All
Politics
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Celebrities
Haryana state assemblies, set for triangular fight between Congress, BJP and AAP, saw Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s timely enlargement on bail suiting BJP’s poll strategy although facing tough anti-incumbency itself. Congress authorized former CM Bhupinder Hooda to finalise poll prospects, refusing to cede 10 assembly constituencies to AAP for pre-poll alliance. Hooda’s son Deepinder, a Lok Sabha MP organized fanfare for Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat (a Jat) on her return following the Olympic debacle. She was part of the Jantar Mantar agitation over molestation charges against ex-president WFI and BJP MP Brijbhushan Singh. Julana constituency choice for Phogat, however, raises questions over winnability with Congress never winning the seat and potential loss of face for the party that garnered 10,000 votes at best from here. AAP fielded former WWF wrestler Kavita Dalal against Phogat to further dampen Congress prospects while Kejriwal who steps down as Delhi CM utilizes bail time to canvas against Hooda’s choice of candidates. Brijmohan Shrivastav, Chief National Spokesperson NCP (Ajit Pawar) feels Phogat will emerge victorious in husband Somvir’s home constituency as Jat and Rathee communities will combine in her favour since caste is dominant factor in Bihar, UP and Haryana. Phogat’s recent disqualification at Olympics and perception of BJP not backing her up upset the two communities. It may be recalled that Phogat and wrestler husband Rathee even challenged norms at their wedding ceremony, opting for eight rounds (vows) of holy havan kund including extra phera emphasizing the girl child (Beti Bachao, Beti Padao, Beti Kilao) over gender bias evident in population ratio of Haryana. Will Julana solemnize Vinesh’s Congress alliance too?
Will Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana pull off a coup at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates? The two stalwarts of the Indian team are the top two run-getters in the format for India and among the top three in the world. Kaur has played 153 innings from 173 matches, scored 3426 runs, and has featured in 92 wins, while Mandhana, 135 innings from 141, scored 3493 runs and has featured in 79 wins. Kaur has played all eight previous world cups, and Mandhana has five. But both have been erratic in the global competition which is reflected in Kaur’s average of 20.57 and Mandhana’s 22.45. That India is placed in a tough group along with six-time winners Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka means that they cannot make a faltering start against New Zealand at the Dubai International Stadium on October 4. India has won 55.56% of its World Cup matches and has a 50% record against Australia and New Zealand (played 4 and 2 wins each), four wins against Sri Lanka out of five and five wins against Pakistan from seven matches. Since only two advance to the knockout from the preliminary stage, India starts its campaign with a pressure match against New Zealand. India has not played a single Twenty20 international in Dubai, as is the case with Australia. But Pakistan and Sri Lanka have. India has played 36 matches since January 1, 2023 and lost 10 including the Asia Cup final to Sri Lanka.
Maharashtra BJP is facing a quandary since the mass media is awash with reports about a purported internal survey conducted by the party in Vidarbha region. The reason – the prediction that neither the BJP nor the Mahayuti will fare well in the region. Although BJP leaders are yet to react to the news stories, the survey has reportedly said that the Mahayuti can win around 25 seats out of the total 62 in the BJP’s traditional stronghold. Vidarbha was once the Congress citadel and had stood by Indira Gandhi even after the post-emergency election in 1977. However, it has been a cakewalk for the BJP since 2014. The first jolt it received was the Lok Sabha election earlier this year as the Congress performed unexpectedly well, at the cost of the BJP. In 2019, the BJP-led saffron alliance had won 39 of the seats. However, after the splits in the Shiv Sena and the NCP, the configuration has undergone a sea change. In view of the Lok Sabha voting pattern and analysis, the Mahayuti will have no problem in remaining at the top but its dominance will be dented seriously, if one wishes to trust the so-called survey findings. According to the survey assessment, the BJP will be able to win 18 seats while the Sena (Shinde) will bag just five and the NCP under Ajit Pawar a token two. The overall tally of 25 for the Mahayuti will impact the alliance’s ambition of returning to power in the state in the election, most likely to occur in November this year.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has finally rung down the curtains on the speculation surrounding the prestigious Baramati assembly constituency by giving out ample indications that he will contest the seat this time, too. Ajit took this decision after he was advised that his shaky stance could cost the NCP(A) heavily. Ajit has also scored over the two other Mahayuti partners – the BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde) — by finalising nearly two dozen assembly candidates. Both these parties are still to decide on their nominees. Internecine power struggle and past rivalry with each other are hindering the list finalisation. The picture on the Maha Vikas Aghadi is a little different. None of the MVA partners has so far declared any name of a prospective candidate. Against this backdrop, Ajit has overtaken all other parties in the state. Equally important is his willingness to enter the fray after dilly-dallying for a long time. The other names in Ajit’s list include former home minister Dilip Walse Patil, senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal and the legislative assembly’s deputy speaker Narahari Zirwal. Not to take a chance, Ajit’s team started combing the Baramati constituency much earlier. The contest will be a fierce one if Ajit’s nephew Yugendra Pawar decides to take on his uncle. Yugendra is groomed by NCP founder Sharad Pawar ever since Ajit broke away from the parent party. Whatever the outcome, the seat will remain with the Pawar family, which has been holding it for the past 55 years.
Even as Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin signed off his U.S. sojourn with a “goodbye USA” post, there is still a lot of speculation about the real purpose behind his nearly month-long tour across America. Though the official reason being given is that he had gone there to talk up foreign investment for the state, but both his critics and well-wishers are not convinced that the kind of business meetings that Stalin had lined up with CEOs reveal foreign investment had driven the DMK leader to camp in the U.S. Sources close to Stalin say the real purpose of the CM staying away from Chennai was that he was advised by astrologers, consulted by wife Durga, that the CM must stay away from his home, preferably travel across seven seas for the sake of his well-being and future of his politics. That is why in view of the inauspicious times, he also put off elevating son Udhayanidhi as Deputy CM as he was not sure of its impact on senior DMK leaders His critics have been panning his U.S. trip in social media as a waste of public money.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Bengal is grappling with a significant leadership void following the sudden demise of Sitaram Yechury, the party’s General Secretary since 2015. Known for his pivotal role in steering the CPI(M) through turbulent political waters, Yechury’s death has left a profound impact, particularly on the Bengal State Committee, with which he had close ties. His demise has now triggered discussions within the party regarding his successor, with sources close to Alimuddin Street indicating that the Bengal faction is seeking someone aligned with its interests. Among the names being floated for the interim general secretary position are Brinda Karat and Prakash Karat. However, sources close to the party’s leadership in Bengal suggest that Brinda Karat has the edge, primarily due to her past association with Bengal. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by CPI(M) Bengal secretary Anil Biswas, further solidifying her connection with the state’s leadership. As there are also whispers about Maryam Alexander Baby, a former Kerala minister, as a possible successor to Yechury, in the upcoming Central committee meeting, the state unit is likely to push hard for a leader with pro-Bengal sentiments to take up the national leadership role owing to Yechury’s Bengal connections. Mohammad Salim, the current Bengal State Secretary, is another figure whose name has been suggested for a possible elevation to the national level. If Salim were to step up, the Bengal unit would need to find a new state secretary..
Six months after he was first arrested in the liquor policy scam, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal got bail in the CBI case. The AAP chief will now walk out of Tihar jail having been granted interim bail in the ED’s money laundering case in June. Fifth leader to get bail after AAP leaders like Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in the same case, Kejriwal’s release may help the AAP go full throttle in its campaign in Haryana — where it will be taking on both incumbent BJP as well as the Congress, which refused to ally with it. Haryana-born Kejriwal will also have the advantage of testing his acceptability in the state even as AAP rules adjoining Punjab. The bail conditions make it difficult for Kejriwal to return to Delhi CM’s office. It is likely that he may go for an interim CM, elevate wife Sunita. Legally, the bail verdict has cast the CBI in a poor light as one of the judges invoked “caged parrot” analogy of the coal scam era and dubbed CBI arrest as “unjustified” after Kejriwal had secured bail in the ED case. Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul ‘Engineer’ Rashid, who had been incarcerated in a terror-funding case under PMLA for 5 years, was recently freed by a NIA court to take part in J&K polls. To his surprise, the man who had trounced former CM Omar Abdullah in Baramulla was shocked to find that only fewer people had turned up to listen to him as he addressed his first election rally in Baramulla. Will Kejriwal’s experience be different from Rashid’s?
