useful for the Samajwadi Party which was looking to pad up in an election year. The buzz is Dhanraj Nathwani is said to be close to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay. With his entry into the RS, Dhanraj will be teaming up with his father Parimal who got elected to the RS from Jharkhand as an independent candidate backed by the NDA and the JMM in June 2026. Parimal Nathwani had defeated Congress candidate Pranav Jha much to the consternation of the Congress. Dhanraj’s entry into the Rajya Sabha means the father-son duo will remain on the opposite side of political divide. As for Akhilesh Yadav, his high sounding PDA formula for reaching out to Muslim-Yadav-Dalit vote bank will certainly go for a toss.

There is speculation that political slugfest over CEC Gyanesh Kumar could all be his own making. The general buzz is that he could be unilateral in decision-making like former CEC T N Seshan and this may not have gone down well with his two fellow Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The latest controversy erupted over an Indian Express investigative report alleging that Sandhu and Joshi recorded their objections in writing on at least 14 occasions in the last 10 months. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh says “The CEC has deliberately and explicitly violated the spirit of the Constitution and its provisions on citizenship…by illegally amending Form 6 to deprive Gen Z voters of their voting rights…he is a pawn of the cunning duo of PM-HM”. It is being said when ECs Sandhu and Joshi wrote to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan complaining about the CEC, he told them it was not remit of the government to give directions to the poll body as it was an independent institution. Soon after the Express expose, alarm bells were sounded within the NDA and regional parties wanted the EC to function credibly and coherently. It then became incumbent for the CEC and ECs to come together to hammer out a joint statement. Even though appointments to the ECI are made as sinecure postings for retired bureaucrats — all the officials on ECI are close to ruling side — there is still a possibility that they may not always contribute to smooth functioning of the poll body. Gyanesh Kumar has been charged with bias towards the BJP, foisting the SIR on the country, which has removed 13 crore voters. The Congress even dubs the EC’s latest offer to get the BLO to visit the home of electors to get documents of those who received notices of discrepancies as an admission of guilt by the ECI.

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and CPI(M) secretary M A Baby have reopened communication after decades of rivalry in West Bengal, amid concern over differences within the Election Commission on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Both parties are founding constituents of the INDIA bloc but maintained no communication. Sources said Mamata and Baby spoke over the phone after Baby wrote to Opposition and non-BJP parties. They discussed bringing Opposition parties together to launch a joint campaign to safeguard the credibility of the electoral system. It is also learnt that Didi spoke to LoP Rahul Gandhi and urged him to call an INDIA bloc meeting next week. Baby’s letter called the recently published news report a “major exposé”, raising questions over the commission’s credibility and saying the democratic process was at stake. He claimed the process could affect voting rights of more than 13 crore voters and urged a collective response. Baby proposed a date and venue and approached non-INDIA parties, including BRS, AAP, DMK, Tamil Nadu’s ruling party TVK, BJD and the Cockroach Janta Party. Mamata is learnt to have told Baby that INDIA constituents should meet without delay and work out a strategy. Coordination gathered momentum after reports said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections at least 14 occasions over 10 months to SIR-related decisions. Opposition parties have demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal and an independent inquiry into the EC under Supreme Court oversight, and are likely to submit a notice in Parliament.

