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In an interesting move, the Tamil Nadu government decided to lend a hand to residents of ‘Madrasi Camp’ in New Delhi, whose unauthorised houses on the bank of the Barapullah drain were demolished by the Delhi Development Authority. An official release said the State government, as directed by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, would help the residents return to their native districts, if they chose to do so. They would be given comprehensive support, including assistance for livelihood, through the Collectors, it said.. ‘Madrasi Camp’ is an informal habitation along the bank of the Barapullah Jangpura drain, near Nizamuddin Railway Station in South Delhi. It had 370 slum dwelling units. The settlement was predominantly inhabited by persons of Tamil Nadu origin. The Delhi High Court had noted that ‘Madrasi Camp’ was an “unauthorized construction/encroachment” that had led to the obstruction and blockage of the Barapullah drain, “causing significant waterlogging in the surrounding areas, especially during the monsoon”. It had directed that eligible residents be rehabilitated and relocated under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board Act (DUSIB). The DUSIB determined that 215 out of the 370 residents were eligible for allotment of residential units under the economically weaker section category at Narela. On May 9 all petitions filed by the residents were disposed of by the Delhi High Court, which ordered the commencement of demolition at ‘Madrasi Camp’ from June 1.While nearly half of the residents were offered alternate accommodation — most residents didn’t quite warm up to the idea of moving back to TN. At least one resident lamented over the lack of opportunities in TN. “They should give first jobs to those already in Chennai and then they should call us,” was the general refrain.
Some BJP ruled states will witness a change of guard in the coming days starting with Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel seeking relief from public service to tend to his ailing son (Short Post reported earlier). Other CMs on the block include Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Odisha although the last incumbent Mohan Charan Majhi was issued the ‘Perform or Perish’ diktat having only recently assumed power. Rajasthan’s deteriorating law and order scenario queered the pitch for Bhajan Lal Sharma, installed at expense of the Rani of Dhaulpur, Vasundhara Raje first placed on probation (as BJP LoP) by PM Narendra Modi, then shrugged off, with state assemblies being fought under Modi’s name. Rice bowl of India, Chhattisgarh’s tribal CM Vishnu Deo Sai is also in cross hair of BJP high command for inability to grow party ideology in erstwhile Congress ruled state and, being invisible unlike his Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand counterparts. To non-corrupt Sai’s credit, he recently introduced anti-conversion law, mobilized anti-naxalite operations. Rajasthan’s Brahmin CM Lal, however, made rounds of New Delhi (thrice in recent weeks), may be replaced by Rajput Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. UP governor (former Gujarat CM) Anandiben Patel held consultations with PM Modi to address her home state CM issue with Union Sports, Youth Affairs Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya’s name being considered. As senior BJP leader Mahendra Jain, however, puts it, “PM Modi listens to all but takes decisions on his own!” While steeped in corruption owing to alliance politics, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis remains the PM’s blue-eyed boy.
The Tata-IPL-18 is nearing its conclusion with the title match to be played between the United Spirits-owned Royal Challengers Bengaluru that paid $ 111.6 mn to acquire the Bengaluru franchise in 2007 and the winner of the Qualifier 2 between five times winner, the Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta and Karan Paul. One among the three will be crowned on Wednesday (June 3) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. But the story of this year’s IPL is the rise of a few fantastic batters, bowlers and all rounders which confirms a belief that India can field two Men in Blue teams in the Twenty20 format at least. The tournament began with known culprits set to dominate, but the cricketing fraternity is already talking about budding stars like the Rajasthan Royal’s 14-year old left-hander Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Punjab Kings’ batters Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh and Nehal Wadhera, and left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar, Chennai Super Kings’ batter Ayush Mhatre and fast bowler Anshul Kamboj, Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Aniket Verma, Delhi Capitals’ allrounder Vipraj Nigam and wicketkeeper-batter Abhishek Porel, RCB leg spinner Suyash Sharma and seamer Yash Dayal, Gujarat Titans’ left arm spinner Sai Kishore, Mumbai Indians’ lower order batter Naman Dhir are the new faces who have excelled in their roles. The ongoing season has thrown fresh talents and the national selection committee will have plenty to look at the basket when the time comes to pick the squad for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka. The IPL has truly turned out to be a talent feeder for the national team.