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with U.S. lawmaker Ilhan Omar sparked controversy, with the ruling BJP accusing him of aligning with anti-India forces. “…He has become the first LoP from India who met with a declared anti-India MP Ilhan Omar notorious for speaking against our country,” said BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi. Ilhan Omar serves in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Minneapolis and nearby suburbs. Omar has introduced resolutions in the U.S. Congress that criticised India’s policies and spoke against India’s decision to revoke Article 370, which gave special status to J&K. In April 2022, she visited Pakistan, met with top Pakistani leaders, including former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and travelled to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK). India condemned the U.S. Congresswoman’s visit to POK. In June 2023, Omar boycotted PM Modi’s address to the U.S. Congress. In June 2023, she introduced a resolution calling on the US Secretary of State to designate India as a country of particular concern for alleged violations of religious freedom. BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya accused Rahul Gandhi of siding with Ilhan Omar, whom he described as a Pakistan-sponsored anti-India voice. His reaction came a day after Rahul in an address to the diaspora, took a jab at the BJP, saying people are no longer afraid of PM Modi after Lok Sabha results. In the backdrop of J&K polls, it would be interesting to see how Rahul’s photo-op interaction with Ilhan Omar plays out in the UT.
Netflix India’s content head Monika Shergill met Union I&B Ministry officials answering summons over controversy surrounding Anubhav Sinha’s IC814 -– The Kandahar Hijack web series aired worldwide. The inadequate disclaimer tagged alongside the series was promptly rectified with additions reflecting, “During the hijacking of IC814 (Indian Airlines plane) terrorists used aliases, code names. The names of terrorists were: Ibrahim Athar (alias Chief), Shahid Akhtar Sayed (alias Doctor), Sunny Ahmed Qazi (alias Burger), Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim (alias Bhola), Shakir (alias Shankar).” While expected to bring closure to issue, BJP is livid at the selective advisory being aired limitedly on Netflix India while global feeds (aired through U.S.-based servers) continue depicting the old disclaimer. I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw faces flak from within BJP for the limited clarification. “The Indian Hindu diaspora is a global phenomenon in every corner of the world. Why is disclaimer restricted to resident Indian audiences? I&B Minister must take issue with Netflix,” senior BJP leader Mahendra Jain says. Another leader states, “Vaishnaw knows the old disclaimer was amended to include fresh advisory to be put out globally to set the record straight. This is now akin to hijacking the clarification itself to suit Netflix’s convenience. When newspapers issue rejoinders over inaccurate facts, it’s not limited to one segment alone but carried across editions so all readers are well informed.” He added BJP’s former I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lost his ministry over a smaller faux pas after being tasked by PM Narendra Modi for tackling X over pejorative content regularly tweeted. “Back then, Prasad’s own twitter account was suspended which did not go down well with the BJP higher ups and he lost his job. Vaishnaw must pull up his socks or else face a similar fate.”
The Chennai-headquartered Shriram Group has become a bone of contention between NCLT and IRDA. One of the largest financial services companies in the country underwent a series of reorganization in the not-so-distant past. Ostensibly, the objective was to un-clutter its cross-holdings to usher in a simplified structure. By doing so, it sought to consolidate its focus on its core business. The restructuring process also involved two group companies — Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd and Shriram General Insurance Company Ltd. As part of the process, the separate investments of Shriram Capital in these two insurance ventures were demerged into two SPVs (special purpose vehicles) – Shriram LI Holdings and Shriram GI Holdings. These investments were described as businesses while setting in motion the demerger process. This was done mainly to address the taxation angle. Within a year or so of the formation of these two SPVs, a move was initiated to amalgamate these two with the Shriram Life Insurance Company Ltd and Shriram General Insurance Company Ltd. The NCLT in Jaipur (where Shriram General is headquartered) and NCLT in Hyderabad (where Shriram Life is headquartered) heard these cases for approval. Insurance regulator IRDA raised objections to the amalgamation at Jaipur NCLT. The IRDA insisted that it had sole powers to approve since the merger related to the insurance entity. The Jaipur NCLT, however, declared that a merger of a non-insurance company with the insurance firm falls within the purview of the Companies Act, and, hence, IRDA has no power. The NCLT Jaipur suggested that only transfer of shares would come under the Insurance Act. In this instance, the amalgamation will result in the issue of fresh shares only. Hence, the NCLT Jaipur is convinced that fresh share issue comes under its purview only. The amalgamation move, no doubt, has the NCLT nod. But the NCLT Jaipur order has a lot to ponder over for the IRDA. Consequent to the NCLT Jaipur...
The Andheri assembly constituency by-election scheduled to be held on November 3 will be the first electoral combat between the BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), though the Congress party has still kept its stand undeclared, creating some suspense. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has declared his support of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav) candidate Rutuja Latke, wife of the deceased MLA Ramesh Latke. The other factor that will impact the outcome will be the allotment of the election symbol, Bow & Arrow, claimed by both Sena factions. The Election Commission will decide which claimant gets the symbol. The Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction has decided to allow the BJP to fight the by-election though earlier, it wished to stake its ownership of the seat, since it wants to establish itself as the ‘true’ Sena. But a BJP announcement on Sunday that it will field veteran Murjibhai Patel has put all speculation to rest. Patel had contested the 2019 election as an independent candidate and gained substantial votes. Late Ramesh Latke was a popular personality since he used to help anyone who approached, irrespective of party affiliation or caste or creed. Uddhav Thackeray’s unilateral decision to allow Rutuja is considered a smart move although the Congress party is facing a dilemma since its electoral presence in Mumbai is going to be reduced further.
In his first media interaction in Delhi, Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that there was no G-23 camp now in the Congress. The Congress presidential candidate who is tipped to win the party polls said all those leaders wanted to fight unitedly against the RSS-BJP and therefore had supported him. Several dissident leaders such as Bhupinder Hooda, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Prithviraj Chavan of the group of 23, who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking scale organisational reforms, have put their weight behind Kharge by becoming his proposers instead of backing Tharoor who was a prominent member of G-23. Party leaders agreed if Kharge got elected it immediately raised the prospect of AICC headquarters functioning full throttle. That is because in his own words he has the habit of “working full-time”. “If I sat in Parliament then I would get up only in the evening at the time of shutdown.” With the Gandhis at the helm, most party functionaries preferred to operate out of their own homes as the Gandhis rarely visited the party office. “Unlike Indiraji and Rajivji who always met party workers before beginning their official work, Soniaji and Rahul never had time for Congress workers, ” pointed out a Himachal leader. Aided by three spokespersons, Kharge will start touring states beginning with Karnataka followed by Chennai on October 7.
The only refreshing break in the ongoing slugfest between BJD and BJP in Odisha is the Ollywood casting couch allegation going viral with newspaper headlines screaming that an eminent high profile Ollywood film maker Akshay Parija has joined the unenviable list of men who have been accused of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct. Me-too campaign has hit Odisha. Akshay, is an NRI film producer who makes both commercial and parallel cinema. He is in talks with Zee Sarthak for a tie-up. This national award winner has won acclaim for his documentaries on environment issues such as Kadvi Hawa, Agastya, Paiko Bidroho, Kehi Nuhen Kahara and others. According to a FIR filed by a lady in Bhubaneswar Parija established physical relation with her, against her will at her house by luring her with an offer of a role in a film and threatened her if she dared to marry anybody else. It seems to be endemic in the film industry globally. In the case of the Odisha film industry it seems to be rocked by controversies. Popular actor Babushaan’s wife Trupti Satpathy stopped his co-star Prakruti Mishra from boarding an auto-rickshaw for having an affair with her husband. Earlier, actor Anubhav Mohanty and his actress wife Varsha Priyadarshini hit headlines over their marital discord.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray has demanded that the government should investigate all madrassas in the state and ban those which are illegal. After MNS successfully conducted a campaign against loudspeakers on mosques, it has again flexed its muscles against what it calls anti-national activities. MNS spokesman Yashwant Chile told the media that his organization would launch a campaign against illegal madrassas in the state if the government did not concede to the MNS demand for a comprehensive survey and investigation. He said MNS was taking this step after receiving several complaints. Chile said unauthorized madrassas were being conducted in many residential areas with the object of turning such localities into Muslim-dominated pockets. Chief minister Eknath Shinde will be submitted a petition to demand such a survey by MNS on Monday (Oct 3). The faction’s spokesman Deepak Kesarkar said a decision in this regard would be taken by the government after consulting all concerned. Vishwas Hindu Parishad’s Maharashtra unit leader Shankar Gaikar’s meeting with Raj Thackeray against the backdrop of this warning is considered significant.
Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray’s confidant Milind Narvekar has become the focus of political developments following a claim by a senior minister that Narvekar is likely to join the Shinde faction in near future. Known as Man Friday of the Thackeray family for over a decade, Narvekar is regarded as a troubleshooter during any political crisis in the state. It was Narvekar who was rushed to Surat by Uddhav to persuade the rebels to come back to the Sena fold. Off and on, Narvekar has been in touch with both factions. A trustee of the Tirupati Balaji Trust, Narvekar and Shinde have met at least twice in recent times. Minister Gulabrao Patil, famous for his outlandish statements, told a public meeting that Champa Singh Thapa, who was always found by the side of Balasaheb Thackeray, had joined the Shinde camp and Narvekar, too, would be doing so soon. Chief minister Eknath Shinde’s visit to Narvekar’s residence for Ganesh Darshan had generated speculation that the latter was about to desert his boss Uddhav. The statement by Gulabrao Patil has revived it, especially since there are reports that Uddhav has appointed Ravi Mhatre in place of Narvekar as his personal secretary. However, the Sena has neither refuted nor confirmed such reports.
If there was one candidate that the Gandhis were really worried about — it was former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh. His entry enthused party cadres in north India. Many partymen were hoping Singh would move in as party chief and energise the moribund organisation. It was in this backdrop that the Gandhis adopted a strategy to stop Singh from filing his papers. They endorsed 80-year old Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit leader from North Karnataka, as their candidate. After a late-night meeting, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal conveyed to Kharge that the party leadership wanted him to contest. Entry of Kharge was enough to persuade Singh to withdraw from the fray. It is significant that Sonia Gandhi did not opt for younger Dalit leaders such as Kumari Selja or Mukul Wasnik who are in their 60s. Besides, Sonia opted to endorse Kharge on the day Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Karnataka. Immediately BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya tweeted that Kharge at 80 is an inspiring choice to be party chief…He should just pick Dr Manmohan Singh’s manual on “Living by the Remote Control” and it is all sorted”. Was Kharge chosen because the Karnataka assembly elections are scheduled early next year? Possibly. Kharge will resign as LoP in Rajya Sabha. Will Divijay Singh succeed him? Shashi Tharoor files his papers, vows to remain in fray but party hopes he may finally withdraw.
Both Shiv Sena factions are making all-out preparations to outshine each other by ensuring a larger turnout than that of the rival for their Dussehra rallies. While the Uddhav Thackeray faction says the traditional rally venue of Shivaji Park will overflow with Sena supporters, loyalists of chief minister Eknath Shinde maintain that their meeting will be three times larger, endorsing the claim that they represent the true Shiv Sena. While the political atmosphere in Maharashtra is warming up hour on hour, the police administration is busy planning the traffic flow on that day as it has to ensure that at no place the two factions accost each other. An equally major concern is the traffic management since thousands of vehicles are expected to converge around the two rally venues, Shivaji Park in Dadar for Uddhav supporters and the BKC Maidan for Shinde loyalists. Reports are pouring in about bus reservations being made by both sides to ferry their workers. Some clips have surfaced, claiming that workers from even other friendly parties are being wooed to attend the mega event. Uddhav and Shinde factions have put up colourful hoardings and their teasers are keeping social media alive. Both sides say they are the true torch bearers of Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. MPs, MLAs and corporators from different towns have been assigned a specific quota of people to be made present for the Dussehra rallies, leading to political suspense.
A renewed vigour can be witnessed with the CPI(M) West Bengal Unit. CPI(M) has always relied on its grassroots connections, especially the panchayats. Having been decimated in the 2021 Assembly election with no representation, the Left is now leaving no stones unturned to capitalize on their cadre politics. For 2023 Panchayat polls it has launched its campaign “Nazare Panchayat” (Eye on Panchayat) with a helpline number asking to submit complaints against the Trinamool Congress. It has also shared a video claiming that within the first seven days of the campaign the party has received 1500 complaints. Out of which, 55% are against TMC leaders, 77% of calls are from rural areas and 40% of those are related to panchayat issues. Significantly, the CPI(M) state leadership including state secretary Mohammad Salim, senior politburo members Sujan Chakraborty, Abhash Roy Chowdhury, Debolina Hembram, youth leaders Meenakshi Mukherjee, Satarup Ghosh are leading several protest marches, addressing rallies in the districts. The student and youth wing of the party — SFI, DYFI — recently called for an Insaf Sabha in Kolkata seeking justice for the murder of one of their youth leader Anis Khan witnessing a large turnout. It also held similar rallies in Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, West Midnapore, Malda, and Raiganj. Incidentally, a supporter with bow and arrow surfaced during the Raigunj rally, which reminded the erstwhile Left agitation in Bengal.
Emerging from a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls. His meeting with Sonia at 10 Janpath in New Delhi came just after a series of missteps he took defying diktats for change in party leadership last weekend; it was also the penultimate day ahead of filing of papers for top Congress post. Gehlot said he had apologised to Sonia for the developments in Jaipur on September 25 when MLAs supporting him defied the high command and skipped the Congress Legislature Party meeting at his residence and submitted their resignations to the Assembly Speaker. While it is not clear if Gehlot’s public regret to Sonia was enough to salvage the damage caused to Congress leadership’s authority in Jaipur, questions still persist over what will happen to Sachin Pilot. Will Pilot remain in the party after this, eating humble pie? When asked if he will continue as chief minister, Gehlot said Sonia Gandhi would decide. He was clearly hinting that the Congress had little choice here in terms of the number of MLAs backing Pilot. Gehlot asserted that he had always been a disciplined soldier of the Congress for 50 years. In Rajasthan, the Congress high command cannot afford to please both Gehlot and Pilot. Either Gehlot hangs in till 2023 assembly polls or the younger Pilot explores other options.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde has become the common target for the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena as they have joined hands to level serious allegations against the CM. As soon as senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan had disclosed that Shinde had approached him in 2014 with a proposal to form a Congress-Sena coalition government, Shinde’s confidant Naresh Mhaske countered that Ashok Chavan himself had remained absent during a recent crucial voting in the state assembly. Moreover, Chavan had not denied news reports that he was planning to join the BJP, Mhaske pointed out. Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule shot back that the Sena was run by Uddhav Thackeray in 2014. “It must have been Uddhav who himself had asked Shinde to meet Congress leaders,” Bawankule said. Uddhav loyalist Chandrakant Khaire rushed to support the statement of Ashok Chavan. He said that Shinde was trying to join the Congress party along with 15 MLAs when Prithviraj Chavan was the chief minister. However, the plan fizzled out when the news reached Uddhav. The former MP alleged that Shinde had deserted the Sena just for chair and not for any ideology. Shinde faction MP Hemant Patil said the opposition was rattled since Shinde’s popularity was increasing day by day. Hence attempts were made to divert public attention from his good work.
Panchayat polls in West Bengal is due in 2023 and the ground reality is that besides TMC, CPI(M)’s performance stands best with its network of cadres spread across. BJP still struggles with only a “Nabanna Abhijyan” (march to state secretariat) a face saver. TMC is mired in corruption charges following the arrest of two of its top leaders and BJP leadership expected a groundswell in the party’s favour. That was not to be. Having failed to capitalize on this, prompted the party to seek support from its arch rivals — the CPI(M) and Congress during Nabanna Abhijyan. State president Sukanta Majumder had to tweet seeking support from the arch rivals asking them to participate in their programme, keeping aside political differences. More surprisingly, even his predecessor and critic Dilip Ghosh supported the call. It is a known fact that CPI(M) and Congress support each other to capture a Gram Panchayat or to rule a Zilla Parishad. District BJP leaders have made it clear to the state high command that it will not stop itself from supporting CPI(M) or Congress in forming a panchayat. The district leaders are aware that the majority of the supporters from Left and Congress switched camps in 2021 only to defeat TMC and now they have all moved back. As a support to the idea, the state BJP is all out to capitalize on CPI(M)’s programme Chor Dharo Jail Bharo.