India’s culture of political defections has been deplored by Sweden’s MP Nila Vikhe Patil while castigating her uncle Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, a senior minister in Maharashtra. After spending her childhood at Loni in Ahilyanagar district of north Maharashtra, 41-year old Nila returned to Sweden where she has been recently elected to its Parliament. A staunch worker of the Green Party, Nila has expressed chagrin over the attempts by Sujay, son of Radhakrishna, to show closeness to her and claim some credit in her political achievement. Radhakrishna Vikhe and his son Sujay are with the BJP. Sujay was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 but lost five years later. Nila is the daughter of Radhakrishna’s elder brother and educationist Ashok Vikhe Patil. The brothers Vikhe are not on good terms. After Nila’s electoral victory, Sujay spoke with news channels. Nila, however, erupted when she saw one of the video clips in which Sujay was seen saying that although he was defeated in the Lok Sabha election, another member was elected in Sweden. Nila expressed angrily that she had no contact with either Radhakrishna or Sujay in over a decade. She burst out, “I will never change my party. They have.”  She was referring to Vikhe’s changing caps, from the Congress to the Shiv Sena (Unified) and now with the BJP. All through, he has remained an influential cabinet minister, belonging to the powerful Maratha caste and seen as a confidant of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Another chapter of suspense will open in Maharashtra’s politics as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invite from veteran leader Sharad Pawar to visit Baramati on 24 October. The camaraderie between the two dates back to many decades and is a bone of contention between the Gandhi family and the erstwhile Congress strongman. Another sore point is industrialist Gautam Adani, who is close to Pawar since his fledging days while Rahul Gandhi does not miss a single opportunity to attack him. In Baramati, Modi will inaugurate ‘Preranasthal’ (Place of Inspiration) where a memorial for Lord Gautam Buddha is being developed. Always curious about state-of-the-art technology, Pawar has established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute at the Baramati campus to benefit rural students. His penchant was seen when a Robot greeted him on Thursday (Sept 24). Pawar had gone there to see a presentation regarding the preparation for the PM’s visit. Of late, Pawar is appearing rather active despite his advancing years. For instance, he wrote a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadanvis to declare a drought in Maharashtra, given the paucity of rainfall and the privations suffered by a huge number of cattle and farmers. Fadnavis immediately responded and undertook tours of the affected areas. A substantial assistance package for the farming community is expected to be announced by him any moment, given the gravity of the situation. Thus, he has sent a tacit message that he has shown adequate respect towards Pawar. The Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are pushed to the sidelines once again in affairs of the state.

For some inexplicable reason the Congress has suddenly taken a fancy to targeting National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. It is not clear why the party is targeting Doval, who has been giving sleepless nights to Pakistan and kept India safe. It is no coincidence that within a couple of days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that NSA Ajit Doval was conducting widespread surveillance on Indian citizens at his Chhatron ki Goonj programme in Indore. Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan questioned the overlapping authority of EAM Jaishankar and NSA Doval, pointing out that key strategic areas are seeing neighbouring nations pull ahead. Prithviraj Chavan wanted to know why the NSA has been elevated to a cabinet rank under the current government, whereas it was a junior position (Minister of State rank) during the UPA tenure under PM Manmohan Singh. Chavan charged that Doval as a Cabinet Minister was playing a role in Foreign Policy; he was, after all, reporting directly to PM Modi. He questioned how a non-elected official with no parliamentary accountability holds direct access to the Prime Minister and exercises overlapping authority alongside External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.  In a media interview, Chavan was heard questioning Doval’s role at the time of BRICS Summit. He pointed out that while Jaishankar visited Russia ahead of BRICS Summit, Doval had visited Beijing. Clearly, the Congress is stunned by the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the BRICS Summit in Delhi mid-September. That is why the Congress has still been insisting that it still does not know the outcome of the 2-day conclave.

Now it is becoming quite obvious that the Centre is most likely to convene a special session of Parliament during Navaratri to take forward legislation on women’s reservation and delimitation. These bills will have to be passed only then is a Cabinet reshuffle possible. So, a number of new allies who have extended support are waiting for this. The Monsoon Session of Parliament concluded more than a month ago, but it has reportedly not yet been prorogued, adding to speculation that the government could still convene a special sitting. The nine-day Navaratri festival begins on October 11 and continues until October 20.  Official sources indicate that the government could consider holding the special sitting between October 11 and 15, taking into account the festival calendar. NDA sources say women’s reservation during Navaratri would augur well about the government’s commitment to women’s representation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Sources said the government has also reached out to Opposition parties on the issue. One source said the option of a special session remains open, although no final decision has been taken on its timing or the legislative route for operationalising women’s reservation. Several sources described Navaratri as an opportunity to take up legislation on women’s political representation and connect the agenda with the symbolism of Nari Shakti.

