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Upon the official announcement of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the Congress’s candidate from Wayanad, Kerala for Lok Sabha by-election, Congress workers have started putting up her posters in the constituency. The posters featured the greeting “Wayanadinte Priyankari” (Wayanad beloved). The question is with the Lok Sabha bypoll for Wayanad on November 13, how much time will siblings Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi give for polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra on November 13 and 20? Since it will be Priyanka’s first electoral foray, it is quite likely that Rahul is likely to do much of the heavy lifting for her. The seat fell vacant as Rahul who had contested from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad, decided to represent the UP seat and wanted Priyanka to contest from Wayanad in a by-election. However, the ruling Left Front has made it clear that it would not be a cake walk for Priyanka. Kerala Minister MB Rajesh sought to remind how Rahul Gandhi has deserted Wayanad. “In August, when the state was reeling under floods, we had expected Rahul to deliver special help from the Centre. Wayanad is a constituency that gave RaGa refuge when he lost Amethi, but in the very next opportunity, Rahul Gandhi abandoned Wayanad, and now people of Wayanad will give him a befitting reply.”
Normally, questions about EVMs (electronic voting machines) and the Election Commission are raised after elections. However, the question of EVM was raised again soon after the EC declared the poll schedules for the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shiv Sena (Uddhav) leader Sanjay Raut said opposition parties do not trust the working of EVMs, and what happened in Haryana can be repeated in Maharashtra too. Congress leader Rashid Alvi alleged that EVMs could be manipulated just like Hezbollah pagers, which Israel hacked to carry out blasts in Lebanon. Rubbishing doubts, CEC Rajiv Kumar said, “Our EVMs are more robust than Hezbollah’s pagers, and they are 100% foolproof. EVMs cannot be hacked. Pagers are connected devices, but EVMs are not. “Those who are again questioning EVMs will have to answer many questions. Were EVMs working perfectly during the Lok Sabha polls but were hacked during the Haryana polls? Did EVMs work perfectly in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh but were tampered with in MP and Chhattisgarh? Who will believe such allegations? An electronic voting machine is just like a calculator, and it has no connection to the Internet via Bluetooth or any remote device. The battery usage of an EVM is written on the form when the EVM is packed and sealed. Candidates or their agents countersign it. Secondly, in a big country like India, where thousands of EVMs are used, and lakhs of government employees are involved in the electoral process, how can EVMs be hacked? And if some people tamper with the EVMs, how can the matter remain a secret? Victories and defeats occur during elections, but blaming the defeat on the EC or raising questions about EVM tampering is childish.
The deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has been pounding Tamil Nadu with massive rainfall and flooding. Schools, Colleges and all public institutions are to remain closed with dire warnings of every hue…red, orange alerts to stay indoors and stay safe. But the government in its wisdom is keeping the state-run TASMAC outlets open for thirsty denizens. PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramdoss has lashed out at the TN government over this move. “Is it life-saving medicine or an essential that the public can’t live without? Is it an intrinsic part of the Dravida model to keep liquor sales open”? asked Anbumani in X. Significantly, Deputy CM, Udhayanidhi Stalin addressed the media even as the MET office warned about the heavy rain conditions to hit and assured that the DMK government was fully prepared to take on the threat of flooding. Having suffered severe losses in the past two cyclone hits with cars inundated, the public quickly resorted to parking cars on the flyover bridges….The Velachery flyover overnight turned into a parking lot. It’s another outrage that the police warned about big fines for such “parking”, adding insult to injury. YouTube podcasts on the rain caused flooding in Poes Garden, the hallowed precinct of power, politics and prestige turned smirk worthy. Ramadoss and his take on keeping TASMAC sales open as part of Dravida governance is seen as justified. Strange are the ways of “ideology” when it is business as usual.
Even as the Election Commission finalised polling date for Maharashtra as November 20, the Congress took a lesson from the BJP playbook and appointed senior leaders from other states to manage the polls in Maharashtra as observers. The high-profile team includes former CMs like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Channi. Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara, former deputy CMs TR Singhdeo and Sachin Pilot. The team also includes two Telangana ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Anasuya Seethakka. Deployment of a super team comes right after Congress’ debacle in Haryana elections where BJP won for the third time, securing 48 seats despite exit polls predicting a definite win for the Congress, which was able to secure only 37 seats. One of the reasons that was attributed to the party’s loss is leaving it all to former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Karnataka deputy CM G Parameshwara have been assigned Mumbai and Konkan region while Vidarbha region will be handled by former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Madhya Pradesh MLA and former minister Umang Singhar. Former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot and senior Telangana minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have been deputed to Marathwada region while former Chhattisgarh deputy CM TS Singhdeo and senior Karnataka minister MB Patil have been assigned Western Maharashtra. Senior Rajya Sabha MP Syed Nasser Hussain and senior Telangana minister D Anasuya Seethakka have been asked to look after North Maharashtra. For Jharkhand, the party has appointed a 3-member team headed by Tariq Anwar and Adhir Ranjan Choudhary. Meanwhile, the party has declared Priyanka Gandhi as Wayanad Lok Sabha candidate.
The Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra held over five cabinet meetings in the span of the first fortnight of October and took over 200 decisions. This was the sprint before the code of conduct got enforced on October 15, 2024. In fact, even the death of Ratan Tata, that had the state observe a day of mourning, did not dissuade Shinde from not holding a cabinet. There was rapid fire decision-making with two cabinet meetings witnessing almost 71 decisions and even 80 decisions each. The chief minister has been over-generous and liberal in doling out freebies, sops and financial allocations in a bid to earn brownie points in the forthcoming elections forcing the opposition to claim that the state treasury was being emptied to woo voters by Shinde. Maharashtra already has debts of over Rs 7 lakh crore and the Ladki Bahin Yojana is expected to bleed it further. Concerns are already being raised about the feasibility of Shinde’s schemes be it the launching of multiple corporations considering that CAG report had claimed that most corporations were not functioning well. In fact, Shinde’s generosity in financial disbursements goes beyond the confines of the state. Sanjay Raut has claimed that the BJP has got Shinde to fund elections in other states like that of Haryana and that each of the probable candidates were being doled out Rs 20 crore by Shinde. The average Mumbaikar is happy that the toll fee at the five entry points has stopped for now. Whether this will convert into votes for Shinde remains to be seen.
The BJP has finalized its polls strategy for the Maharashtra state assemblies for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will be the star campaigners. The troika will address 18, 26 and 26 public rallies respectively across Maharashtra in a blitzkrieg of public rallies. This carpet-bombing political strategy seeks to exploit the party’s recent success in the Haryana assembly elections where the BJP returned to power for a record third time and improved performance in the Jammu region of J&K where this troika delivered the goods so-to-speak in good measure. International political developments particularly, in neighbouring Bangladesh played a crucial role in consolidating the Indian voter base of the BJP. Additionally, the RSS had organized 16,000 public meetings in Haryana over the last four months encompassing 6,000 villages in the state through a targeted door-to-door campaign by deploying its Karyakartas in the run up to the state assembly elections with a message of Hindu unity that worked like a charm for the BJP. The RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat publicly announced that his cadre of Pracharaks has laser focussed its attention to the forthcoming state assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand just like it did for Haryana and the general elections of India prior to that through a micro-outreach program. “Our culture, country and (Hindu) religion must not only survive but thrive,” Bhagwat has stated in obvious reference to consistent international (deep state) efforts to undermine India’s growing economy and its cultural identity that has been re-established over the last decade.
Could Baba Siddique who was shot dead while he was bursting crackers outside his MLA son Zeeshan’s office on Vijaya Dashami lived if he had moved out of Maharashtra politics just as he had wished? The former Congress leader, who hailed from Bihar, was apparently wanting to return to his roots and had even met with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, seeking a Rajya Sabha berth before making the switch to the NCP led by Ajit Pawar. It seemed he had enough of Mumbai politics and deals. Responding to Siddique’s tragic news, Tejashwi Yadav merely acknowledged how he had interacted with Siddique and his family during his recent visit to Mumbai. Siddique hailed from Gopalganj district. For some reason, Siddique was uncomfortable with the Congress and Shiv Sena(UBT) alliance, and had decided to opt out of the party in March this year. A three-time MLA from Bandra West assembly constituency, Siddique had served as a minister in the Congress-undivided NCP government in the early 2000.While his exit would be a big loss to Ajit Pawar ahead of the assembly polls, Sharad Pawar too hailed him as a leader who fought for the “minority community and championed secularism”. A close associate of actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who helped him secure his first Congress ticket in 1999. Siddique is credited for bringing to end frosty ties between actors Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan in 2013
India’s Twenty20 team — a new look team — after the Twenty20 World Cup win has been going full throttle, starting with the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare. Zimbabwe made India — led by Shubman Gill — trip in the first outing, but since facing that one-off reverse by 13 runs, the men in blue have won in a canter, almost every match. After the World Cup win — Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the short format to make way for youngsters. The selectors made the biggest change, appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Twenty20 team, not Hardik Pandya. Yadav was rested for the Zimbabwe tour, but the ball-basher from Mumbai has been going great guns from the three-match series against Sri Lanka. The best though, India reserved it against Bangladesh, smashing them out of sight in the three matches that ended with the home team posting a mammoth 297 in Hyderabad. The team was without Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Out of 11 matches, India won nine of 10 matches with ease. The third and final match against Sri Lanka ended in a super over finish. Yadav, it appears has taken a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s Kanpur book — going after the bowling and taking the game forward. In all India struck 57x 4s and 44 x 6s in three Twenty20s accounting for 492 runs. Such was the annihilation of the Bangladesh attack, a significant pointer to hit sixes as a strategy to mount pressure and bring down the opponent.