In a throwback of sorts to his clash with TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee that had marked his didi-oh-didi campaign in the last West Bengal assembly election, incumbent CM made a personal jibe about PM Modi’s estranged wife setting off a vicious cycle of personal attacks. A controversy apparently erupted following PM Modi’s rally in Alipurduar on May 27, where he, without naming Mamata, had sharply criticised her government and the TMC. In response, Mamata at a presser called out Modi’s “politicisation of Operation Sindoor”. She transgressed the political line with a personal jibe: “Remember that every woman has respect. They take sindoor from their husbands… Modiji is talking this way. You are not every woman’s husband… why don’t you give sindoor to your Missus first?” Apparently Mamata attacked Modi on the basis of unfounded media reports that BJP was going to distribute sindoor to women. Later, realising the inappropriateness of her comment, she immediately apologised while blaming Modi for provoking her. “I am sorry to say this. I shouldn’t get into all this. But you are compelling us now to open our mouths.” Instead of accepting Mamata’s apology, BJP’s State unit chief Sukanta Majumdar and LoP Suvendu Adhikari launched a coordinated retaliation that targeted not just Mamata’s alleged personal conduct but also her humble origins and socio-economic background. The situation reached a disturbing climax in Chinsurah, Hooghly, where BJP women workers forcibly applied sindoor on female police officers who were trying to disperse their protest. The incident drew criticism even from within the BJP’s own state unit. The episode highlights how personal attacks and identity politics have increasingly dominated Bengal’s political landscape, with both major parties crossing traditional boundaries of political propriety and raising serious questions about the health of democratic discourse in the state.
The investigation into the flooding that derails Mumbai every monsoon took a Bollywood twist with the entry of actor Dino Morea. Dino and his brother Santino spent two days of long hours of questioning at the Mumbai office of the Economic Offences Wing after being accused of indulging in financial irregularities in the desilting work of the critical Mithi river that runs through the heart of the city, flooding and derailing it every year. While the investigation against flooding in Mumbai against two companies, three brokers, five contractors and three civic officials, are essentially being perceived as attempts to target the Thackeray family that has been ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation uninterruptedly from 2005 to 2022, Dino landed in it thanks to recorded telephonic conversations with middlemen Ketan Kadam. Incidentally, this is not the first case where Dino has landed in legal trouble due to his association with Aaditya Thackeray. He has also been linked earlier in the Disha Salian murder case, chiefly by Nitesh Rane. The Rane’s and Thackeray’s share a turbulent relationship since the exit of family patriarch Narayan Rane’s from the original Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. Since then, they have been known to take potshots regularly at the Thackeray family right through Rane’s journey from Sena to Congress to BJP. Not surprisingly, Nitesh Rane, Maharashtra’s fisheries and port development minister, derisively termed Dino Morea as the daughter-in-law of the Thackeray residence Matoshree. Aaditya countered by pointing out to Dino’s Christmas celebration with prime minister Narendra Modi at his Delhi residence.
The Indian cinema landscape is undergoing a transformative phase, characterized by bold choices and innovative storytelling. Aamir Khan’s decision to release his ambitious film, Sitare Zameen Par on YouTube channels instead of traditional OTT platforms exemplifies this shift. This choice aims to reach a broader audience, tapping into the millions who turn to YouTube for entertainment. By opting for this route, Khan seeks to engage a diverse demographic, ensuring that the film’s poignant themes of childhood, creativity, and the nurturing of talent resonate across various backgrounds. Sitare Zameen Par is set to spark conversations and inspire change in societal perceptions regarding education and artistic expression. Conversely, Sajid Khan’s Housefull 5 takes a different approach within the same industry. Renowned for its comedic flair, the Housefull franchise embraces the absurd and entertaining. This latest instalment promises to innovate further by introducing multiple endings, a groundbreaking concept in Indian cinema. This narrative technique will witness different endings in different Cinema and in fact, different screens as well. Such an approach could redefine audience excitement in the suspense genre in Bollywood, encouraging future filmmakers to explore unconventional storytelling methods. Both films, despite their differing genres, highlight the willingness of Indian filmmakers to experiment and take risks. Aamir Khan focuses on socially relevant themes, while Sajid Khan delivers entertaining escapism, showcasing the diverse storytelling that Indian cinema is embracing. As filmmakers navigate the digital landscape, blending traditional and modern distribution methods will likely become more common. With both Sitare Zameen Par and Housefull 5 exemplifying the coexistence of meaningful narratives and entertaining spectacles, audiences are invited to engage with some experiments as well.