Police bandobast has been beefed up outside former minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s residence in Nasik following his demand that the portraits of Goddess of Learning, Saraswati, should be removed from educational institutions. Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have summarily rejected the demand. Addressing a function, Bhujbal had criticised the practice to adorn walls of educational institutions with portraits of Saraswati, who is revered as Goddess of Learning and Knowledge. He had said that instead, portraits of social reformers should be used in such places. “What has Saraswati done for your education? Worship those who fought society to spread education for you,” suggested Bhujbal. Bhujbal also alleged that just 3% of the population has benefited because of Saraswati, who had deprived other sections of education. Fadnavis said Goddess Saraswati was regarded as embodiment of knowledge, arts and culture. Only those disagreeing with these values can make such statements. Shinde said his government belonged to the people and would do what the people wished. No portraits would be removed just because someone says something. In the midst of the raging controversy, Bhujbal was not in Nasik, his personal staff told a BJP delegation, which had rushed to his farm house to protest.
Popular Front of India (PFI) was a ‘silent killer,’ according to Maharashtra deputy chief Devendra Fadnavis while chief minister Eknath Shinde has warned that no anti-national activities would be permitted to take place in the state. The ban is welcomed across the state. Also holding the home affairs portfolio, Fadnavis has disclosed that the PFI had kept many prominent people on its hit list. It was planning to engineer unrest. PFI had created a huge financial network. Its modus operandi was something like this: open a large number of bank accounts and deposit small amounts so that no suspicion would arise. Fadnavis said very soon, action would be initiated against PFI and six other organisations under the Centre’s direction. If any evidence was found, more people and organisations would come under the radar, he indicated. Supporting the ban, Shinde said the elements which shouted pro-Pakistan slogans were dangerous for the country and needed to be dealt with ruthlessly. In fact, people subscribing to such ideology had no right to live in India. He said the state home department and the police would ensure that no such activities recurred in Maharashtra. Workers of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have welcomed the ban on PFI. In Pune, the ban was celebrated by MNS by distributing sweets. Its leader Sainath Babar said MNS chief Raj Thackeray was the first to demand banning PFI.
The PFI ban under UAPA may not wipe it out but will certainly help the probe agencies disrupt its pro-terror strategy in the country. SIMI (after its ban in 2014) had morphed into Indian Mujahideen and PFI. It is perhaps due to this capacity of the PFI to seamlessly change its identity that the enforcement agencies have not been able to recover arms and ammunition since the mother organisations morphed its name and registered themselves as legitimate social organizations. In 2020, the MHA had put together a dossier in the aftermath of the anti-CAA protest violence, pointing to the funding received by the PFI. According to the report, the PFI received funding from countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The PFI members actively operate in the UAE through frontal outfits like the Rehab Foundation and the Indian Social Forum. PFI leaders maintain an office at Muraba, behind Lulu hypermarket in Al Ain in Dubai. Now that the Home Ministry has banned the PFI and its support groups, those who agitate or protest against the notification or favour any comments for PFI may also be considered a threat or supporter of PFI and may be dealt with by the probe agencies. It is surprising to see Congress leaders equating PFI with the RSS and seeking the latter’s ban.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is making a curious gambit. He is to announce the founding of his national party BRS (Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti) with regional TRS to merge with it on Dussehra day (Oct. 5). The new party will retain the TRS flag, its car symbol as well as the party colour pink. TRS, which came into prominence during the emotional agitation for a separate Telangana, will soon be consigned to history. Will the KCR gambit work is the question as long time Andhra-Telangana observers see a huge wave of anti-incumbency sentiment against KCR. While it is possible that KCR is doing away with the name TRS on the advice of soothsayers, it is his national foray into 150 seats that is loaded with risk. Those trying to unite the Opposition for 2024 are convinced that a single entity to take on the BJP will work better, as it may have been proved in the recent Italian elections where the Right coalition fielded a united single candidate in most seats. KCR’s national opposition unity moves, which he began in flashy meetings with Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar and HD Kumaraswami are also being met with scepticism by the likes of Mamata and Sonia Gandhi’s Congress. The BRS will dictate who will be PM in 2024, the new party’s intending founder KCR has been heard saying.
Two days before the simultaneous raid by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Popular Front of India (PFI) premises on September 22, 10 companies of CRPF numbering 750 were flown from Ranchi to Kerala. In other states the raid was conducted by NIA officials of the respective states. But in Kerala it was led by the central team. Even Kerala Police were in the dark barring the State DGP. The raids on the PFI top leader’s residences and various offices across Kerala started around 3 am. The arrest, confiscation of computers/laptops, documents, vouchers etc were completed by 6 am. Before the PFI workers got wind of the raid, top leaders like chairman OMA Salam, president CP Mohammed Basheer and 17 others were already on a flight to Delhi’s NIA court.The raids were successful because 20-odd NIA personnel were camping in Kerala for two months disguised as shop workers monitoring PFI’s activities. Taken by surprise the PFI vented their frustration by calling for hartal and destroying public properties. The Enforcement Directorate revealed that a Malayalam newspaper Thejas was not only PFI’s mouthpiece both in India and Gulf but also a conduit for hawala funds. It seems Darbar Restaurant in Abu Dhabi was the hub through which all hawala transactions were made. Also unraveled were acquisitions of hotels/ villa projects in Munnar and a flourishing spices trade, all part of PFI’s funding.
The issue of picking the next Rajasthan Chief Minister has turned into a full-blown crisis for Congress high command. With 85 MLAs of the Ashok Gehlot camp in a protest mode, meeting the Speaker and claiming they want to resign if Gehlot doesn’t continue as CM, it has now become imperative for the Congress leadership to establish its authority in Jaipur. The Gehlot loyalists became so defiant that they even dared to skip a CLP meeting to interact with AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken. The AICC observers first wanted to meet with MLAs collectively, then later sought one-on-one meetings to assess their views. It just seemed Gehlot was working on a different sub-plot. His loyalists instead preferred to attend a meeting at the residence of Cabinet Minister Shantilal Dhariwal where they set out terms and conditions to the party command. In a video that has gone viral, Dhariwal could be heard saying Rajasthan could go Punjab way for the Congress. With Gehlot’s closet rebellion his prospects of becoming AICC President are now dim. Maken has already dubbed the proceedings at Dhariwal residence as an act of “indiscipline”. As for Sachin Pilot, architect of 2018 Congress victory, Srimadopur MLA Deependra Shekhawat says “Sachin’s appeal isn’t limited to the Gurjar community”. That’s why Gehlot ministers like Raghu Sharma and motor-mouth Pratap Kachariyavas are covertly supporting him.
Though anguish is being expressed over major industrial projects shifting to Gujarat from Maharashtra, there is no dearth of enthusiasm in donning Gujarati Dandiya with Marathi attire. This cultural fusion, with strong political overtones, will be enjoyed by Mumbaikars soon. To exploit the situation, Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar has taunted the Sena under Uddhav Thackeray by saying that Hindu festivals were banned by the previous regime. “But henceforth, all Hindu festivals will be celebrated with full vigour.” BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha has organised one such event, meant to assault the so-called Marathi bastions in Mumbai. So far, these prominently Marathi-speaking areas were regarded as a Shiv Sena monopoly. However, after the split in the Sena, the BJP has launched all-out preparations to oust the Sena’s Uddhav faction from power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). One aspect of the plan is to organize political events, couched as cultural activities. The ‘Marathi Dandiya’ is just an example, which will be replicated in hundreds of localities in the metropolis. Kotecha’s event will be among the largest. It will take place at Kalachowki in south-central Mumbai, a traditional Shiv Sena stronghold. Marathi Dandiyas will be held in various areas between 30 September and 4 October. Around 15000 visitors are expected daily by the conveners.