Sixty-year old popular star Jayaram Subramaniam has created a soft and stylish spot for himself in Kerala films despite Mammootty and Mohanlal’s reigning supreme as evergreens. His performance in the hit period drama Ponniyin Selvan (as Alwar Kadian Nambi, the articulate comic Brahmin) was as much the highlight of this epic drama as the pivotal characters of Ponni and Karikala Chozhan. His 26-year old son Kalidas Jayaram has created a niche for himself in the film industry. Recently he was cast in the Dhanush film Raayan, and showed his mettle in the Tamil OTT anthology Pava Kadaigal in which he played a transgender. Kalidas is all set to marry Tarini Kalingarayan, a former Miss Tamil Nadu 2019, well known model and alumnus of MOP Vaishnav College. Jayaram and wife Parvathy had just celebrated daughter Malavika’s wedding in grand style , and it came as no surprise that they announced Kalidas ‘ wedding too in quick succession. The only surprise was that Jayaram, Parvathy and Kalidas honoured MK Stalin, TN CM with the first invite. Not surprising it created a buzz as why had he not given the first invitation to the Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan? In the world of politics and cinema events occur not according to the logic of mundane society. Celebrities have their own exalted status or political predilections. Superstar Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salmaan’s was an arranged marriage in 2011 to Amal Sufiya whose family is from North India. Mohan Lal’s son, Pranav Mohanlal’ marriage with Kalyani Priyadarshan has remained an enigmatic topic.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s Dussehra address in Nagpur is seen as an endorsement of the BJP’s policy of Hindu consolidation. It is like a green signal for the party to proceed with its agenda, the insiders feel. Bhagwat’s remarks will be helpful in boosting the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election since there is no ambiguity in his message. The tone of the address, delivered at the beginning of the centenary year of the RSS, will be interpreted severally but the RSS will continue its work undaunted, its veteran members say. The BJP had suffered in the Lok Sabha election since the RSS had not immersed itself fully in the contest. The BJP took due note of its displeasure and took corrective steps. The result was that it bagged Haryana, though with a nominal margin. The same formula will now be emulated in Maharashtra where the BJP lost 16 Lok Sabha seats due to minority collective vote in favour of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates. Learning a lesson from the debacle, the ruling Mahayuti partners have been implementing their strategy in an organized manner. Still, there was uneasiness in the saffron camp given the clout of NCP founder Sharad Pawar. The announcement of the election dates and the candidates of respective parties is expected to occur at any moment now. Hence, Bhagwat’s clear call has come as a welcome breather for the Mahayuti.
The threat posed by the Republican leader Prakash Ambedkar is worrying leaders of the Opposition-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) since his Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) had caused narrow defeats of seven Lok Sabha candidates in 2019. Known for his vacillating political postures, Ambedkar had kept MVA on tenterhooks till the last moment this time, too. Now that he has unilaterally announced the list of his candidates, the Congress, the Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar are in a bind. While most VBA’s candidates this time are just locally known, the followers of Ambedkar are likely to vote en masse, perhaps at the cost of the MVA candidates. In 2019, the major beneficiary of VBA’s step was the unified Shiv Sena although it lost the then Aurangabad seat to AIMIM, which had fought the election jointly with VBA. As the Sena is splintered now and Ambedkar is going alone, his repeated allegation that MVA has treated VBA emissaries disrespectfully during seat sharing talks, could pose a serious threat for Uddhav’s nominees. Time and again, VBA has been described as the BJP’s “B Team” and every time, Ambedkar has refuted the allegation vehemently. Whatever the truth, his decision to field candidates had indirectly benefited the saffron party. Nanded, Buldhana, Parbhani, Gadchiroli, Solapur, Hatkanangale and Sangli seats were won by the BJP-Sena alliance, thanks to the VBA, in 2019.
Saturday, March 30 will be remembered by Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar as a harbinger of mixed feelings. While Pawar was just heaving a sigh of relief after his conciliation with his adversary Vijay Shivtare in Pune district, the Ajit’s nephew Rohit Pawar’s claim about the prestigious Baramati constituency going in favour of Supriya Sule went viral on social media. As Ajit is determined to trounce his cousin Supriya from the family fiefdom Baramati by fielding his wife Sunetra, the forecast by his family member came as a rude shock. Till a day ago, an enraged Shivtare had been threatening to ensure Sunetra’s defeat so as to avenge his own waterloo in Purandar assembly election of 2019. Ajit had then publicly declared that he would see to it that Shivtare was not elected. After he lost the election, Shivtare had raised the banner of protest against Ajit. But following elaborate talks two days ago, Shivtare relented and vowed to add 1.5 lakh votes to Sunetra’s victory margin. Even as Ajit was basking in the euphoria, Rohit’s prophecy in Pune that Supriya will win by a margin of at least 2.5 lakh votes must have come as a bolt from the blue for him. Rohit maintained that Ajit had conducted nine surveys in Baramati Lok Sabha constituency so far and each had predicted Supriya’s successful return to the Lok Sabha.
Akin to its strategy in Bihar and Punjab, the Congress has also decided to have friendly fights against its fellow I.N.D.I.A front constituents in Maharashtra as well. The Congress may put up candidates in about six seats against its own alliance partners, particularly the Shiv Sena like they are doing against the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Bihar and Punjab. These fights are likely to play out in places like Sangli, Bhiwandi, Mumbai North West and Mumbai South Central where the party is convinced it has a strong standing. Congress is under pressure from its aspirants like Sanjay Nirupam who is said to be exploring other parties to fight from Mumbai North West constituency. Congress’ Mumbai party chief Varsha Gaikwad, who represents Dharavi assembly constituency, also is said to be keen to contest from Mumbai South Central. The party is also upset with the snub from Uddhav Thackeray, who unilaterally declared candidatures for five seats, even before the Maha Vikas Aghadi had officially decided on it. The Sangli seat has particularly become a bone of contention between the alliance partners and key Congress aspirant Vishal Patil dashing off to complain to the high command against Thackeray’s high-handedness. However things turned sour when Uddhav refused to budge and Sena’s Sanjay Raut even underplayed the development convinced that Congress won’t let seat-sharing affect their alliance.
NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s long-time confidant Shrinivas Patil has created a vexing situation for his mentor by declaring his inability to contest the coming Lok Sabha election from the prestigious Satara constituency — the rich sugar belt — in Maharashtra. While the ruling Mahayuti is zeroing on the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaja’s family scion Udayan Raje Bhosale, currently a Rajya Sabha member, Pawar was reassured about fielding Shrinivas and about the latter’s re-election from the constituency, the stronghold of the NCP. A former IAS officer, Shrinivas is 83 now. In fact, when he was asked to contest in a byelection in October 2019, he was reluctant due to his advancing years. However, he bowed to Pawar’s entreaty and won the seat by defeating Udayan Raje. Now that he has shown unwillingness, Pawar will have to look for a replacement which will be formidable enough to take on the royal opponent, who was elected to the Lok Sabha earlier from Satara. A Congress citadel for many decades, Satara district has shown its preference tilting towards the BJP in recent years. Pawar sees this constituency as a prestige issue and has left no stones unturned to retain his hold on it. But after the rebellion by nephew Ajit, the NCP supremo is finding it challenging to keep his horde under control. He is expected to announce the name of his nominee by Sunday.
Former Union home minister Shivraj Patil’s daughter-in-law Dr Archana Chakurkar is all set to join the BJP in Mumbai on Saturday. Former chief minister Ashok Chavan has played a vital role in this major political upheaval which will impact Marathwada region’s power structure from now on. The development has unnerved the state Congress party, which is already buffeted by one desertion after another. On the heels of famous thespian Govinda, the influential Shivraj family member’s decision has left Congress leaders speechless. Shivraj was the Lok Sabha speaker for a full term and had handled several major portfolios at the Centre, besides holding the gubernatorial reigns in Punjab. His trusted aide Basavraj Patil joined the BJP last month, sending out clear signals that Archana will follow him sooner than later. Belonging to the powerful Lingayat caste, the Patil clan has been wielding considerable clout in Latur, Dharashiv and Nanded districts, which share the state’s border with Karnataka. Archana, in fact, was all set to enter the saffron camp some years ago. However, that could not happen due to various reasons. After her arrival in Mumbai, Archana called on deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Friday afternoon. The picture of their meeting has been made viral, prior to her formal welcome. Some more prominent faces will soon join the BJP, it has been indicated.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde seems cornered in his own Mahayuti alliance by the BJP. There is much unrest, fear and anxiety in the Shiv Sena camp (Shinde faction) as he struggles to even accommodate his own elected Parliamentarians. Thirteen of the total 18 MPs from the united Shiv Sena had broken away with Shinde post to form the government along with the BJP in June 2022. But, restlessness prevails as the BJP seems to be eyeing their seats citing the BJP’s winnability factor based on surveys. Shinde has apparently been directed to change six of his sitting MP’s now following negative reports in their surveys. Shinde’s lieutenant Sanjay Shirsat clearly echoed the anger in his camp when he stated that surveys often proved to be wrong earlier and cannot be the determining factor for granting tickets. It is getting more personal for Shinde as the BJP has not spared Shinde’s own son, Dr Shrikant Shinde, a two-term MP from Kalyan. There are talks of asking him to contest from Thane. Shinde is contending with midnight protests at his official CM residence by Nashik’s sitting MP Hemant Godse. Ticket distribution has created unrest in the Shinde camp who reckon that the BJP could adopt an even more rigid stance in Maharashtra’s assembly ticket distribution process, once they achieve their goal of returning to power in the Centre in June 2024.