Nearly three decades after Mamata Banerjee broke away from the Congress to build the Trinamool Congress, she is confronting a crisis that reaches the party she created: rebellion within, a battle over its name and symbol, and the BJP’s emergence as Bengal’s ruling force. Mamata once challenged the Congress and Left, built a street-politics movement and became Bengal’s dominant force defeating Communist leader Somnath Chatterjee in Jadavpur in 1984. Her differences over the Left Front deepened. In 1993, she led a Writers’ Building march demanding voter ID cards; police firing killed 13 Congress workers. In 1998, she left Congress and founded the Trinamool Congress. Street agitations, Singur and Nandigram transformed her politics, ending 34 years of Left rule. But Nandigram became the setting for her first major reversal: in 2021, Mamata lost the seat to former aide Suvendu Adhikari by around 2,000 votes, though the Trinamool retained power. The 2026 election altered Bengal, with the BJP winning 207 of 294 seats, ending the Trinamool’s 15-year rule. Adhikari retained Bhabanipur and vacated Nandigram. After Mamata’s candidate withdrew following a meeting with him, she backed Congress candidate Milan Pradhan for the October 6 bypoll. That decision captures another reversal. Congress, once a rival and described by Mamata as the BJP’s “B-team”, is now a “sister party” and “natural alliance”. However, the West Bengal Congress remains opposed to an alliance with the Trinamool. State Congress leaders remain wary after years of political confrontation and large-scale defections from Congress to Trinamool. Therefore, Congress support on specific issues is not necessarily translating into a broader electoral understanding in Bengal. The deeper crisis is institutional: the EC has frozen the Trinamool name and ‘Jora Ghash Phul’ symbol pending rival claims, turning the dispute into a fight over political identity.

West Bengal’s action against 352 madrasas is more than a regulatory exercise. Coming barely four months after the BJP government took office, it is the latest in a series of decisions reshaping the state’s approach to Muslim institutions, welfare and religious identity. The immediate trigger is administrative. A statewide survey covering Kolkata and all 22 districts found 2,132 madrasas with valid approval and 2,396 operating without approval. The government has ordered 252 closures and issued show-cause notices to 100 others. Officials cite inadequate infrastructure, deviations from prescribed curricula, management irregularities and lack of valid authorisation. But the political significance lies in the wider sequence. Since May, the government has scrapped religion-based welfare measures including assistance for imams and muezzins, changed the previous OBC framework by removing several Muslim communities from the earlier categorisation, and made Vande Mataram mandatory in madrasas. The Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department’s allocation fell 62%, from Rs 5,713.61 crore in the interim Budget to Rs 2,175.43 crore in the full 2026–27 Budget. The Aikyashree scholarship allocation fell to Rs 250 crore from Rs 741 crore in 2025–26. The government says these changes replace religion-specific benefits with broader, religion-neutral welfare and bring institutions under common regulatory standards. Of the 252 institutions facing closure, 44 are in Malda, 37 in Uttar Dinajpur, 32 in South 24 Parganas and 25 each in Nadia and Murshidabad. Several have substantial Muslim populations, while some are near the Bangladesh border. The distribution does not establish communal targeting. Nor do the findings establish radicalisation or terrorism. Yet BJP leaders have linked some unrecognised madrasas to possible radicalisation and alleged that border-area institutions could facilitate anti-national activity. The question is whether the new government is applying a uniform...

The unusual events leading up to death of a Dalit student Sahil Wakode by suicide in IIT Bombay on September 18, after his professor advised him against use of phone in exam led to a piquant situation. Since then the IIT Bombay has been under immense pressure to act against a much-decorated Prof Suryanarayana Doolla for the death of Wakode. The institute is under pressure to proceed against the professor under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act presumably for doing his job.  However, in a mighty pushback, the IIT Bombay Faculty rallied behind Prof Doolla’s favour and clarified that Prof Doolla has not been suspended, and continues to be a member of the faculty of the institute in “good standing”. It noted that Prof Doolla, who had won several awards for teaching, had received at least two such awards on the recommendations of the students. At this stage it is not clear how one odd statement will help Prof Doolla as political parties like the Congress are already trying to capitalise the incident. In this backdrop with the deceased student’s parents pressing for strong action, Prof Doolla got some support from Dalit leader from Tamil Nadu, Ananthan Ayyasamy, who has vocally opposed pressing SC/ST Act against Prof Doolla. He feels such a step would be counter-productive. Explaining how he himself belongs to the Devendra Kula Vellalar community, classified as SC, he says slapping the “harsh” SC/ST Act could drive away our IIT teaching faculty abroad. He says his community has been wanting to get out of the reserved category.  A qualified engineer from NIT, Trichy, who has had a stint at Intel in India and the U.S., he says his community is opposed to using the SC/ST Act per se.  “We are about 9% in Tamil Nadu. We should not do anything to harm our nation.” 