This emperor was fully clothed. But like the Hogwart Wizard of Harry Potter he conjured up (with his rhetoric ) a whole Hospital building in the spot chosen in Toppur, Madurai for an ambitious AIIMS project where even the inaugural brick had been whacked as a memento. The project was launched by the PM on January 27, 2019, and that single brick became the target of brickbat over three years. Even in the run up to the 2021 TN Assembly Elections, the single brick that was laid on the muhurat inaugural was the target of severe ribbing by BJP baiters. So on this Madurai visit, when BJP president JP Nadda, in a full flow rhetoric got carried away and announced that the Hospital was 95% ready, the audience had a collective jaw dropping moment. It’s another matter that the party hacks quickly turned this into a claim of 95% ready on paper yet to be started. Congress MP Manickam Tagore and CPI (M) MP Su Venkatesan visited the site to show that it was ground zero. What ensued was a classic meme fest by comedian Vadivelu. In one particular meme, Vadivelu brings a posse of cops to the wilderness, and points out that AIIMS has disappeared, you must lodge my complaint. Announcing grandiose projects to address an election crowd is easy…skilful oratory suffices. But reality hits sooner than later.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm, it seems even his own party cannot get away with any violation of norms. Well that’s what seems to have happened after he threw open the revamped Central Vista on September 8 to the public. While the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) that manages the area has been battling with an avalanche of litter thrown by the visiting public, what caught the attention of the civic authorities was a surge of BJP flags in the area put up without permission around the India Gate. The NDMC is controlled by the BJP, and the enforcement department raised the issue with the authorities after which the flags were removed four days after the event. According to officials, the flags were installed during the mega event BJP organised on September 17 to mark PM Modi’s birthday. A NDMC functionary asserted that it was routine business “to remove flags, banners and posters installed without seeking permission from us. Be it BJP or any party, we remove all such illegal installations in our areas routinely”. According to the rules laid down by the civic body, no flag or hoarding by a political or private organisation can be put without prior permission in the area it governs. “Only national flags and banners or posters related to government functions are allowed in the NDMC controlled area,” says a senior civic official.
Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), former Tamil Nadu CM and twinning leader of the AIADMK, pulled off a coup of sorts on his Delhi visit. Home minister Amit Shah gave him a full 20 minutes for parleys, yet EPS met the press and reiterated, “It was a courtesy call. We did not discuss politics, we talked about linking Kaveri and Godavari rivers”. Obfuscation is a sleight of hand master strategy of politicians. The internal power struggle of EPS and OPS, the fight for the party’s twin leaves symbol, and even for the party HQ’s, an invincible fortress that J Jayalalithaa imbued with unquestioned power have all pushed the once powerful party to the abyss. Astutely, the BJP Chanakyas have labelled OPS “a clay horse” not a dependable ally. The flailing fortunes of OPS have apparently buoyed up EPS. He has gained the trust of the Trimurthis — Modi, Shah and Nadda which in turn has raised his stock among the cadres. With an eye on the upcoming General body meet in mid-October, EPS has made his Delhi visit good optics to bolster his image. It may be recalled that after a division bench of the Madras High Court gave its verdict, EPS was restored as the (interim) General Secretary of the party.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared in unequivocal terms that the BJP’s central leadership has no tacit electoral understanding with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar regarding Baramati parliamentary constituency. “Don’t be misled by any talk,” she told her party workers. Sitharaman was interacting with BJP workers of Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, a fiefdom of the Pawar family for decades. She has been entrusted with the responsibility of the seat for 2024. She was trying to dispel the widespread impression that Pawar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s camaraderie had prevented any serious BJP attempt to wrest the constituency from the powerful political family. This sentiment was articulated by Daund MLA Rahul Kul, who told Sitharaman bluntly that such signals affected the enthusiasm among the party workers. The finance minister replied that her mission was to strengthen the BJP and hence she was not concerned for any particular family. Sitharaman advised the BJP workers to comb all six assembly segments of the constituency to spread the Union government’s message about the various welfare schemes. She blamed Pawar for ignoring genuine problems of grape growers when he was India’s agriculture minister. “Our colleague Nitin Gadkari led a farmers’ delegation to me and the grievance was resolved,” she recalled. Pawar’s daughter Supriya won the last LS election by a slim margin and the victory was attributed to Modi’s decision to skip the constituency from his campaign tour.
The Odisha government felt slighted recently when the Union Telecom Ministry did not include Odisha cities with regard to the pilot run of 5G services to be initiated in 2022. These cities, restricted to 13, were chosen on the basis of their economic returns for the telecom operators and on this criteria the entire state of Odisha was left out. Miffed, several opposition political parties wrote to Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw over disparity in selection criteria. Vaishnaw, a seasoned bureaucrat turned BJP politician knows that he owes his present position to chief minister Naveen Patnaik who endorsed his candidature to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket three years ago. Given his earlier connection with Odisha as an IAS officer, he did not want to be seen as serving narrow political ends with regard to the 5G roll out plan nor create a proverbial storm in a tea cup of ministerial high handedness. This explains why Vaishnaw clarified that Odisha will be included in the 5G first phase launch. His decision to include Odisha in 5G expansion was greeted with jubilation not merely by the Odisha government and people as well.
Amidst speculations that he is unwell and may step down, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval made a comeback. He sprung nationwide raids on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and ensured the arrest of 105 of its members. Official sources reveal that the massive crackdown carried out on midnight of September of 22 took months of planning and coordination. With directions from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the security team executed the operation with Doval taking charge. Security officials held meetings discreetly to ensure that secrecy was maintained akin to the time when Article 370 was abrogated. Such was the secrecy that Doval held meetings with Kerala Police at a time when PM Modi visited Kochi for commissioning of the INS Vikrant. After Kerala, Doval moved to Mumbai where he stayed at Raj Bhavan. Action against the PFI was planned for three to four months to ensure that the action across the 11 states was coordinated and executed around the same time to prevent PFI cadres from getting alarmed and fleeing. Seeking remand of the accused, the NIA in its plea said the PFI office-bearers and cadres were involved in recruiting and radicalising Muslim youths to join proscribed organisations like the ISIS. Doval’s role in dealing with PFI is being compared to the way cleared the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi of Tablighi Jamaat attendees two years ago.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s faction has lost a spirited battle against Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena as the High Court in Mumbai has permitted the latter to hold its traditional Dussehra Rally at Shivaji Park, Dadar. The issue has sentimental overtones as Sena founder Bal Thackeray used to address huge rallies for decades. This is the second time the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been taken to task by the High Court in two days. The issue about getting the BMC permission was hanging fire for several weeks as the faction loyal to Eknath Shinde, too, had staked its claim for the venue soon after the Uddhav faction had filed its applications. Considering the potential breach of peace, the police and finally the BMC decided on Thursday (Sep 22) to reject both the applications. However, even before the BMC had taken any stand, both sides had moved the HC to claim the venue. Terming the BMC’s decision as improper, the court permitted the Uddhav faction to hold the rally but laid down certain conditions like maintaining peace on the occasion. The court said the BMC had misused its powers. Only a day before, the HC had issued stern directions to the BMC to demolish illegal construction in Union minister Narayan Rane’s Juhu beach bungalow. It had castigated the civic body for shifting its earlier stand of not tolerating the irregularity.
Tamil Nadu finance minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan’s grouse about the nature of revenue gathering having changed in India is credible criticism of the system as it exists after the introduction of GST. Before the “great and simple tax” came into being, states were free to raise revenues through indirect taxes which allowed financial freedom to make policies. States are now dependent on federal fund transfers that have become too political. Today, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two states with the least population growth and best fulfilment of parameters of progress in child health, education and several other social spheres, are suffering the most in terms of being denied a fair share of revenue. The two States are among the worst off in terms of the differential between transfers from the Union and their own tax revenue. Thiagarajan’s complaint about States having become virtual municipalities in terms of managing their own finances has more than a ring of truth to it. The chart from a data scientist carried by the BBC brings out the enormity of the unfair nature of federal revenue transfers. Given the population parameter by which revenues are distributed, the south, well-known for population control measures that have been woven into the system through education and awareness, is likely to suffer even more if the delimitation process is completed this decade and seats to Parliament are decided.
With former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh ruling himself in as a possible candidate in Congress Presidential election via a TV interview on September 21, the buzz in Congress circles is that Ashok Gehlot has been edged out as contender. That is because Rahul Gandhi himself validated the objection Digvijaya Singh had raised against Gehlot’s insistence on continuing both as Rajasthan CM as well getting elected as Congress President. In the TV interview, Singh made it clear that Gehlot could not possibly continue as Rajasthan CM if he got elected as Congress President referring to the Udaipur Resolution passed in May 2022 that talked about “one man, one post (OMOP)”. Interestingly, echoing Singh’s views Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated on September 22 that he expects the commitment on ‘Udaipur Resolution’ of ‘one man-one post’ to be maintained for CP’s election. Party sources say it’s possible Singh may have used the OMOP clause to bail out Gehlot from the pressure of bowing out of CM’s office and handing power over to his rival Sachin Pilot. Many in the party feel elevation of Digvijaya Singh could have a larger appeal in North India. He is known to have good equations with partymen across the country and known to continuously interact with party workers. His only drawback: he may not remain a puppet of the Gandhis.