When he started his Lok Sabha poll campaign from Trichy, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin was intent only on radiating confidence and positivity that the DMK would remain the Cock of the Walk. But cannily, he also commissioned bi-weekly surveys through his son-in-law, V Sabareesan’s poll outfit. The latest survey results throws up some uncomfortable truth — BJP stands in second in some constituencies. This has instilled fear denting the super confidence that victory was already DMK’s. Stalin shared this survey finding with AIADMK to trigger a concerted action plan. The BJP has galvanised its star candidates like K Annamalai, Tamilisai Soundararajan, L Murugan, Nainaar Nagendran and insisted it’s ally partner leaders OPS , TTV and others too face the electorate as candidates. The only exception has been Dr Anbumani Ramadoss; he has fielded his wife Dr Sowmiya. A reliable source says Anbumani is determined to get into Parliament on a reserved seat. There is also talk that BJP is using saam, daam, dand, bhed to ensure its success. The cost of acquiring TN voters has gone very high. But like in all high value races, misinformation/disinformation is seen as the ploy in confusing the opponent. Stalin is said to have given whip talk to his followers that they should leave nothing to chance, but use their poll armoury to full extent.
BJP’s Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is working in right earnest, sans political distractions anymore, to ensure 41 to 45 (out of 48) Lok Sabha seats for NDA from Maharashtra. His party high command cleared the field in Maharashtra by designating him as BJP’s sole face, having strategically elevated Sudhir Mungantiwar, and Pankaja Munde among other perceived contenders to the Parliamentary arena. Fadnavis’ political challenge remains to ensure his party contests 31 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra and convince chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to accommodate BJP candidates from their allocated seats just like Milind Deora found Rajya Sabha nomination from Shinde’s quota. Fadnavis has emphasized the ‘winnability’ criterion and 50% vote share to turn into reality, PM Narendra Modi’s aspiration for 370 BJP MPs in Lok Sabha 3.0. Fadnavis must ensure NCP MLA, Pankaja’s cousin Dhananjay Munde’s wholehearted efforts to ensure his sister (whom he defeated in 2019 state assemblies) wins from Beed. He never enjoyed good relations even with the late Gopinath Munde. “The important thing is Fadnavis has liberty to offer adequate representation in subsequent state assemblies while asking coalition partners to swallow the bitter pill for general elections. The results of the Lok Sabha will decide subsequent state assembly seat allocations in Maharashtra as well,” a source revealed. Whether this will have a placatory effect on known rabble rouser, independent MLA Bacchu Kadu, remains to be seen?
Eruption of discontent after a candidate’s name is announced is an expected occurrence for all major parties but when it is a three-party combination, the problems aggravate to another level. Leaders of the ruling alliance MahaYuti — the BJP, the Shiv Sena’s Shinde faction and the NCP’s Ajit Pawar group — are spending more time in dousing the fires than concentrating on campaigning. The case with the opposition-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is no different. The Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray, the Congress and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar are so engrossed in settling their mutual disputes that it is becoming difficult to understand who is an official nominee and belonging to which party. Deserting the original party to join another has become rampant and has added to the headache of the leaders from both sides. To add fuel to the fire, Republican leader Prakash Ambedkar, independent MLA Bachchu Kadu and splinter group leaders have been making one announcement after another to confound their own followers. Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has been accused of playing a double game by Ambedkar who was wooed by MVA till the other day. On the other hand, the Congress is angry with Uddhav for unilaterally announcing the candidates for some disputed seats. Maratha reservation demand leader Manoj Jarange Patil has been contributing his bit by daily changing his stand. The picture will be clear only on the last day of withdrawal of nomination by the candidates.
When the BJP released its 5th list of candidates and Varun Gandhi did not find his name, he may have not been surprised. What may have surprised him was that his mother Maneka was still fielded from Sultanpur. That is because even before the list was out Varun was preparing to be axed and had wanted to file nomination papers as an independent candidate. He knew he had crossed quite a few red lines to be renominated as an MP candidate. In Pilibhit, the BJP had replaced him with former Congress leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada, a constituency represented by Varun twice. While Varun literally invited the wrath of the BJP leadership by attacking the Yogi Adityanath government in UP — license of Amethi’s Sanjay Gandhi Hospital was suspended following death of a patient, the Pilibhit MP also attacked policies of the Modi government in signed opinion pieces in newspapers. Congress sources said Varun had turned a rebel in the BJP only because his cousin Priyanka Vadra had encouraged him to do so. She had wanted Varun to create trouble, leave the BJP and eventually join the Congress. She had even arranged a conciliatory meeting between Varun and Rahul Gandhi. Somehow, Rahul was not open to Varun joining the Congress as of now. With his mother getting a BJP ticket, Varun may not be inclined to contest 2024 polls. Elections are always a season of crazy new endings and beginnings but the one that happened in Kurukshetra, Haryana takes the cake. BJP workers can’t still figure out why party leadership has fielded coal-scam tainted Naveen Jindal. BJP had defeated him in 2014 and 2019. In 2024,”We will not work for him”, says the demoralised cadre.
Actress and BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut has been reminded by several netizens of her remarks against popular star Urmila Matondkar when the latter was fielded by the Congress party in Mumbai North to contest the Lok Sabha election in 2019. On a later occasion, Kangana had expressed her willingness to stand for an election. In the course of that interaction, she had called Urmila a soft porn star. This has been recalled by several net users as a quip allegedly uploaded by Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate against Kangana has set off a war of words between BJP and Congress. The offensive tweet was later withdrawn but the verbal give and take continues. Excerpts of Kangana’s 2020 interview to a TV channel have been uploaded. She says, “Urmila Matondkar, she is a soft porn star. I know it’s very blatant, but I want to ask you… she is not known for her acting for sure, what is she known for, for doing soft porn, right? If she can get a ticket (candidature for a political party), why won’t I get a ticket?” Kangana’s comment against Urmila followed Matondkar’s criticism of Ranaut for disrespecting veteran actor Jaya Bachchan. In a 2020 speech in parliament, Bachchan had spoken out against the tarnishing of the entire film industry. About the latest Congress post, Kangana will announce her next step after meeting BJP leaders in Delhi. Whatever the outcome, the ‘X’ post will continue to haunt the Congress party for some time.
Manoj Jarange Patil has once again changed his tactics for the coming Lok Sabha election. Now, he says only one candidate should be fielded on behalf of the caste in each Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra. Moreover, he has clearly stated that such a candidate need not belong to the Maratha caste but should be a votary of the demand. Jarange’s decision was announced at a rally of the Maratha reservation demand’s supporters. Diluting his aggressive stand further, Jarange has said that for the Maratha community, the assembly election is more important than the Parliament’s election. ‘We will teach the government a lesson at that time,” he said while criticizing chief minister Eknath Shinde. Earlier, Jarange had threatened to derail the election process by fielding one Maratha candidate from each village so that the ballot paper would carry hundreds of names and EVMs would have to be replaced by printed ballot papers. However, given the heat generated by the LS election process, Jarange has been more or less ignored by the media to which he was sort of addicted. The selection of candidates by various political parties and their alliances and fronts has a clear imprint of caste considerations. Thus, the spirit generated by Jarange to press his demand for Maratha caste reservations has evaporated. His claim that his decision can impact the results in 18 LS constituencies is hence viewed with disbelief.
It was a coordinated action by a group of Congress sympathisers who erupted in mocking actor Kangana Ranaut after she was given a ticket to contest from Mandi in Himachal by the BJP. There was prominent editor Mrinal Pande who first mocked “Mandi”.Then Supriya Shrinate wanted to know the “rate card”. Then HS Ahir came up with references to prostitutes. It is for these reasons that the controversy triggered by Congress spokesperson Shrinate’s social media posts about Kangana just didn’t ebb. The BJP too decided to take the issue of attack on its candidate with the EC. The Congress tried to build a counter narrative — digging up an old clip of Kangana where she is heard taking a “soft porn star” jibe at former Congress leader Urmila Matondkar. So did Shrinate’s bit that her posts against Kangana were not hers but had been posted by someone else. Her explanation did not convince the party. Himachal Congress leaders were surprised by the manner in which Kanagana handled personal attacks. She questioned the Congress for “sexualising a small town’s name” and said that “every woman deserves her dignity. Mandi is being used in a sexual context everywhere, just because it has a young woman candidate. I am hurt by the ‘Mandi’ thing, which is known as Chota Kashi and has been the land of several rishis.” Her remarks made even Himachal CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu take pride in Kangana and describe as her daughter of the state. Congress sources feel Kangana may find the going tough if incumbent MP Pratibha Singh chooses to contest. “Let’s not forget was announced by the BJP only after Pratibha announced she would not be contesting.”