Recently, Karnataka’s deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar (DKS) and home minister Dr G Parameshwara met AICC General Secretaries, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, separately and discussed the recent political developments. According to a highly placed source, during the meeting, DKS insisted that the power sharing agreement should be honoured and Siddaramaiah should demit office after completing his two-and-a-half-year tenure in October 2025. The recent ED raid on educational institutions linked to Parameshwara with regard to the Ranya Rao gold smuggling case also figured in the discussions. It may be recalled that DKS, after meeting Parameshwara soon after the raids, had said the home minister had gifted Ranya Rao Rs 40 lakh. But this statement had not gone down well with several Congress leaders including Dr Parameshwara. Venugopal and Surjewala also met the aspirants for MLC elections, as four seats have been vacant for over seven months. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah showed up at the residence of his bete noire and senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad’s house for breakfast signalling a desire to bury their hatchet. The breakfast meeting, which came a day after Congress general secretaries met with Siddaramaiah and his deputy DKS, raised eyebrows in political circles. It is being said that Siddaramaiah wants Hariprasad to talk to the Congress’ top brass about inducting new ministers. The outreach with Gandhi family loyalist Hariprasad is also seen as Siddaramaiah’s way of trying to be on good terms with ‘original ‘ Congressmen and alienate strong leaders like DKS. Parameshwara’s proximity with the CM is already visible. Apparently, DKS — who is eyeing Siddaramaiah’s chair — is not in favour of a Cabinet reshuffle. The buzz is that DKS wants a new ministry when he becomes the CM.
In 1991, Kerala was declared as the first fully literate state in India. In 2025, another award awaits it, India’s first digitally literate state. According to MB Rajesh, the Local Self Government Department (LSGD) minister, President Droupadi Murmu is expected to make the announcement during her next visit to Kerala. As part of a plan to digitally empower citizens, the LSGD launched — Digi Kerala in 2023. The plan was to identify people in the age group of 14 to 65 years who do not have basic digital knowledge. The survey which covered 1.5 crore people from over 83 lakh families in the state, identified 22 lakh people who were digitally illiterate. According to Rajesh, around 99% of the individuals passed the evaluation after formal training. In 2022, Pullampara, in Thiruvananthapuram, was declared the first fully digital literate panchayat in India. LSGD designed the Digi Kerala initiative taking inspiration from the panchayat’s success. According to the Minister, digital literacy is essential for every citizen in today’s tech driven world and Kerala has been a model state when it comes to literacy. All public delivery services have been digitised and it’s essential for the common man to have digital knowledge to avail all services. The digitally illiterate citizens were identified with the help of mobile applications using services of volunteers from Kudumbashree, a women powered entity, NSS (National Service Scheme), NCC, Library council and state literacy mission. Digital literacy was imparted through modules designed by Kerala Institute of Local Administration.