Lalbaugcha Raja was never only an idol. It was a promise: stand long enough, and Bappa will see you. This year that promise looks thinner than the barricade tape. Videos from the Parel queue are doing what official statements will not. People are telling friends to skip Raja. Not out of lost faith. Out of fear of the arrangement. Jaydeep Meghraj Nemade, 25, a Pune engineer with an MBA, came with friends for darshan on September 17. Around 11.40 pm, still in the line, he felt uneasy and could not breathe. He was rushed to Global Hospital. He died there. Police booked an accidental death and spoke of a suspected heart attack. The post-mortem will settle the medical line. It will not settle the other one: a young devotee collapsed in the most photographed queue in Mumbai, and the first public instinct was not surprising. It was recognition. That line has looked unsafe for years. What the videos show is not devotion. It is sorting. The common public is packed, shoved, held, and moved like volume. A few metres away, the paid and the connected walk a cleaner path. Pay more, wait less. The same mandal that sells “Raja of the poor” runs two religions under one shamiana: one for those who can buy speed, one for those who can only buy patience. Promotion gets louder every year. The callousness of the ground gets cheaper. Security looks like crowd control, not care. When regular visitors start saying it is better to avoid Raja, then it’s time organisers must sit up and take notice. 

Jadavpur University is emerging as a battleground in West Bengal, underscoring the BJP’s difficulty in making inroads into a campus associated with the Left. The BJP won the Jadavpur Assembly constituency in the 2026 election, yet the university remains outside the political influence of the BJP or Trinamool Congress. Demands for “neutral” campuses have raised concerns over attempts to suppress critical discourse. For decades, student politics at JU has been dominated by Left formations, including SFI, AISA and FETSU. The TMC has failed to establish a comparable foothold. That equation came under strain in August after clashes involving ABVP and Left-leaning groups, with allegations of outsider entry and vandalism. The confrontation centred on a FETSU meeting at Aurobindo Bhavan. The BJP has accused students and faculty of encouraging anti-national politics, citing graffiti and slogans concerning Palestine and Kashmir, invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s phrase “Dimagi Naxal”. Following its electoral success, the RSS has intensified efforts to reshape academic institutions. The campaign intensified on September 9, when chief minister Suvendu Adhikari led a saffron procession involving BJP workers and Naga sadhus towards JU. He warned that those raising “azadi” slogans would be “uprooted”. The government passed the West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, allowing inter-university transfers. It says the measure can deploy experienced faculty to institutions including Jhargram and Cooch Behar. Teachers’ groups, including JUTA, have opposed it, arguing that it threatens university autonomy and could enable punitive transfers. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Sarbori Mukherjee has sought to rename JU after Sri Aurobindo. CPI(M) state secretary and JU alumnus Mohammad Salim criticised the proposal, alleging that the BJP’s objective is to extend RSS ideology across Bengal. He argued that, after JNU, Jamia Millia Islamia and Hyderabad...

Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari’s lament that he feels ashamed for incompletion of the crucial Mumbai-Konkan-Goa highway even after 17 years has assumed another dark hue since it has come to light that the expenditure for the strategic link has almost doubled over the years. RTI activist Jitendra Ghadge has been informed by the ministry headed by Gadkari that the projected expenditure for four-laning of the highway will be around Rs 16909 crore. Earlier, it was tagged at Rs 11409 crore. Thus, the rise amounts to 48%. So far, Rs 11577 crore has been spent on the project. This amount exceeds the original estimate. Despite the delay and so much expenditure, many large tracts of the highway NH-66 are still incomplete. The result is harassment for the road users, especially during festival occasions. While it was announced in the past that the distance of 460 km between Mumbai and the Maharashtra-Goa border would be crossed within seven to eight hours due to the expansion of the highway, the common experience is that it is impossible to guess how long it can take to drive down to the destination. This is owing to the pitiable condition of the road. This delay is compared with the 700-km Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Expressway, which was completed within seven years from the day the work started. Exasperated, Gadkari has announced that he will not remain present for the inauguration of the link as he felt ashamed for the inability to complete the project.