It is reliably learnt that Adani Data Network, which was the surprise entrant in the 5G spectrum auction conducted by the Telecom Department, has silently walked out of the space. Adani had acquired the right to use 400 MHz of the spectrum in the 26 GHz milimetre waveband for 20 years. Adani it seems has not paid the requisite auction money by the stipulated period perhaps an indication it is having second thoughts about its entry into 5G space. Generally, in such cases, the bank guarantee, given at time of bidding, would be encashed and a penalty charged. Reportedly, the Department has decided to waive off both as the ecosystem is yet to be developed. After the auction in September 2021, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the acquirers of spectrum would roll out their 5G services by October 2022. The government had received bids for Rs 150,173 crore from Jio, Bharti Airtel, Voda and Adani. The total amount mopped up by the government from 5G spectrum capable of offering ultra-high speed mobile internet connectivity was Rs 77,815 cr. At the time of bidding for the 400 MHz spectrum, Adani Group had indicated that it was the group’s first step in integrating its digital infrastructure portfolio including data centres, terrestrial fibre and submarine cables, industrial cloud, AI innovative labs, cyber security and super apps. The Telecom department was supposed to hold the next round of spectrum auction in February 2024 but with elections round the corner, the auction was not held, and may be held once the new government is sworn in. This time round, however, the Government expects operators to go for lower bands beginning with 600MHz for many which are lapsing soon. Back in September 2021, the Government decided that spectrum auctions should be held annually.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a leading party in Tamil Nadu under the leadership of founder Dr S Ramadoss and incumbent leader and son, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has jumped on the BJP bandwagon after jettisoning AIADMK’s offer at the eleventh hour. Out of the 10 seats allotted, one was definitely for the former Union health minister Dr Anbumani. The wise soothsayers had even predicted the family’s long time turf, Dharmapuri as the constituency of choice for him. In a surprising turn of events his wife Dr Sowmiya Anbumani is now fielded from Dharmapuri, the first time a lady of the house of Ramadoss is to contest in an election. Dr Sowmiya, a PHD in Sociology, who heads the party mouthpiece, Makkal TV claims “ I am no novice to election grind. I have worked for my husband and know my constituency well….confident that our women voters would elect me. As for Dharmapuri, an agri centre for mangoes, millets, tomatoes, tamarind and silkworm production, I plan to negotiate better support prices for them.” She also plans to set up SIPCOT industrial estates to lure back over three lakh workers who have gone out in search of jobs. Even if she is whistling in the dark to take on the mighty Dravidian parties, at least she has a strategic plan for Dharmapuri, not the oft heard leverage of Dravidian invincibility. And she represents a growing woman power.
Now, it is official that both BJP and BJD are going solo in the general and assembly elections. And the BJP Odisha unit seems to be elated with this new development; they feel that against the backdrop of Ayodhya, the party stands a better chance this time. An indication that they were expecting a solo fight showed when the party immediately released its first list of candidates for 18 of the 21 seats. The list has familiar names: Jual Oram from Sundargarh, Dharmendra Pradhan from Sambalpur, Pratap Sarangi from Balasore, Dr Sambit Patra from Puri, Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneswar, Pradeep Panigrahi from Berhampur and others. Sources say four sitting MPs Suresh Pujari,Basant Panda, Nitish Gangadev and Biseswar Tudu may be accommodated in the Assembly elections. There is a strong rumour that the ruling BJD may field Dr Santrupt Mishra, ex Birla HR director and Arup Patnaik ex Mumbai Police Commissioner from Cuttack and Puri respectively. The biggest surprise is BJP’s national vice president Baijayant ’Jay’ Panda is returning back to Odisha to fight from Kendrapara amidst rumour that sidelined BJD film star MP who won Kendrapara and denied BJD ticket. The Odia star may join BJP, contesting from Cuttack constituency following BJD’s six time Cuttack MP Bhatruhari Mahtab quitting BJD. Speculation is rife that Mahtab too may join BJP. Similarly there are rumours that BJP MLA Naba Charan Majhi has been asked to contest the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat instead, making way to accommodate President Murmu’s daughter in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
BJP has fielded former Governor of Telangana and Puducherry Tamilisai Soundararajan from South Chennai seat against DMK incumbent Tamizhachi Thangapandian. Tamil is the pivot that strikes, in the names of these two formidable ladies and incidentally both are 62-year old. So, what’s special about DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian (her name and its significance is in itself an oeuvre in Dravidam) who was elected in 2019? Thamizhachi has impeccable credentials — highly educated, taught English in Chennai’s Queen Mary’s College, author, lyricist , orator, sister of DMK heavyweight Minister Thangam Thennarasu and wife of late Thangapandian also an influencer of the party. Is this fight seen as Plebe Vs Patrician? Why was Tamilisai chosen to take on this high profile incumbent Thamizhachi? According to a media analyst, the ex- Governor, who lost to Kanimozhi in 2019, is a nimble and sagacious politician…she may appear the perfect foil for a sophisticate Thamizhachi, but in terms of easy touch points Tamilisai is adept at spontaneous camaraderie. On a realpolitik level, South Chennai is a middle class bastion that has seen enough of Dravidian rhetoric, and may be ready for a change given the BJP wave in the South riding on Modi’s charisma and K Annamalai’s padayatra. South Chennai could be a litmus test for BJP’s entry. Already there are references to a cult Tamil film dance competition in Vanjikottai Valiban where late Padmini and Vyjayanthimala compete in a nimbly choreographed dance. And the hero applauds, “Sabaash, Sariyana potti (in Tamil it means wow, a good fight)”.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal made a soft, public outreach to Delhi citizens via a social post. Dubbing her husband’s arrest in a money laundering case by the ED “as a betrayal of people of Delhi” Sunita in a post in X in Hindi went on to describe how her husband always stood with the people of the national capital. Picking up from Kejriwal’s sound bite outside the PMLA court about his life being dedicated to his country “whether inside (jail) or outside”, Sunita asserted that “the public knows everything”. She went on to charge PM Modi of suppressing the voice of a three-time elected CM out of “arrogance of power”. “Modiji is trying to crush everyone. This is a betrayal of the people of Delhi. The public knows that he is Janardan. Jai Hind”, she tweeted. Sunita’s post is interesting in the sense she is widely speculated to emerge as Kejriwal’s favourite choice to replace him as CM if he ever were forced to vacate office. It is however not clear if the AAP rank and file will readily accept her. There are veterans like Gopal Rai who may have a grip on the party, but it is unlikely he may get Kejriwal’s nod. It is likely that party strategists such as Sandeep Pathak may have asked Sunita to test the political waters. Sunita had taken VRS from the IRS in July 2016, nearly three years after her husband became CM. A 1993-batch IRS officer with Master’s in Zoology, Sunita had met Kejriwal, a 1995-batch IRS officer, during a training programme at Bhopal. Though not known to show interest in party matters, Sunita had taken a keen interest in redesigning CM’s official residence that goes by the moniker “Sheesh Mahal”. Interestingly, on her X timeline are posts about BJP’s electoral bonds and voices from Delhi in support of her husband.
Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is emerging as the BJP lone firefighter… dousing the fires created by the announcements of candidatures of 20 of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra. The BJP in the state is busy molly-coddling sitting MP’s, aspirants, party supporters and various rival factions. It is as if the BJP’s high stakes campaign in Maharashtra is riding high entirely on the shoulders of Fadnavis. Fadnavis personally visited the Kandivli residence of Gopal Shetty, to quell anger among Shetty’s supporters after the two time MP from Mumbai North constituency, was asked to vacate the seat in favour of Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal. He also met up with senior leader, Harshavardhan Patil, who is upset at the prospect of having to campaign for the wife of his bete noire, Ajit Pawar from Baramati constituency. The Madha constituency has already been on the boil despite Fadnavis deputing Girish Mahajan to quell tempers there. Then there are simmering issues like sitting MP from Satara, Udayanraje Bhonsale rushing to New Delhi to prevent the seat going to his cousin Shivendraraje Bhonsale after Devendra’s intervention failed. Fadnavis also had to personally intervene to cool down tempers with the Ranas of Amravati — Ravi and Navneet — who are keen to get re-nominated on a BJP ticket. Beyond this, Fadnavis is also spearheading alliance talks with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
Uddhav Thackeray seems to be a man on a mission. Not only was he the first one to kickstart his party’s campaign but also the one to jump the gun by announcing names of four candidates from his party even as the seat sharing talks were in progress among alliance partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Uddhav, who emerged the worst affected post the split of his party, seems on a mission to avenge the betrayal. He has already addressed 23 campaign meetings and has planned more meetings in the regions of Konkan, West and North Maharashtra as also Marathwada. Most of his meetings are attracting huge crowds and this has already caused discomfiture in the BJP camp, which is in alliance talks with his cousin Raj Thackeray to undercut the strong sympathy Uddhav seems to enjoy in the state. When Uddhav announced the candidature of Amol Kirtikar for Mumbai North-West constituency it drew sharp retorts Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam as he was keen to contest from that constituency. Talk of not sticking to coalition dharma failed to deter him and he went ahead with more declarations. He was also the first party in MVA to declare co-ordinators for 23 Parliamentary constituencies at a juncture when the MVA had not even finalised on the number of seats within the MVA coalition. Similarly, he went ahead and announced his candidature for the Sangli constituency and Congress was left mumbling that they are still in the reckoning for this seat.