Kamal Haasan, Ulaga Nayagan (world hero) for his drooling fans turned Ularal Nayagan (Blabbermouth) by his Kannada was born from Tamil comment. The timing of his comment made the film trade nervous. His movie Thug Life is all set to hit cinemas in the South on June 5. Already Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are at loggerheads over sharing of Cauvery waters. This misplaced claim could jeopardise the film’s showing in Karnataka, a big market for Tamil films. Legendary director Mani Rathnam was presiding over the razzmatazz promos with his marquee cast on stage when a pap asked Rathnam, “You have teamed up with Kamal after 38 years. Would Thalapathy Rajini also get a film from you after 35 years?” Rathnam, as his wont, did not wade into this “intellectual” research. With great care he said “we have to consider his market, availability and most important a script equal to his magnetism, a long list of conditions”. Such diplomacy and discretion were scattered in the winds when Kamal turned Ularal Nayakan by his declaration that Kannada was the offspring of Tamil. Threats of Thug Life boycott and angry protests erupted just as quickly …but Kamal being Kamal refused to apologise. Kamal who has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha with the backing from MK Stalin was perhaps keen to prove his loyalty to Tamil and Stalin, stuck to his stand. Kamal was scorched by critics who alleged that his party MNM was pledged like Panchali in the gamble of the Mahabharat. Thug Life needed just one more embellishment, the cherry on the I scream…K Krishnaswamy, founder of Puthiya Tamizhagam said “The title Thug Life is not acceptable…as Thuggery has a very bad connotation. Why don’t you change the title to a more positive one?
The decision by all seven NCP MLAs in Nagaland to merge with chief minister Neiphiu Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) will have major repercussions on the political developments in Maharashtra. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has reacted to the development with a stiff upper lip but his ambition to make his NCP faction a ‘recognised’ national-level party will face a setback. As a result of this sudden change, the clout of Pawar in the three-party saffron alliance in the state will be dented. Even otherwise, Ajit has been caught in a tight corner time and again. The latest is the inclusion of senior OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal in the cabinet. Although Bhujbal’s comeback will please a section of the OBC vote bank, it has adverse implications on the politics in Nasik district, an important belt in north Maharashtra. Followers of Ajit Pawar and another deputy CM Eknath Shinde, have not reacted kindly to Bhujbal’s induction. Similarly, the Maratha lobby in Ajit’s party is upset though there are no public statements. It is no secret that Bhujbal wishes to be appointed guardian minister of Nasik district. However, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has remained evasive about any decision so far. His right-hand Girish Mahajan, too, is eyeing the same post. The issue assumes significance against the backdrop of the Kumbh Mela, which takes off in Nasik late next year. The tussle between the two will be watched by both sides, indirectly impacting Ajit’s position either way.
The antics of Tamil Nadu Congress MP Manickam Tagore have not gone unnoticed in the wake of the Delhi poll results. Displaying what was clearly his delight at the AAP taking a tumble in the Delhi elections, the MP had posted on X just two words – ‘Delhi Results’ – along with a video of Arvind Kejriwal declaring that there be no tie-up in Delhi. While schadenfreude is understandable, what the post tries to make is a case that Kejriwal was to blame for the Congress not agreeing to adjustments and the grand old party going ahead to contest in all 70 seats and playing the spoiler. In fact, it was Congress, which often accused the AAP of being the BJP’s B team, ended up playing the role of ‘BJP B’ in the Delhi polls by clearly affecting the results in 14 seats, including that of Kejriwal, and turning the contest around for a BJP sweep. If the INDIA alliance had been in place and Congress contested only a few seats to keep up its Delhi identity and poll ambitions, the verdict may have been totally different with the AAP prevailing in a close contest. What happened in the end was that Congress scored a triple bagel – 000 – in three successive Delhi polls and Kejriwal lost power and Congress spokespersons were looking at the crumbs of the poll verdict and predicting the party’s comeback in 2030.