The controversial Dharavi Redevelopment Project is leading to newer disclosures even as the Maharashtra government is hastening the process to issue fresh tenders for the estimated Rs 28000 crore plan. Now, the name of then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who passed away in 2012, has surfaced in connection with a meeting convened by NCP president Sharad Pawar to discuss the much-delayed project. The plan has not moved an inch despite major changes in the state. The sudden call by industrialist Gautam Adani on former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at ‘Matoshri’ has added another dimension to the controversy. While chief minister Eknath Shinde has merely promised ‘to look into the matter,’ Dharavi Redevelopment Project CEO SVR Srinivas has announced that fresh tenders will be issued within a fortnight. Dharavi has remained a thorny issue for decades and no chief minister has been able to find a satisfactory solution. But for a brief period, Dharavi assembly constituency has remained loyal to the Congress party. However, the Congress and the NCP have maintained silence over the meeting between Uddhav and Adani despite its suddenness. The Sena under Uddhav, too, has not divulged any details about the hour-long closed-door talk. Close to the prestigious Bandra Kurla Complex and the international airport, Dharavi’s redevelopment has immense potential. That is the reason several international firms are also interested in grabbing the project.
It’s not often that an active party member resigns when the party is in power. But that is what former Union Minister Subbalakshmi Jagadeesan has done. She was currently Deputy General Secretary of the DMK when she sent her resignation to party president MK Stalin declaring that she was retiring from politics. Insiders, however, say that she was unhappy about her prospects in the party after being denied a Rajya Sabha seat nomination that she was expecting considering her seniority. She was in the UPA-1 Cabinet (2004-09) as Minister State for Social Justice and Empowerment. Her husband Jagadeesan may not have helped her cause by putting out posts on the social media critical of the party, the contents of which were promptly relayed back to the party command. The party president did ask his senior minister Durai Murugan to find out what the problem was but, apparently, the lady said she was suffering health issues and that she wanted to retire from politics. Stalin had no option then but to accept the resignation. Heading a party that believes in transparency in dealing with its senior members and pays a lot of attention to its cadre-based strengths, Stalin had done his bit to keep the senior former minister in the fold. Her departure may not mean much as it is not the start of defections or desertions.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s latest attempt to de-link PM Narendra Modi from the ED-CBI investigation in the state surprised the political fraternity across the country. “Modi is not doing these things,” Didi told her state assembly while speaking about the recent raids by the CBI and ED against top Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, rather passing the onus completely to second-in-command of the country Amit Shah. Incidentally, besides NIA no other agencies come directly under the Union Home Ministry and no investigation would be possible without a go-ahead from the PM. Meanwhile, TMC is clear that Didi along with chief ministers such as Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren will join hands to fight BJP vis a vis PM Narendra Modi in 2024 and continue to be the “fulcrum of opposition unity”. Political analysts in West Bengal feel it is too much of a risk as Lok Sabha Polls are two years away and with TMC government only 16 months old it needs to have cordial relations with the Centre for its smooth functioning as well as tackle several issues like GST dues, fund allocations etc. Analysts also feel that it is slowly dawning on Mamata that the opposition unity remains an unreal proposition, especially with Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi two of the main Hindi-heartland anti-BJP forces doing their own brand of politics?
Elections in the Congress could just be farcical since as many as 11 Pradesh Congress Committees in states including Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Himachal, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana and J&K have passed resolutions backing Rahul Gandhi as party president. While these resolutions are being prompted by the AICC managers, party media-in-charge Jairam Ramesh gave an altogether different spin; he dismissed it as “measures that have no binding effect”. He insisted that any person could contest for the post. It is in this context that the possible entry of Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot that comes as a bit odd and curious. Gehlot said “If people in the party think I am needed in the role of party president or CM, then I won’t say no….I will again request Rahul Gandhi (to become Cong president). If he conducts Bharat Jodo Yatra as party president, then it will create an aura for the party,” he says. Party sources say the Gandhi family could be hugely betting on Gehlot as its trustee to head the Congress. The Gandhis want a non-Gandhi to steer the Congress as a stop gap atleast for six months. It is felt Rahul could make a comeback as Congress chief just before 2024 polls. Only Gehlot could be flexible to make such adjustments provided he gets to continue as CM.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has dared the Maharashtra government to begin a probe against him within eight days regarding a land deal in Mumbai. But his condition is that the government should first announce what its stand would be if the charges are proved unsubstantiated. Mumbai BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar had demanded an enquiry against Pawar after it was revealed that the ED chargesheet against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had said that a former Maharashtra chief minister had held a meeting to discuss the multi-crore Patra Chawl housing redevelopment scheme in Mumbai. The MLA has written a letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde to press the demand. Stung by the allegation, Pawar hurled the challenge at the government. Former housing minister Jeetendra Avhad, who was sitting by Pawar’s side, said that Pawar did hold a meeting to discuss the matter but it was routine for Pawar to offer guidance and advice in any important situation, he being the elder statesman. Pawar has held thousands of such meetings, Avhad remarked. Last year, Pawar had threatened to walk into the ED office when news was splashed that he had been issued a summons. However, it proved a storm in a tea cup when the ED clarified that it had not sent any such missive to Pawar.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s bonhomie with DMK leader Kanimozhi has always had other party bigwigs on the edge and perplexed. Shah is known to wish Kanimozhi on her birthday. She too, like senior leader TR Baalu, has been regularly meeting with Shah and other ministers in her capacity as DMK parliamentary party deputy leader. That’s why recently when Kanimozhi took her mother Rajathi to Germany for medical treatment, Shah not only phoned her but also ensured that she got all necessary help from the local Indian embassy. It is being said, on her return, Kanimozhi called up the HM and thanked him. Conduct of Kanimozhi, who is Thoothukudi Lok Sabha MP, is in contrast to her party colleague and former Union Minister A Raja. The Nilgiris Lok Sabha MP was once a promising Dalit face of the DMK and was even considered to be a potential CM candidate by late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. If he was recently found airing controversial statements, it would only be to stay relevant. With pace picking up in Delhi to bring a closure to the 2G scam by the CBI and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin working to install his son Udhayanidhi as his heir, Raja who did some jail time in the 2G case just as Kanimozhi did, may have a good reason to sulk.
The astute chief minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik is leaving no stones unturned to transform the state. So be it the economy, sports, culture or religion all areas and sectors are given equal importance. His latest focus is promoting Buddhist Tourism so as to attract both domestic and foreign tourists to Odisha. This drive will boost local employment and support stone artisans famous for carving Buddha murals. Come October 28, Odisha will celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Dhauli Shanti Stupa also known as Peace Pagoda located in outskirts Bhubaneswar. It is estimated that 150 monks from different parts of the world would join the celebration. The Dhauli Buddhist Stupa built in 1972 was a collaborative effort between Japan Buddha Sangha and Kalinga Buddha Sangha. But, why is the Odisha government going all out to promote Buddhist Tourism? Reportedly, Patnaik is upset that Odisha despite having a rich heritage of Buddhism dating from 6th century to 16th century, spread over 200 sites across the state, was not included as a Buddhist Circuit Project funded by the Union Government. Instead it gave preference to other neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh. Instead of whining Patnaik thought it prudent to build up Buddhist circuit tourism through state funds. It is understood that the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who hails from Odisha has urged the Union Culture Minister to include Odisha in the Buddhist circuit list. Now one has to wait and watch.
Come festive season the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is abuzz with raids and surveys to check rampant food adulteration. Since the consumption of sweets is high during festive seasons there is a tendency to adulterate sweets and make a quick buck. This year between May and August 2022, the FDA raided 18 places and seized about 11,697 kg of adulterated foodstuffs valued at over Rs 19 lakhs according to the joint commissioner FDA, Shashikant Kekre. Though Mumbai is no longer a food manufacturing hub, the adulteration with cheaper stocks essentially takes place in the city during the repackaging stage. The FDA officials either track adulteration rackets with the help of tip-offs or trace them with their documentary evidence. If for instance, the final stock of packaged oil doesn’t tally or exceeds the bulk stock procurement, then clearly there is scope for investigation. Once the foodstuffs are confirmed as adulterated by the laboratories, the stuff is destroyed. In the case of milk which is either diluted with water or laced with urea, thus making it unsafe, it is drained off while items like gutkha are burnt out. But in case of palm oil, which is used as an adulterant in other costlier cooking oils like sunflower or groundnut or mustard oil, it is resold in the market to commercial users.