Maharashtra has muddled into chaos as the seat sharing process gets underway. Incidents of threats of rebellion, secret midnight parlays, allegations and accusations, bickerings, shifting to different parties and symbols have become the order of the day. The partial announcement of candidatures by parties has already muddled the coalition politics creating more chaos across the political spectrum in Maharashtra. So far, the BJP has announced candidatures for 20 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra, the Congress for 7, Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of Shiv Sena for 4, while the rest are still groping in the dark. The BJP’s announcements have been greeted with threats of rebellion and even demands for changing of candidate at Madha constituency by BJP veteran leader Naik Nimbalkar. Girish Mahajan, who was deputed there to cool down tempers with the influential Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil clan, was blocked from entering the area. At Raver constituency, the re-nomination of sitting MP Raksha Khadse led to dissenting voices from her own party members and family. Though a straight fight with sister-in-law Rohini Khadse, has been averted for now, the bad blood threatens to impact the BJP’s chances here. Jalgaon nominee Smita Wagh is also facing opposition. The candidature of sitting MP from Amravati, Navneet Rana, aligned to Devendra Fadnavis camp, is also stuck due to strong opposition by her Sena counterpart Anantrao Adusul. To add to the confusion Manoj Jarange Patil is planning to field Maratha candidates. Even the Dhangar community has demanded adequate representation failing which they have threatened to put up their own candidates. Even individual rebels like Vasant More, ex-MNS leader from Pune, are planning to play spoilsport.
Wednesday, March 20 had compelling events at different venues. Superstar Rajinikanth inaugurated Kauvery Hospital’s advanced quaternary care centre at Vadapalani. His address was peppered with personal anecdotes and much humour. Evoking laughter, he said “This body has been through many hospitals…Isabella, Kauvery, Ramachandra, St. Elizabeth (Singapore) and The Mayo Clinic (USA).” Time was when the Alwarpet Kauvery Hospital was identified by another landmark…Kamal Haasan’s residence across the road. Today, its prominence makes it the GPS for Kamal’s residence/office. Ouch! Was that a reference to Kamal’s drop in popularity after his Rajya Sabha seat acceptance? The same day saw actor Dhanush, the estranged Damaad of Rajini, announcing his new film — a biopic on music maestro Ilayaraja. Guess what, the music for this biopic is by Ilayaraja himself. Surprise, surprise ….the screenplay is by Kamal. Dhanush gave an emotional vent to his aspirations, “I have longed to play the role of this living music legend. And I now have only one more wish…to act as Rajinikanth in a biopic,”even as Kamal shared the stage.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after carrying out searches at his official residence and questioning the AAP leader for nearly two hours in connection with the money laundering probe linked to the now scrapped liquor excise policy. The arrest comes hours after the Delhi HC refused to grant him interim protection from coercive action in the money laundering probe. In fact, the HC judges sought to know why Kejriwal was only being summoned by the ED — nine summons had been issued — and he had not been arrested so far. Kejriwal’s arrest had become inevitable ever since the ED had taken BRS leader K Kavitha into custody last week. AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are in jail for the last several months. Time was really running out for the so-called “anti-corruption” hero. According to the ED, Kavitha was allegedly linked to a ‘South Group’ lobby of liquor traders who were trying to play a bigger role in the now scrapped Delhi excise policy. Vijay Nair, one of the accused, allegedly received kickbacks worth at least Rs 100 crore on behalf of AAP leaders from the ‘South Group’, said to be controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy. Politically, Kejriwal’s arrest is bound to impact the performance of AAP in Delhi as well in Punjab. In fact, Congress sources wondered if the so-called tie-up between the parties would even last in Delhi. All this only means with the arrest of two CMs by the ED — Kerjriwal and Hemant Soren– the I.N.D.I.A front looks much hobbled.
The Congress leadership made a mega event of its lapses. Yes, its failure to file I-T returns for assessment Year 2018-19. Confronted with a penalty of Rs 135 cr, party’s top leaders decided that they must make full use of the I-T action against its finances and dub it as a vindictive action in the time of elections. Is it going to help? Unlikely. Making a rare appearance along with son Rahul and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi dubbed the I-T action as an attempt to cripple the party financially. She declared freezing Congress bank accounts impacted “our democracy itself most fundamentally”. On his part Rahul Gandhi, highlighted how his party was unable to conduct a normal campaign. He wondered if the “idea of India as a democracy” is a lie. The government’s actions are “being orchestrated to cripple us before the elections.” The Congress narrative was countered by senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. He pointed out that the Congress lost its appeal at every stage — I-T tribunal and in the Delhi HC. “Rs 135 crore tax plus interest was levied. Delhi High Court rejected their appeal on March 13. The court remarked, “It was a badly handled matter. Somebody from the Congress office went to sleep right from 2021. Now they have gone to SC. The matter is listed on April 1. Rahul Gandhi did not disclose these facts but chose to attack all democratic institutions.” Prasad clarified that political parties do not have to pay income tax but have to file their returns every year. “If you do not file every year, you lose your exemption. What has the BJP got to do with it”.
Tamil Nadu’s BJP first list of 9 Lok Sabha candidates was more or less on expected lines. The party leadership decided that all its senior leaders — from state BJP unit chief and charismatic K Annamalai to Union Minister L Murugan to former governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and former Union minister Pon RadhaKrishnan — must enter the fray and explore the popularity of the BJP and ensure that PM Modi’s message reaches people. This was apparently the desire of PM Modi who has paid special attention to the state and has been regularly visiting Chennai and other TN cities in the past few months. As for constituencies, Annamalai would probably be comfortable in his skin as his maiden contest would be from Coimbatore, which is his home turf. The BJP also enjoys a good support base here. Another contest that would be equally interesting is one in Thoothukudi where the party has fielded Nainar Nagendran against incumbent DMK MP Kanimozhi, sister of TN CM MK Stalin. A combative BJP MLA, Nainar could prove to be a challenge for Kani after rains wreaked havoc in her area recently. The third interesting contest would be Kanyakumari from where Pon Radhakrishnan, who was a minister in Vajpayee government, is looking at a smooth re-election. This is a seat that any Nadar leader would covet. The Perambalur seat has been given to TR Paarvinder, founder of Indiya Jananayaka Katchi. He owns SRM University & Tamil channel Puthia Thalaimurai. It is certainly not going to be a smooth sail for a fellow Nadar leader Tamilisai Soundararajan from Chennai South. Similarly it will be a tough battle for Union Minister L Murugan to take on a “resourceful” 2-G enabled A Raja in Nilgiris, a reserved constituency The BJP has fielded a resourceful C Narasimhan from Krishnagiri.
Intense bargaining for claiming more and more Lok Sabha constituencies has delayed the seat-sharing formulas in Maharashtra for both sides. While the ruling alliance is still to declare its candidates in many constituencies, an agreement on this issue is as yet eluding the Opposition I.N.D.I.A front despite several rounds of discussion. Top leaders from both sides are found closeted with each other or with potential defectors. Chief minister Eknath Shinde and two deputy chief ministers, Devendra Fadanvis and Ajit Pawar keep on assuring their followers that the formula is being finalized and will be announced soon. From I.N.D.I.A front side, Sharad Pawar, former CM Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress president Nana Patole have been meeting time and again to hammer out an agreement that would be respectable for all three constituents. Nonetheless, rebels are popping up all over the state to add to the headache for both camps. Family clashes concerning the Pawar and Thackeray families have added to the ferocity of the fight. Uddhav has mounted a bitter attack against cousin Raj for meeting Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi, thereby implying that the MNS chief has compromised the honour of Marathi Manoos. Ajit Pawar continues to be lashed by his adversaries while Beed candidate Pankaja Munde’s selection is described as a signal that her sister, sitting MP Pritam Munde, will be dropped this time. The role of their cousin Dhananjay Munde will be under scanner, given their earlier political enmity.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s isolation from the larger Pawar family in Baramati has deepened and appears to be heading to a point of no return. Now, his aunt has come out against him. Veteran Sharad Pawar’s younger sister Saroj Patil, a former school headmistress, has broken her political silence for the first time to stand by her elder brother. Saroj is the wife of the late ND Patil, who was an ardent political opponent of the Congress party and Pawar. In her late eighties, Saroj has alleged that it is the BJP’s plan to defeat Supriya Sule from Baramati, thereby finishing Sharad’s clout. But she has warned that Sharad can’t be uprooted from Baramati for which he has worked for such a long time. The family feud has come out in the open ever since Ajit decided to break away from the family patriarch and assumed serious proportions as he announced fielding his wife Sunetra against Supriya. Though Saroj has praised Supriya and Sunetra as ‘decent’ ladies, she has tipped in favour of the NCP MP and remarked that Sunetra is not so much studied. Her veiled criticism of Ajit comes on the heels of the onslaught by his brother Shriniwas, who said the Ajit is an arrogant person who does not respect family elders. In response, a communication has become viral in social media, in which it is said that Ajit has established himself with his talent and hard work. The signatory is “A Wise Baramatikar.”
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is appearing to be almost in the BJP’s bag, boosting the ruling alliance’s confidence for the Lok Sabha election. The BJP-MNS alliance was reportedly sealed after Union home minister Amit Shah met MNS chief Raj Thackeray in Delhi on Tuesday (Mar 19), though the meeting was scheduled to take place on Monday night. Raj has insisted on two Lok Sabha seats for his party, Mumbai South and Nasik and using his election symbol, the Railway Engine. If the alliance becomes a reality, the BJP will be able to hit several birds with a single stone as Raj will aggressively extoll Hindutva, will attack cousin Uddhav on ode to Veer Savarkar and kneeling before the Shiv Sena’s erstwhile political foes like the Communists and the DMK. Raj will thus prove to be an asset for the ruling alliance. BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, an old friend of Raj, and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis played a behind the scene role in persuading the MNS leader to join the bandwagon. Raj was accompanied by his son Amit. No other leader was with him when Shah met them. MNS has been unable to make any dent in the electoral map of Maharashtra so far. The likely handshake will prove to be a win-win situation for both. Shortpost.in had indicated the possibility on Monday.