On PM Narendra Modi’s birthday on September 17, Tamil Nadu CM C Joseph Vijay was among the many leaders and CMs who posted their birthday greetings on X.  What however caught the political eye was that the TVK supremo’s “heartfelt birthday wishes” to “Modi avargal” was his acknowledgement that PM Modi “leads with dedication towards building a strong India”. He significantly wished for PM Modi’s “a long life filled with good health”. These were significant, considering it was made in the backdrop of a dogfight within the Congress in Tamil Nadu as to who will be the PM face for 2029 Lok Sabha polls. In fact, a public spat  erupted within the party over its alliance with TVK and the recent campaign projecting Vijay as a potential prime ministerial face, with two senior party leaders — former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief Selvaperunthagai and former MP Praveen Chakravarty — trading sharp remarks. The dispute began after Selvaperunthagai said any alliance involving the Congress should accept Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate. “If Rahul Gandhi is the PM, alliance partners should accept that. If not, what is the point of being in this alliance? It is only honest to have an alliance with those who openly and sincerely accept Rahul as the prime minister,” Selvaperunthagai said. Chakravarty, however, dismissed the former state Congress chief’s intervention, saying there was no confusion within the alliance and that TVK had not officially taken a position against Rahul Gandhi.  

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has admonished three top Bollywood actors over their appearance in a surrogate advertisement for a Pan Masala brand. Actors Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff are thus violators of the law in the eyes of the FDA, Munde has thundered in a TV channel interview.  The controversial advertisement is of Vimal Elaichi mouth freshner. In the frank questions-answer session, Mundhe has made it abundantly clear that for law, no celebrity status matters neither does it accord protection from legal proceedings. Hence, the three actors are treated as advertisers in this legal context. The FSSA of India Act requires endorsers to observe due diligence regarding the products they promote. Accordingly, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff received official show-cause notices from the Maharashtra FDA. The notices said the Vimal Elaichi campaign acts as a surrogate promotion for Vimal Pan Masala, which is banned in Maharashtra. The FDA directed the actors to stop the campaign and delete promotional content from social media. Munde revealed that while two actors have responded to the notice, one is yet to do so. He pleaded inability to name the individuals concerned, saying that the file for the case was with one of his subordinates. Munde has been hitting the headlines ever since he took over as FDA chief. Significantly, the state government has desisted from making any comment about his campaign, which has rubbed many in high places the wrong way.

For ages, Chennai’s Marina, the world’s second longest beach has remained the envy of many a coastal city. It has also hosted significant public protests for causes, strong or illusory. The imposing colonial, brilliant white IG’s office has presided over this imposing wide beach road. A recent decision to build a sprawling new Secretariat on 25 acres of Pattinapakkam’s loop road has raised a tsunami of protests from the nine fishing villages as they may lose their livelihood, if forced to migrate. But why is this site chosen from a clutch of other less vulnerable locations? The talk by the well and ill-versed is buzzing with anger, apprehension and alarm. Fishers’ boats have turned symbols of serious protest, with black flags on every boat.  Former Education Minister of the DMK Anbil Mahesh said there are so many schools in the narrow roads of Santhome nearly 20,000 students may face hardships of traffic diversion. A monument built on 25 acres of coastal land maybe inundated over the years …remember the tsunami of 2004 and how waves battered the road boundaries? Why this particular location? Also the earlier “New Secretariat” built on the Omandurar Estate by the DMK government was converted into multi-specialty hospital when J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK came to power. The TVK government’s Rs 1,200 crore Secretariat will affect livelihood of fishermen …a single boat supports 10 fisher families. There is the buzz about why Pattinappakkam? A ritzy high-rise here is the home of the CM and other celebrities. A well-known builder designed it. If the plan to build a spanking new secretariat goes through the value of this beach front will rise higher. The CM has already announced the project under rule 110.