A Raja, a favourite of the ruling DMK’s first family, may have got away with the airing of his opinion on Hindus that stirred a hornet’s nest. Apart from fringe Hindu groups in the Nilgiris, the home district of the former Telecom Minister infamous for the 2G scam that rocked Indian politics, not too many took serious note of the MP’s comments. His controversial statement comparing Hindus with “shudras” had kicked up a religious and political storm with the Tamil Nadu BJP taking exception to it and accusing the politician of spewing hatred against a section of people. But not much came of it as Raja was mouthing a theory that would have pleased Periyarists who form a majority of the DMK party. The party chief MK Stalin may have been indulgent towards Raja in not rebuking him even privately. The suspicion is the first family may not be averse to prominent party members expressing opinions provided that they do not take on the top BJP brass with whom the CM has cordial relations. And Raja has always been considered close enough to the family for his excesses to be forgiven. In fact, it was Raja’s doings at the telecom ministry that had led to him and Kanimozhi spending a long time in Tihar jail at the height of the 2G scandal.
Skewered by the Vedanta-Foxconn experience, the ruling leadership in Maharashtra has renewed its efforts to ensure that the massive oil refinery facility, popularly known as Nanar Project, stays in the state. Additionally, it will be able to corner the Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray, who himself, as chief minister, had recommended to the Centre that the project should be revived. While chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis have repeatedly proclaimed that no important project will be lost to Maharashtra, Union minister Narayan Rane has announced that no efforts will be spared to start the Nanar project at the earliest. The 60-million tonne annual capacity project will entail an investment of around Rs 3 lakh crore. It shall be a joint venture between Saudi’s Aramco and oil PSUs of India. Originally planned to be situated at Nanar in the Konkan region, it was stalled by the then unified Shiv Sena, claiming local opposition. However, former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray initiated its revival by writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January this year. Instead of Nanar, he suggested that the project could be situated at Barasu, a nearby village. Rane said none will not be permitted to obstruct the project. He has had discussions with top leadership about its revival and the process will begin soon, he indicated. Rane blamed the Sena under Uddhav for delaying such an important opportunity.
On a day Capt Amarinder Singh is scheduled to merge his Punjab Lok Congress with the BJP, there is a strong buzz that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal may replace Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann with his Education Minister and Anandpur Sahib MLA Harjot Singh Bains. This comes amidst reports that Mann was deplaned from a Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight in Frankfurt on September 17 because he was not found fit to travel. While AAP sources described Mann “as being a little unwell and would catch a flight from Frankfurt later in the night to return back home,” a passenger aboard the flight from Frankfurt described Mann being “totally drunk” who couldn’t stand “without support of his wife and security guards”. The passenger said the departure of the flight was delayed by over four hours as the luggage of the CM’s entourage which was loaded on the plane had to be taken off. Punjab government officials tried to prevail upon the Lufthansa flight crew but they refused to compromise on their flight safety rules. Navneet Wadhwa, media in-charge of the CM’s office was quoted that he would board a flight on “September 17 evening from Frankfurt around 4.30 PM (GMT+2) and land in Delhi at around 1 AM (GMT+5.30),” adding that as per the schedule available with him the CM was to remain in Germany till September 18.
For contempt of court, the Madras High Court has given six months jail term to Tamil Nadu’s whiplash whistle blower Savukku Shankar. Chennai-based Achimuthu Shankar has transformed himself from a social media journalist to a whistleblower folk hero. He gained both fame and notoriety as Savukku Shankar. Savukku in Tamil means whip. He gained a fast reputation for his mercurial exposes in digging up entrenched corruption in government, police, real estate and the judiciary. His YouTube interviews and fearless talk have brought him enough admirers, and an equal legion of adversaries and detractors .The expose about 5000 police personnel working as domestic help in police top brass’s homes was a victory for his whistleblowing. Similarly, the dirt he dug up in the questionable B Square real estate scam brought him more popularity. Now, his brash talks and no-holds barred exposes have run him out. In a much publicised story, he claimed that the entire judiciary was riddled with corruption, without concrete proof. In particular he took a pot shot at “Paarpaniya Adhigaram” (Brahmin stranglehold of the judiciary). Justices GR Swaminathan and B Pugalendhi heard the contempt proceedings. Interestingly, Savukku sought to and pleaded his own case very lucidly. According to Prashant Bhushan who is appearing for him in SC, this case and the order for imprisonment violates the natural principles of justice.
Uddhav Thackeray wished to continue as chief minister and was ready to do so by taking the BJP along, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde has revealed in his various public functions. According to Shinde, the proposal to remain in power with BJP’s help was mooted by Uddhav after he was urged by many of his supporters to jettison the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi that ruled Maharashtra earlier. Uddhav wanted Shinde to liaise with the BJP to give a final shape to the arrangement. Shinde said during the earlier (2014-19) stint, then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had offered deputy chief ministership to him (Shinde) but Uddhav did not give a nod. Uddhav declined the offer. Replying to criticism his government is facing over the Vedanta-Foxconn decision to establish its project in Gujarat, Shinde said, “Our doors are still open for Foxconn.” He reiterated that the Nanar oil refinery project and the Vadhvan port will definitely materialize in the state. Shinde blamed certain political forces for creating misunderstandings about the two great investment and employment opportunities. Shinde announced that Maharashtra will attain the objective of becoming a trillion-dollar economy much before the projected deadline of 2030 because of its policy of welcoming industry and business in the state.
For this year’s Durga Puja, the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to increase the grant to 40,000-plus Durga pandals from Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 each which will cost the State exchequer Rs 240 crore. This grant, part of Didi’s vote bank politics, was started in 2018 and continues to draw flaks from the Opposition. It also finds no favour from her own party men as they feel the imagery propagates Hinduism which will benefit the BJP. Is this hike in grant Mamata’s desperate attempt to rebuild a clean image of her party? Isn’t this a big risk when time and again Didi has been stating that the state’s financial health is not at its best as a result of which the government employees disbursements have been stalled, new recruitments postponed and crucial repair of embankments in riverine Bengal put on hold? Analysts feel that this could be seen as the deflection of attention from the rumbles of unrest between the party’s old guard and emerging younger leadership. Adding further analysts explain Mamata’s pujas extravaganza is to blunt the allegations of the BJP about her alleged indifference to the sentiments of the majority community. Even her recent rally to thank UNESCO for the “Heritage” tag for Durga Puja is another clear attempt to divert political instability within the party.
Stung by opposition onslaught, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis have vowed to accelerate the state’s industrial quantum leap in the near future. Fadnavis has declared, “In the next two years, two mega projects will take off, thereby taking Maharashtra 10 years ahead of Gujarat.” He was referring to the oil refinery at Nanar in the Konkan region and the Wadhvan port complex in Palghar district. The projects had been stalled during the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi regime. While addressing a function in Mumbai, Shinde said a roadmap is being crafted to chart out the state’s onward industrial march much more vigorously. Both leaders have been trying to prove that while they did not spare any efforts to keep the Vedanta—Foxconn project within the state, the MVA’s inaction was responsible for its departure to Gujarat. Shinde said such massive projects did not materialise in a week or two. It took a long time to weigh the pros and cons for the investors to make a final decision. As far as this project was concerned, he said no concrete assurances were forthcoming from the previous ruling combine. Just back from Russia, Fadnavis declared confidently that the efforts of the present dispensation will bring substantial FDI in the state, thus overtaking Gujarat by at least a decade.
Election strategist Prashant Kishor has accepted an assignment to revive the decades-old movement to demand a separate Vidarbha state. He will be visiting Nagpur at the end of the month to begin his homework. His teams have already started collating data useful for framing a forceful argument in support of the demand. Former Congress MLA Ashish Deshmukh has invited Prashant to give direction to the movement that began even before India gained independence. Over the years, the popularity of the protagonists went on waning, finally the movement going into oblivion. With the entry of Prashant, the movement organisers hope to infuse a new life into it. Vidarbha in general and Nagpur in particular are a point of political prestige since the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is based in the second capital of Maharashtra. With the exception of the 1989 Lok Sabha election, the BJP was never able to win the Nagpur seat till Nitin Gadkari trounced his Congress opponent in 2014 with a huge margin and repeated his victory in 2019. The BJP was the first major political party to resolve the creation of a separate Vidarbha state. However, it kept the issue in cold storage as its then electoral partner, the Shiv Sena, was opposed to the demand, pressing for a united Maharashtra.