As expected by many of his critics, Republican leader Prakash Ambedkar has dealt another blow to the I.N.D.I.A front in Maharashtra, attacking the Shiv Sena (Uddhav) and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar. He has suggested to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge that an arrangement should be made between their two parties about the seven seats which the oldest party will be contesting in the state. The presence of Ambedkar has been proving uncomfortable for the I.N.D.I.A due to his various public utterances. Sena MP Sanjay Raut had expressed displeasure about this before the media a few days ago. Undeterred, Ambedkar continues to assail his potential allies. In fact, veteran leader Sharad Pawar and Ambedkar have not seen eye to eye on most issues. However, the mercurial leader was accommodated into the Opposition front at the behest of Uddhav. But Ambedkar has also taken him to task. In his letter to Kharge, he has charged that the Sena and NCP leaders have not been even hearing his party emissaries. “They are giving us step-motherly treatment,” he complained. Still, he has not forgotten to dangle a carrot for the Congress by indicating that the two-party arrangement can continue in the future, also. Though busy finalising the seat-sharing formula, the Sena and the NCP are finding it difficult to find capable candidates in several constituencies like Nagpur. Ambedkar’s intransigence, hence, is considered a headache invited by I.N.D.I.A.
The past three days saw an edge of the seat thriller even as the father son duo of the PMK, Dr S Ramadoss and Dr Anbumani Ramadoss did the pendulum rock to choose between the BJP and the AIADMK. Over dinner, father dear was said to have made an emotion charged appeal to son, “This could well be my last election…my wish is to send at least a couple of PMK MPs to Delhi. Just agree to this once, then you can have your way.” Anbumani, already on the horns of his most challenging dilemma, agreed. Emissaries from PMK and AIADMK met for sealing the deal. Reportedly, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) drove to Thailapuram to personally oversee the tie up. Obviously, a Shivaratri must have ensued, to change the firm stand of senior Ramadoss, who was convinced with the most powerful arguments and lure, to join the BJP bandwagon. Imagine Edappadi’s shock and jolt when he heard about the latest nail biting finish to the swinging deal. BJP chief K Annamalai and Union minister L Murugan have played the most convincing roles in this crucial tie up, powerful enough to make Senior Ramadoss say, “PM Modi has worked tirelessly for this country. The people of TN are ready for a change, having experienced Dravidam in power”. The fine-tuned print of the deal will be revealed soon, but a visibly satisfied Dr. Anbumani made the acceptance speech when he stood tall and said “we have chosen”. And the Pied Piper of Hamelin continues to play his tune.
Sixty-two year old Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan is undoubtedly the acknowledged heroine of the election “manch”. And with good reason. The full time Governor of Telangana and the stand in Governor for Puducherry put in her papers and walked out of Raj Bhavan to wade in the heat and dust of the ensuing elections. She is cautious though, amidst speculations that are pinging around like a gaming parlour. Having lost to DMK’s Kanimozhi in Tuticorin in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, this colourful BJP personality was written off as a political power, even as she was made the Governor of Telangana, where she found herself in a stormy environment when K Chandrasekhar Rao’s party Bharat Rashtra Samiti was the face of power. But Governor Soundararajan could tenaciously hold her own, in fact it was obvious that she honed her power skills even as she was given additional charge of Puducherry. But close aides could see through her hankering to get into active politics, not be a figurehead representative of the BJP even as she saw the rise and rise of K Annamalai as TN BJP chief. Her resignation made waves and now the buzz is rife …is she a key Prachara Beerangi (Tamil for cannon) or is she contesting from Tuticorin or S. Chennai or no surprise, Puducherry? Watch this space for the role of her career… Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan … she of the colourful bold print sarees, flowers in her hair and dazzling smile.
It was a political storm that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi provoked little realising that it could risk hurting Hindu sentiments. His flippant use of “Shakti”– an evolved stream of worship in sanatana dharma — at a political platform where DMK leaders, who are not sympathetic to the Hindu cause, were present came as a political surprise. It was precisely for this reason that SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, who comes from the Ram Mandir belt, kept away from this “anti-sanatana dharma” forum in Mumbai– he didn’t want to be seen sharing space with “anti- Hindu” Tamil leaders like MK Stalin or VCK leader. Looks like Rahul imagined he could attack Hinduism, and get away with his word play on “shakti”. What he did not realise was that an alert BJP team would pick every word he had uttered against Hindus. The interaction with a Christian pastor in Kanyakumari during his Bharat Jodo Yatra and deprecatory references to Hinduism made two years ago was one such gem .The pastor is heard telling Rahul,”Jesus is the real god, not Shakti” in the clip. It came in handy as PM Modi lambasted Rahul as a person who had scant respect for sanatan dharma. From Jagtial in Telangana to Shimoga in Karnataka, Modi tore into Rahul’s remarks at his rallies and personalised his fight against Shakti. “For me, every daughter, mother, and sister is a personification of Shakti. To those who are raising their voices against Shakti, I accept your challenge. I am willing to sacrifice my life for Shakti,” he added. Modi, who clearly reached out to 49 % women voters through a series of governance steps, has now sharpened the battle for their attention with “shakti”.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s sly reference to him has been ridiculed by former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan. Similarly, the scion’s claim that then finance minister Arun Jaitley had requested him not to speak about the Land Acquisition Act has been questioned by top BJP leaders. In his public rally at Shivaji Park in Mumbai on March 17, Rahul had described how a senior Congress leader from the state had wept before Sonia Gandhi while admitting that he was joining the BJP lest he would be arrested. Although Rahul did not name the leader, the reference was obviously suggestive and it was identified to be Chavan, who recently joined the BJP and was immediately elected to the Rajya Sabha. Chavan said if Rahul was pointing a finger at him, there was no truth in the allegation. Chavan said his decision to leave the Congress party was not known to anyone. He was busy with the party’s work till the previous evening and nobody had an inkling of his next move. The news broke out when Chavan submitted his legislative assembly membership’s resignation to the speaker. Hence, the claim that he had a meeting with Sonia Gandhi in this connection was utterly laughable and unfounded, Chavan stated emphatically. Rahul’s other assertion that Jaitley had met him has similarly been viewed with mistrust. Let him come out with evidence to substantiate his claim, BJP leaders have challenged Rahul.
The ruling Mahayuti has been unable to resolve the stalemate created over the seat sharing formula, which is likely to undergo a major change if the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is included in the saffron alliance. While deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has indicated that the Mahayuti now has no scope to welcome any new partner, several other factors have impacted the ongoing talks. One of them is MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who has been ambivalent about joining the Mahayuti but has not discounted the possibility outright. His trusted aide Bala Nandgaonkar has been reportedly sounded to contest from South Mumbai, a Shiv Sena stronghold all these years, though due to the BJP support. BJP leaders are weighing the pros and cons about taking MNS on board since it is felt that Raj can easily discredit his cousin Uddhav Thackeray in campaigning. Even at present, Raj does not lose a single opportunity to throw barbs at his cousin Uddhav. Besides South Mumbai, there are about a dozen seats which are claimed by more than one partners of the Mahayuti. The BJP, of course, will get the largest slice though the Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde and the NCP under Ajit Pawar are yet not ready to relent about their demands. The final round of talks will be held in Delhi in a day or two, according to the three leaders.
Even as the Election Commission of India will be announcing the schedule for 2024 Lok Sabha elections and elections to four state assemblies on March 16, with it the Model Code of Conduct will kick in, there is apparently going to be no change in PM Narendra Modi’s travel plans abroad. Yes, he will be going to Bhutan after the announcement of poll dates. He is going to the Himalayan Kingdom on March 21 and 22. The visit is significant from the point of China creating problems there. Modi feels he must send a message to Beijing that India is standing with Bhutan. A few days ago, I & B minister Anurag Thakur made it clear that the government is not going into caretaker mode and the Union Cabinet will continue to meet as and when necessary. With opinion polls already predicting the return of the NDA Government post poll with overwhelming numbers, it is not surprising that PM Modi vows to continue working.
There is apparently a sense of unease and worry among the West Bengal security establishment that chief minister Mamata Banerjee should get grievously hurt at home. She was reportedly “pushed from behind” while working on the treadmill. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo fell and hit her forehead against a showcase. She was rushed to the SSKM Hospital by her nephew and heir apparent Abhishek in his car. She was discharged after stitches on her forehead. Though there is no clear answer as to who pushed her, sources say, attempts are being made to water down Didi’s initial statement to the doctor. The push has also raised questions about proximate security to the CM. This incident reminds of the attack on late Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa. Security agencies feel Mamata should move to the official CM residence in Alipore. Apparently, no Bengal CM prefers to live here. Mamata has been staying at her personal residence along with her brothers and their extended families in Kalighat. Of late there has been a lot of jostling among the brothers and their wives for a piece of action in TMC politics. They have been questioning why Abhishek, who is Diamond Harbour MP, was getting so much importance within the TMC. Party cadres worry that Mamata has been prone to disastrous attacks almost before every election. During 2021 assembly elections, it was a wheelchair-bound Mamata with her leg in a cast, who managed to swing the polls after suffering an injury in Nandigram. Post-Sandeshkhali, however a bandaged Didi may not be able to whip much sympathy. Stark revelations in PDS and recruitment scams have become a bitter pill for the masses.