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has hit out at AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and held him responsible for his party’s resounding defeat in Delhi assembly election while analysing the pro-BJP outcome in the national capital. Anna said about his one-time ardent disciple that Kejriwal was influenced by power and money so much that he was not ready to listen to alarm signals voiced time and again against his style of functioning. Anna’s recent video clip, released on the eve of the election, had told Kejriwal in no uncertain terms to mend his ways. The message was mostly ignored by the media though shortpost.in had uploaded a news item about it just before the polling. Reiterating his stand, Anna said after the results were declared, “Ideology and actions should be pure in public life. An individual should not carry any stigma so that the electors develop confidence in that leader. I repeatedly conveyed this message to AAP but it was ignored.” An exasperated Anna had asked the voters not to support AAP in this clip. In fact, there are many in Maharashtra who feel smug, ridiculing Anna and supporting Kejriwal. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged Anna’s stand while addressing a BJP victory rally in party headquarters in Delhi. Modi also focused on AAP’s corruption by pointing out that all its top leaders had been in custody. Modi said Anna’s anti-graft crusade had catapulted Kejriwal to become the Delhi CM and expressed happiness that Anna’s stand had been endorsed by the people of Delhi. “Finally, Anna has been liberated from the AAP shroud,” the PM said to a huge applause.
The rout of the AAP in Delhi assembly polls was best summed up by PM Modi on X: “Development wins, good governance triumphs. It is our guarantee that we will leave no stone unturned in improving the overall quality of life for the people and ensuring that Delhi has a prime role to play in building a Viksit Bharat”. For the BJP which rode to power in Delhi after a gap of 27 years with 48 seats win on the basis of Modi’s guarantees, home minister Amit Shah’s hard work and the unstinted support of RSS network, the results were more or less on expected lines .The Congress which half-heartedly went into the electoral battle at the eleventh hour drew a blank for the third time. INDIA bloc partners like J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah and Samajwadi Party were blaming the Congress for lack of unity in the Opposition alliance. A miffed Congress leader Jairam Ramesh insisted that “2025 Delhi Vidhan Sabha election results reflect nothing more than a referendum on Arvind Kejriwal and his 12 years of misrule.” and asserted that it was not a vindication of the policies of PM Modi as the AAP had decisively won in Delhi in 2015 and 2020 at the height of the PM’s popularity”. Clearly the Congress which propped up Kejriwal when he was short of numbers in 2013 after defeating Sheila Dikshit to keep out BJP is getting defensive. It is quite possible some of AAP’s top losers like Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Saurabh Bharadwaj may have been spared the defeat if there had been a AAP-Congress alliance. BJP’s Parvesh Verma polled 30,088 votes against Kejriwal’s 25,999 while Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit polled 4568. Sisodia’s defeat by 600 odd votes was more stark. He had shifted his constituency from Patparganj to Jangpura to avoid defeat.
Looks like AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is caught in a deep mess of his own making by claiming that the BJP government in Haryana had “poisoned” Yamuna waters. Clearly, on a backfoot and out of desperation he sought to paint a scary scenario to Delhi voters. Now it seems these words will come to haunt him post February 5. The Haryana government has filed a case against him for creating a “false alarm” among the people. Meanwhile, Haryana chief minister Nayab Saini to reassure people took a sip of Yamuna to indicate it was safe to drink. Though Kejriwal dismissed Saini’s action as a stunt, what he does not realise is that the Haryana case could prove to be a ticking time-bomb for him. It may explode once elections are over in Delhi. Haryana has filed in the CJM’s court in Sonipat under sections of Disaster Management. The court has summoned Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17. In an explosive claim, Kejriwal had asserted that Haryana was mixing “poison” in the Yamuna water it supplies to Delhi. The reference was to the high levels of ammonia — over 700 times the permissible limit. He said it was because of the vigilance of Delhi Jal Board engineers that this water was stopped. Endorsing Kejriwal’s charge, Delhi CM Atishi even wrote to the Election Commission and sought action against the BJP for “water terrorism”. The Delhi Jal Board, which Kejriwal said stopped the alleged “poisonous” water coming to the national capital, however rubbished the AAP leader’s claim. “These statements are factually incorrect, without any basis and misleading,” Delhi Jal Board Chief Executive Officer Shilpa Shinde said in a letter to the Chief Secretary. Meanwhile, the EC has asked Kejriwal to submit proof of poisoning of Yamuna waters.