With Queen Elizabeth II passing away, the world’s largest cut diamond Kohinoor, and the controversies surrounding it, is once again making news. It began with a group in Odisha tweeting that Kohinoor be returned to India. Kohinoor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats. It is part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. This demand gathered steam with Odisha’s Shree Jagannath Sena submitting a memorandum to the President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention to bring back the controversial prized jewel to Odisha and be placed as the crown of Lord Jagannath. Why Lord Jagannath? In their book, Kohinoor: The Story Of The World’s Most Infamous Diamond written by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand, the authors say that Maharaja Ranjeet Singh of Punjab had indeed willed to donate his Kohinoor crown to Lord Jagannath in consequence of his prayers amidst failing eyesight much before his death in 1839. But the British under Lord Dalhousie following Maharaja Ranjeet Singh’s demise annexed Punjab and shipped the diamond crown to Queen Victoria in 1849. Kohinoor seems like an intellectual, inconclusive, nationalism debate at best. But the BJP government back in 2014 had buried the Kohinoor controversy to a close saying Kohinoor was gifted to the British crown by Maharaja Duleep Singh.
Even as the Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray is striving to regain its lost glory, it has been dealt one more blow as top Sena leaders from eight states are reported to have decided to support Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde. The two factions of the Sena have been fighting for legal supremacy since July and exploring all avenues to bolster their numerical strength in a bid to win recognition as ‘official’ Shiv Sena on that basis. The Shinde camp already has a majority of Sena MPs and MLAs on its side. To cap it all, powerful leaders from the states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Goa, Manipur and Chhattisgarh in their Mumbai meeting decided to team up with Shinde. On the other hand, the Uddhav faction has claimed that the leaders who attended the meeting are not the ‘nominated’ Sena leaders. “We are in possession of sworn affidavits of the leaders who were appointed by us in various states,” it has clarified. In the ongoing legal battle, every member is likely to prove decisive. The support by these leaders from outside the state can also come handy, according to Shinde faction’s calculation. The Supreme Court is presently hearing various petitions filed by both sides demanding recognition as ‘official’ Shiv Sena.
If the Congress has three MLAs left in its fold in Goa, it is not because of any commitment towards the party. Apparently, pressure from priests of the local church had prevented Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemo, Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa and Aldona MLA Carlose Alvares Ferreira from making the switch to the ruling BJP. Sources say that eight party legislators had crossed over to the ruling BJP largely due to the pressure from their constituencies. With the BJP returning to power for a third term in a row, a number of them felt compelled to meet demands of their voters. In July, when party managers like AICC in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao got first whiff of plans of Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo to engineer a split in the CLP, Lobo was removed as CLP leader/Leader of the Opposition. Subsequently, Rao got busy with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka. Goa PCC chief Amit Patkar was found to be a rookie. The Congress termed defection of eight out of its 11 MLAs in Goa as the “height of betrayal and shamelessness.” Prior to the February elections Congress candidates had taken an oath not to defect. So “how can someone defy God?” asks Alemao. BJP Goa chief Sadanand Tanavade summed up extra support as “unconditional”. It also means securing both North and South Lok Sabha seats for 2024.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Narayan Rane are planning to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him to ensure that the multi-billion dollar Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor manufacturing project remains in Maharashtra. The heat generated by the Vedanta Group to locate the ambitious project in Gujarat has shaken all political parties in Maharashtra, given its sheer size in terms of investment and employment generation potential. While the opposition Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena’s Uddhav faction are blaming the present Shinde-Fadnavis government for the project’s shift, the ruling combine has decided to make efforts afresh to keep the project in the state so that it can counter the sharp criticism effectively. According to government sources, all permissions including land allotment are in place in Maharashtra while suitable land is still being searched. Moreover, the tax rebate offered by Maharashtra is better than Gujarat. Considering Maharashtra’s readiness to launch the project at a short notice, the PM will be requested to use his good offices to persuade the investors to reconsider their decision about the location. While Fadnavis is to return from his Russia visit soon, Rane called on Shinde this morning to discuss the various factors of the matter. The two leaders then contemplated visiting the PM.
Having spent a few months quietly, attending to duties in Chennai and around the state, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister roared back to form in response to Amit Shah’s comment on Hindi being a friend of all languages. “This is India, not Hindia,” Stalin said, reminding the Home Minister that Hindi is not the national language and not even the sole official language of the country. His advice to the HM was to celebrate an “Indian languages Day” and not a national Hindi Day. Shah may need no reminding that his assiduous promotion of Hindi is not going to work in Tamil Nadu, which is a kind of last bastion against the language thanks to its history of anti-Hindi sentiment. In fact, it was the anti-Hindi wave that brought the Dravidian parties to power in 1967 with CN Annadurai, the Tamil writer from Kancheepuram, becoming the first non-Congress CM of the state. Since then, no national party has posed so much as a threat to the Dravidian duopoly in 55 years. Any central agency, including the airport and its security teams, have been at the receiving end of language chauvinism opposing their use of Hindi. Of course, Amit Shah makes the point that unless local languages coexist with Hindi, India cannot run the country in its own languages.
The ruling alliance in Maharashtra between the BJP and the Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction, will face its first acid test over the Andheri assembly constituency by-election, due to be held after the monsoon. The by-poll is caused due to the death of Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke, who was elected twice from this western suburb constituency. He died a few months ago. His wife Rujuta is desirous of contesting. She had called on Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray last week and is reported to have received a positive signal. While chief minister Eknath Shinde is yet to make any statement about the by-election, the BJP is likely to consider the candidature of its erstwhile corporator Murjibhai Patel, who had been trounced by Latke in 2019. At that time, the constituency was allotted to the unified Sena under the BJP-Sena seat sharing pact. Still, Patel had entered the fray as an independent. He was said to have BJP’s tacit blessings. As the petitions of the two Sena factions are embroiled in legal cases, the BJP wishes to claim this prestigious seat. On the other hand, Shinde wants to record his faction’s first grand electoral victory by snatching away the seat from Uddhav. Taking any decision either way is going to prove an acid test for the ruling alliance.
For a moment it seemed the ruling CPI-M in Kerala was more worried than the BJP by the Congress’s Bharat Jodo’s prolonged tour of Kerala. First the party’s official twitter handle came with a meme against Rahul Gandhi dubbing the yatra more as a Seat Jodo yatra. The Marxists felt it was odd that the Congress leader was going to spend “18 days in Kerala but only two days in Uttar Pradesh”. It also noted that this was a strange way to “fight the BJP-RSS.” However, within a day the party changed its line at least locally. CPI-M Kerala secretary MV Govindan said his party was not against the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ but will respond to any unfair criticism or unsavoury remarks against it. That is our stand”. Like senior CPI-M leader Thomas Issac took on Jairam Ramesh for his ‘Mundu Modi’ remark which was an apparent jibe at Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and asked why the yatra is avoiding Gujarat and UP. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala pointed out that the CPI-M was forced to change its line because of the overwhelming public response to Bharat Jodo Yatra. “The public response to Rahulji’s yatra in Kerala has been very positive and encouraging. This is what forced the CPI(M) to change its approach”. The yatra brought a sense of unity and purpose to the Congress in Kerala.
In a major setback to senior BJP leader and former MP Dr Subramanian Swamy, the Delhi High Court asked him to vacate his government residence which was allotted to him in January 2016. Swamy was allotted the bungalow even before he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016. The Court ordered the BJP leader to hand over the possession of his government bungalow to the estate officer within six weeks. Notably, Dr Swamy was allotted a bungalow in Delhi by the Central government for five years in January 2016 after he cited threat perception towards him. As the BJP leader’s Rajya Sabha tenure also came to an end in April 2022, he approached the Delhi HC where he sought re-allotment of the bungalow in view of the continued security threat to him. However, the Centre opposed his plea arguing that the bungalow is required to house other ministers and MPs. Swamy had merged his Janata Party with BJP ahead of the 2014 general elections. It is said former BJP president Nitin Gadkari had a role in getting him back into the BJP. The RSS had backed the idea of having Swamy on its side for his sustained campaign on pro-Hindu issues such as preserving Ram Setu. For some reason, he has become a trenchant critic of the Modi government’s policy initiatives.
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.
And this is vindicated by our two marquee advertisers – IDFC FIRST Bank and ICICI Lombard. Both believed in our story and have supported us from Day one. A big thank you to both.
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.