Bengal CPI-M found itself on a sticky ground after the allies of Left Front– Forward Bloc, CPI and RSP gave an ultimatum to announce the candidate list in 42 Lok Sabha seats. Chairman of Left Front Biman Bose announced the first list of candidates for 16 seats — three seats for the allied parties respectively and 13 for CPI-M on March 14, after being given a deadline of 24 hours by the allies a couple of days ago. The situation turned extremely volatile when Left Front allies questioned CPI-M’s alliance talks with Congress. Left Front sources confirmed that even during the internal discussion of announcing the names, these three smaller parties declined CPI-M’s offer of exchanging seats so that they could leave room for Congress and ISF. Interestingly, sources claimed that CPI was offered to exchange its usual Basirhat seat with some other seat in South Bengal. However, a senior CPI leader said this is a heritage seat since the party’s stalwarts like Indrajit Gupta, Ajoy Chakraborty used to contest from these seats. Similarly, Forward Bloc has made it categorical that it will continue to contest from its usual seats of Cooch Behar, Purulia and Barasat. Meanwhile, Congress has informed CPI-M that it will contest the Purulia seat. Meanwhile, CPI-M’s State Secretary Mohammad Salim accepted that it’s the responsibility of his party to take the Left Front and Left Unity forward and keep it intact.
In politics you cannot take anything for granted unless it is signed on the dotted line and formal announcement made to the Press. Just when everybody thought it was the done deal — the alliance between BJP and BJD — comes the news that at the last moment it has hit a speed breaker. Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal on Thursday (Mar 14) on his return to Bhubaneshwar from Delhi said BJP will form the next government in the state “on its own”. Sources say BJP seems to be pushing Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik hard and are waiting to see whether he gives in to their demands. Or else BJP will go solo both in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The Odisha BJP leaders are not keen for an alliance with BJD. BJP says it will now contest 100 assembly seats in Odisha. Earlier BJP had demanded 55 seats in the Assembly with BJD fighting the remaining 92 seats.
Prakash Ambedkar’s ever-changing list of demands seems to have put Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in a fix. His constant shuffling stances and barbs means that no one seems to have a clue on what to expect from him. Though his party has no Member of Parliament, he insisted on 12 out of the 48 seats for his Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) in Maharashtra, equivalent to the rest of the alliance partners, namely Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and the Congress. Then he demanded that the MVA parties give a written undertaking that they will not align with the BJP post elections. Thereafter, he insisted that he would hold seat sharing talks only with the Congress’s leadership and refused to attend the MVA rally at Baramati. As if all this was not enough, Ambedkar spares no chance to pull down the MVA observing how there was a deadlock on seat sharing of 15 seats and called them lazy for not hurrying up in resolving it as poll announcements dates neared. He further highlighted inter-party rifts by pointing out that Congress was upset with Uddhav’s insistence on 18 seats beyond terming Sanjay Raut a liar. It may be recalled that Ambedkar contesting 2019 LS polls almost alone saw VBA garnering 4.6% vote share and this led to the defeat of many senior Congress senior leaders. To avoid a repeat in 2024 many in MVA are quietly accepting his barbs on their chin.
Mumbai’s (Mumbai Cricket Association) growth in Indian cricket has been colossal. On Thursday (Mar 14), the players sporting the Lion crest obliterated the 41-time winner tag with the 42nd Ranji Trophy triumph against a valiant Vidarbha at a venue that’s a stone’s throw from the Arabian Sea. Mumbai has been fabulously relevant to the development of Indian cricket across formats. As of now Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur and Shreyas Iyer are part of the Indian teams in all formats or either Test, ODIs or Twenty20 internationals. Tushar Deshpande and Shams Mulani have been part of India ‘A’ teams and Musheer Khan has emerged as an India under -19 star. Not long ago Ajinkya Rahane was a fixture in the Indian team, its captain too. Then there is Prithvi Shaw, a “wasted talent” who can rise again. Without a doubt, the Mumbai Cricket Association which matched the BCCI’s prize money of Rs 5 crore that came with the Ranji Trophy triumph, has been doing the right things for its teams -juniors, men and women. Now, Mr Amol Kale and Mr Ajinkya Naik, how about founding a multi-day professional league for the top clubs during the season; or pick 4/5/6 from a big-basket talent pool? The league will help groom/develop talent in many ways with the ultimate objective of being the feeder league for the Ranji Trophy team. Mull over, Mumbai Cricket Association! What are you waiting for?
A crucial meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest voluntary organisation in the world, will be held at Nagpur on 15, 16 and 17 March, to chart out its future course of action in view of the RSS centenary and review its working so far. Besides electing the Sar Karyavah (general secretary), the meet will discuss how the saffron organisation should expand its network, which has penetrated almost every public sphere of Indian society. Incumbent Sar Karyawah Dattatray Hosbale will be completing his stipulated tenure. Will he be renominated or a new face replace him, will be the most watched development during the conclave. To be held during the intense electioneering for the Lok Sabha polls, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is expected to make some major announcement to boost the BJP’s prospects. As a larger strategy, the RSS has decided to achieve the target of setting up one lakh shakhas (branches) by concentrating on the areas where its existence is not strong. Besides 1529 RSS delegates from around the country, the meeting will be attended by heads of 32 frontal organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Social cohesion, family awareness, environment, self-dependence and citizen duties will be the focus areas for the RSS activities in coming years.
Gadkari, Piyush Goyal Make It In BJP’s Second List; Mysore MP Pratap Simha Axed For Parliament Blast
The BJP’s second list of 72 candidates reflects a considered strategy of fielding senior leaders who have never faced a direct election like the Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal from Mumbai North. It also got former Haryana CM Manohar L Khattar to contest from Karnal. Speculations about Road Minister Nitin Gadkari’s not being fielded from Nagpur simply proved to be unfounded and sheer Opposition mind game. However, some sitting MPs from Mumbai — Poonam Mahajan from Mumbai North Central and Manoj Kotak from Mumbai North East — failed to make the cut. Mumbai North MP Gopal Shetty who made way for Piyush Goyal could be suitably rewarded. Caste-wise for the first time Pune Lok Sabha seat has gone out of the Brahmin fold to Maratha leader Murlidhar Mohol, a former city mayor. Party sources say Mohol is a pick of Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. The Brahmin lobby was mollified with a RS ticket given to Medha Kulkarni. Much blood bath has actually happened in Karnataka where the BJP failed to form the government in the 2023 assembly polls. Ticket of Mysore MP Pratap Simha was nixed; he was the MP who got passes for those who ambushed the new Parliament Complex in December 2023. The BJP leadership is so upset with Simha, once considered to be a blue-eyed boy of PM Modi that his seat has been given to Yaduveer Wadiyar, the royal scion. Focussing on playing the Lingayat card, it got former CM Basavarj Bommai to contest from Haveri and shifted Shoba Karandlaje from Udupi to Bangalore North. It has fielded Dr CN Manjunath, son-in-law of JD(S) leader from Bangalore Rural.
“Eknath Gangubai Sambhaji Shinde” says the nameplate outside Maharashtra chief minister’s Mantralaya cabin. Deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, too, have asked their staff to redo their official nameplates. This change is one of many, in accordance with a series of decisions the state cabinet has taken on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections and just before the model code of conduct comes into force. According to this decision, all official documents will include the mother’s name after the individual’s name and will be followed by the father’s name and surname. In the last two days, the cabinet took nearly 300 decisions, small and major. One decision has proposed renaming suburban rail stations in Mumbai, in a bid to revive its historical place names. Thus, Sandhurst Road station will be renamed as Dongri while Charni Road will be known as Girgaon. Of course, these changes will become applicable only after the Centre clears the proposal. The renaming spree will include Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar after Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, the ruler of Indore, remembered for her construction of various temples and ghats on sacred rivers like the Ganga and Narmada. She was born in the district, known for nearly three centuries as Ahmednagar. In response to a demand to name Dadar station after Dr BR Ambedkar, it has been planned to give his name to the newly developing Parel rail terminus. After due process, the fate of most of these changes will be known. For now, they are generally welcomed.
A day ago PM Narendra Modi for the first time had gone public acknowledging his close personal relationship with the outgoing Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He had fondly recalled how Khattar and he would share a dari (mat) and Khattar would take him around Haryana on a bike. Recalling their days together as RSS pracharaks, Modi had called Khattar his “partner” and had even promised to have him in his future plans too. Within 24 hours after Modi had heaped praise on Khattar’s work as Haryana CM, the state saw a political churn, Khattar had put in his papers. A younger, OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini (54) took over. “The BJP leadership got what it wanted. It wanted a restless coalition partner JJP demanding two Lok Sabha seats — Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh — out of the government .Corruption cases against Chauthalas were proving to be a burden. Sulking BJP leader Anil Vij who was in race to be CM, also got dropped as minister. “Saini is going to be a game changer” pointed out a BJP leader. Elections to Haryana state assembly will be held soon after the Lok Sabha polls. That’s why the BJP leadership decided it must go for a new CM face. Changes in the BJP government clearly took the main Opposition Congress by surprise. Former Haryana CM and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda charged that the change of CM was a moral defeat of the BJP-JJP government. “This (BJP-JJP alliance) was a ‘thugbandhan‘ election should be conducted under the President’s Rule,” he said.