Are the regional constituents of the INDIA Bloc beginning to work among themselves, without the Congress playing the role of “big brother”? While the Gandhis have maintained a cordial relationship with Mamata Banerjee, recent developments surrounding two bypolls in West Bengal have raised questions over the equation. On the day the Election Commission froze the Trinamool Congress’s party name and symbol, DMK leader Kanimozhi met Banerjee at her residence. The Congress, meanwhile, moved quickly to attack the poll panel’s decision, with general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal calling it “the Election Commission’s gift” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday. His remarks came as Kanimozhi’s meeting with Banerjee fuelled speculation about regional parties exploring a political platform that could operate independently of the Congress. The timing has acquired significance because the TMC and Congress are contesting the Nandigram and Rejinagar bypolls separately. Unconfirmed reports suggest Banerjee was willing to accommodate the Congress in one of the seats and had approached Venugopal. There has, however, been no response from the Congress to the reported outreach. Kanimozhi’s engagements have extended beyond Bengal. She met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in the presence of MPs Anil Desai and Milind Narvekar. The discussions reportedly covered the delimitation Bill, the Congress’s approach towards the BJP and the future of the INDIA Bloc. She also met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule amid reports of differences between the Congress and NCP (SP) in Maharashtra. The developments come against the backdrop of an inactive INDIA Bloc coordination mechanism. Its 14-member committee met only once, on September 13, 2023. A proposal for regular meetings also faltered after a planned Hyderabad meeting in August 2026 failed to take place.

Dashing hopes of the BJP, a fragmented opposition, the AAP and the Goa Forward Party have joined forces to create a new alliance called ‘Goa First’ with the hope to win the 2027 Goa Assembly elections. AAP’s national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, said the alliance is an alternative to the BJP and Congress. Kejriwal said voters deserve an option beyond these two major parties, arguing that they pretend to oppose each other during elections while collaborating behind the scenes. The Goa Forward Party, led by former deputy CM Vijai Sardesai, is a regional political outfit. Currently, it holds one seat in the 40-member state Assembly. The AAP has two MLAs. Ironically, for the past two years, Sardesai has wanted to merge the GFP with the Congress and had approached the party through multiple channels. In return, he sought either the post of LoP or the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) presidency. The Congress’s Yuri Alemao, who stayed with the party despite lucrative offers from the BJP, is the current LoP in the Goa Assembly, and the Congress was reluctant to replace him. The BJP has ruled Goa since 2012. In 2017 and 2022, it won because opposition votes were divided among multiple parties. Now in its 15th year the BJP government faces strong anti-incumbency. Allegations of land-transfer irregularities and a multi-crore cash-for-jobs scam have surfaced. The Congress won 11 seats in 2022, but eight of its MLAs defected to the BJP. Most Congress MLAs elected in 2022 came from South Goa, where the State’s Catholic-majority areas supported it. The AAP says it cannot have an understanding with the Congress in Goa, as it is the principal challenger in Punjab. Goa and Punjab go to polls in February-March 2027.

Is the Government reaching out to the Opposition for a special session of Parliament to pass the Delimitation Bill? Sources say Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s office has reached out to Congress chief and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge to see whether a session can be held before October 11, when Navratri begins. It is learnt that Rahul Gandhi is in no mood to help PM Narendra Modi to pass the delimitation bill to usher in women’s quota. The talk is that the government may also consider holding it during Navratri, citing the festival’s association with the worship of Goddess Durga and its symbolism around women’s empowerment. The Govt’s efforts are to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass the Constitutional Amendment Bill. Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die on August 13. A few days ago, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the government had broken its previous record for the longest delay in proroguing both Houses. In response, Kharge wrote to Rijiju, reiterating the demand that the government convene an all-party meeting and disclose the proposed agenda before deciding. The issue of delimitation has remained a major political flashpoint, with the Congress demanding that the Lok Sabha’s existing strength of 543 seats be frozen for the next 25 years and that 33% reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. On April 17, during the Budget session, the Constitutional amendment bill (to implement women’s reservation before the 2029) was defeated in the Lok Sabha. The buzz is that the government has opened channels with the DMK, which has 22 Lok Sabha MPs, to vote for the Bill. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the government has a two-thirds majority. Recently, DMK MP Kanimozhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP (SP) leader Sharad Pawar met fuelling speculation over opposition consultations on delimitation.