NCP founder Sharad Pawar has received a jolt in his home turf, Baramati, as local traders decided to cancel a meet they had scheduled with him on Monday (Mar11). Despite his advancing years, Pawar had lined up four meets during the day. At the eleventh hour, the traders informed him by sending a written communication that it will not be possible for them to meet him. Immediately thereafter, whispers began to circulate that some ‘influential leader’ had pressured them to back out. Sharad Pawar has liaised with different sections of the electorate which has been electing him ever since 1967. Expressing anguish over the sudden development, Pawar said such a thing had happened for the first time in 50 years. Though he did not mention anyone by name, he indicated the apprehension that someone with clout was behind the cancellation. He made it a point to state that he had been resolving the problems of the trading community for a long time. The Baramati Lok Sabha constituency has been in the news ever since his nephew Ajit decided to break away from his uncle and mentor last year. Now that Ajit’s wife Sunetra has started campaigning her candidature against her sister-in-law and `Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, both camps are trying their best to outshine each other. As part of this strategy, Pawar has started calling on his old political opponents. Hence, the move by the traders is seen as a shock for him in his backyard.
It is now clear as daylight that BJP and BJD are joining hands for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It is a done deal. So why is Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik joining hands with BJP when he walked out of NDA in 2009? Analysts say that he knows BJD will win anyway though with less votes in 2024? But, sources say, Patnaik is keen to protect his CM turf for another five years without CBI and ED complications and this explains why he is opting for a peaceful life given his fragile health conditions. In any case, this election is Naveen Babu’s last election. Modi is also keen because BJD being part of the NDA will ensure that all 21 MP seats are in their kitty. It is learnt that BJP Delhi high command has also sensitised BJP Odisha leaders not to not to jump the gun and make any utterance about the BJP-BJD pact to the Press. There are small snags which are being ironed out. For instance, there is push-pull from BJP and BJD over two seats — Puri and Bhubaneswar. Sitting BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi would like to retain Bhubaneswar while Dr Sambit Patra BJP National spokesperson is keen to contest from Puri which he lost to BJD’s Pinaki Mishra in 2019.
The National Investigative Agency (NIA) is hot on the trail of a Kerala link to the recent bomb explosion at Rameshwaram Café in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that left eight persons injured, two of them grievously. According to a well-placed source, “The NIA suspects this was a trial run and has launched into a major deep dive investigative exercise in its wake that has already revealed linkages to Kerala and the PFI (as well as SFI) mobilisation by an ISIS module based out of the southern most state of India. NIA has also learnt that the operatives involved in the terror act had also visited Pune city in Maharashtra.” What has surprised the agency is the initial effort by the Karnataka government to dismiss the IED blast as a cylinder explosion that was followed by another government spokesperson then suggesting that the bomb explosion was the result of some business rivalry. The zero tolerance to terror policy, enforced since the installation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India’s Premier in 2014, has Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) on tenterhooks ever since the incident in anticipation of a reprisal offensive on Pakistani soil by India. “Already scores of Pakistani terror elements belonging to the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba as well as pro-Khalistani terrorists numbering over 160 were neutralized in Pakistan, Canada and even the world over. Indian intelligence agencies have also established that another one among India’s most wanted terrorists has departed the world.”
With the Trinamool Congress deciding to contest the upcoming general elections solo in West Bengal speculations are rife whether party supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee pulled off an ace. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Didi’s party for the first time won 34 seats but received a severe jolt in 2019 where TMC managed to secure only 22 seats and BJP gained 18 seats. Notably, in 2019, neither was the TMC in the state weighed down by anti-incumbency nor were its mountain of woes this high including the charges of corruption against several of its heavyweight ministers and leaders, and the Sandeshkhali controversy. Interestingly, it pulled a surprise by fielding cricketer Yusuf Pathan from Baharampur against Pradesh Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Tollywood actor Rachana Banerjee from Hooghly against BJP’s incumbent MP, actor-turned-politician Locket Chatterjee. Tollywood stars turned politicians June Maliah and Saayoni Ghosh made it to the list owing to their contribution in the party. Didi not only gave tickets to her close and veterans of the party, she also retained Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar and Superstar Dev from Ghatal. But she did drop five sitting MPs including non-performers such as Nusrat Khan, Mimi Chakraborty, and Aparupa Poddar along with ailing Choudhury Mohan Jatua and turncoat Arjun Singh. Significantly, ex-bureaucrat Gopal Lama, former IG Prasun Banerjee, youth leader of North Bengal Prakash Chik Baraik have been given tickets from seats in North Bengal where TMC is yet to make a breakthrough. Furthermore, six ex-BJP leaders — Mukut Mani Adhikari, Biswajit Das, Biplab Maitra, Krishna Kalyani, Kirti Azad and Shatrughan Sinha made it to the list.
The Lok Sabha seat sharing talks between the Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are finally reaching a consensus. BJP will contest the lion’s share of seats (30 seats), Shinde’s Sena taking the tiger’s share (10-15) while Ajit Pawar’s NCP may be restricted to three to four seats. According to a senior political leader, “The NCP will be allotted seats based on the number of Lok Sabha seats the undivided NCP had secured in the 2019 general elections with the deal likely sweetened with the Pune parliamentary constituency. Things are fluid and the alliance is still open to candidates from any party in the alliance for seats where the other two fail to find suitable contestants with a winning political quotient.” The BJP may give up its claim on the Pune Lok Sabha seat, having already sent its party candidate Medha Kulkarni to Parliament via the Rajya Sabha. In 2019, the BJP had contested 25 seats and won 23. The (undivided) Shiv Sena contested 23 and won 18, giving the NDA a tally of 41 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra. While Ajit Pawar may get Pune, the BJP’s state leadership failed to ensure poll wins in the region in Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune in lower rung elections, cooperative sector may come back to haunt it in the coming days. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is directly handling the talks with Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar.
Weeks after Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that no one can stop the CAA law and that it would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections, the MHA notified the CAA rules paving the way for its implementation across the country. The law makes it easier for Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, to get Indian citizenship. “The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” a MHA official posted on the ministry X handle. The law aims to give citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from these countries, who came to India before December 31, 2014. CAA was an integral part of BJP’s 2019 manifesto and it is interesting that to see that it is being notified just a week before next elections schedule is set to be announced. Interestingly after the CAA was passed in 2019 protests had broken out in several parts of the country. Minorities in some areas like Shaheen Bagh in Delhi were encouraged to do sit-in protest . ” The CAA cannot snatch away anyone’s citizenship because there is no provision in the Act. The CAA is an act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan,” Amit Shah recently clarified adding how the law was once a Congress promise .Incidentally, the law is very crucial to the Matua community –Dalit Namasudra community, which migrated from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1947 and during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. They had backed the BJP. TMC cannot afford to oppose CAA. As for Assam students protesting against the CAA the , rules have set a 2014 cut-off and retained exceptions as made in the 6th schedule to the Constitution and the areas covered under “The Inner Line’ notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 “.
Makkal Needhi Mayyam (MNM) party founder and Kollywood’s abiding Ulaganayagan, Kamal Haasan and Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin must have heaved a sigh of relief after their electoral deal. Both came out smelling roses. Even as Stalin’s tightrope act for seat sharing with his alliance partners was swinging like a suspension bridge, his deal with Kamal made headlines for all the right views. Imagine having a star campaigner like Kamal doing the rounds for the DMK among a cinema-fixated populace. From 2017, Kamal had posted his political ambitions on Twitter (now X). So when he launched MNM in 2018, fans and followers flocked to him. Kamal oozing self-assurance was happy hosting Bigg Boss and the laurels/money the reality show fetched…striding two worlds, multitasking, a talent many a Kollywood star has mastered. MGR embodied flamboyance, now seen as a Rajinikanth brand. Kamal is a thespian of the Shivaji Ganesan lineage. In 2019, MNM created a loud buzz, with a vote share of 3.7%. But in 2021, Kamal lost to BJP’s Vanathi Srinivasan and his party fared poorly. Then came the huge film blockbuster Vikram and Kamal’s swag and self-confidence shot up. Enough to reach out to Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra. Is Kamal happy to enter the Parliament via Rajya Sabha? Will he overtake his close friend and cinema rival, who turned back at the starting line? Only time will tell.
TRENDS & VIEWS
Editor’s Note: Big Punch In Small Pack
It is the Third Anniversary of Short Post and as a news media startup launched during the Covid-19 pandemic it certainly feels better than good to find ourselves where we are today. Here, I must cite the unstinted support of our seasoned contributors, all senior editors in the country, who brought a great degree of maturity and sagacity to the Short Post newsroom. But for them, our tagline “Authentic Gossip”, an Oxymoron, would not have matured viably. Our user numbers may be small but our stories have created the desired impact among people who matter — decision makers and influencers. We offer a big punch in a small pack and Short Post with its 225-word stories has been punching above its weight category. Having posted close to 3,000 stories in the last 36 months, Short Post, I feel, is an idea whose time has come.
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If you look at the media landscape – print, TV and digital — it is a mixed bag. There are job losses as some outfits have closed down while a lucky few were bailed out by large corporate houses. Yes, there is a lot of action in the digital space. However, the entry of corporate houses has raised the question of independence of news media outfits. Sadly, there are just a handful of independent media outfits in the country that are highly respected for their neutrality. At Short Post, our credo is not to take sides, prejudge issues or be biased but, informing readers of behind-the-scenes happenings. In essence, Short Post strives to be a neutral editorial platform — neither anti-establishment nor pro-establishment.
As I said last year, disruptions in the media world are moving at a fast and furious pace. Technology is playing a very big role in how content is generated and consumed. But, we are neither alarmed nor perturbed as it is all a part of the evolution process. What gives us comfort is that AI is unable to create original gossipy content. And that is the news arena where we have achieved a distinction.