Delhi has BJP worried over outcomes considering 12 of 70 MLA constituencies are dominated by the minority community enjoying majority vote count. Rahul Gandhi, keen on BJP losing even at own party’s cost, predictably commenced campaigning from Muslim dominated Seelampur assembly constituency that counts over 50% voters from the minority community. Gandhi targeted PM Modi as usual, consciously launched broadside against Arvind Kejriwal under pressure from Congress local leaders Ajay Maken, former Delhi CM, Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep. For once Congress high command heeded local leaders’ advice to fight alone rather than according AAP walkover on pain of losing out erstwhile political bastion, even suffer further in Punjab like it did for general elections and was trounced. In Delhi 3:4 ratio of coalition drew a blank with BJP clinching all seven Lok Sabha victories. Gandhi’s sudden detour to meet RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar Saturday surprised some but was to smoothen political relationship for next-up, Bihar state assemblies at instance of Sonia Gandhi notwithstanding Tejashwi’s hard stance against Congress. Delhi Lieutenant Governor granted prosecution permission against AAP leaders putting Kejriwal in a bind even as conditional bail pre-empts his CM post assumption if AAP wins. NCP leader and Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar preferred fielding 30 candidates for Delhi polls, including 13 Muslim aspirants, than settling within NDA coalition that accorded solitary seats to Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan. Pawar’s gambit is similar to 30 assembly candidates he fielded in J&K, 24 in Jharkhand although the impact of his national foray is yet to register a winning mark.
In a massive setback to AAP, Delhi’s transport minister and Jat leader Kailash Gahlot resigned from the party, citing “grave challenges” and “awkward” controversies in a letter to AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal months ahead of Delhi Assembly polls. He has joined the BJP. Gahlot’s exit is well timed in the sense that it comes days before Maharashtra goes to polls. AAP, an INDIA Bloc partner that has no stake in the state polls. But it must be said Gahlot’s exit was something that was in the works for some time now. It is believed that the seeds of discord between Gahlot and the AAP leadership were sown on August 15 over unfurling the national flag during the Delhi Govt’s I-Day celebrations. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who was in jail on charges linked to the alleged liquor policy scam, had wanted Education Minister Atishi to unfurl the flag. Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena however felt Gahlot was more suitable for the job as he held the Home Department. Meanwhile, Kejriwal indicated that Gahlot had quit as he was under pressure from the ED and IT. In his resignation letter, Gahlot pointed to how “Political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled”. In an apparent swipe at Kejriwal, he referred to “many embarrassing and awkward controversies like the “Sheeshmahal” — a term used by the BJP to refer to the CM’s residence renovated during Kejriwal’s term costing the exchequer Rs 45 crore.
In an interesting political twist, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal picked Atishi Marlena, a junior minister and someone considered close to Deputy CM Manish Sisodia as the new chief minister of Delhi, as he decided to step down and hand in his resignation to Lt Governor VK Saxena. Known as the main brain behind Delhi Government school reforms, Atishi played down her elevation as a stopgap arrangement. Making it clear that Delhi and its 2 crore people can only have one CM — that is Arvind Kejriwal. Atishi asked party cadres not to celebrate her elevation. There could be celebration only after Kejriwal gets re-elected in the March 2025 assembly elections. Initial announcement about Atishi was made by a party heavyweight and potential contender Gopal Rai. AAP also made it clear that there will be no deputy CM this time. By choosing to play the woman card and not opting for his wife Sunita as CM, Kejriwal may have tried to buy time with voters but will it blunt the edge on incumbency and non-delivery? Only time will tell. Yet with her rise as CM, Atishi will be the third woman CM of the UT after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit. Born in June 1981 Atishi hails from an academic family in Delhi, with her parents, Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, both professors at Delhi University. She will be the youngest CM of Delhi at 43.When Kejriwal became CM in December 2013 he was 45. With an undergraduate degree in History from the prestigious St Stephen’s College in 2001, she completed her Master’s from Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar.
Haryana state assemblies, set for triangular fight between Congress, BJP and AAP, saw Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s timely enlargement on bail suiting BJP’s poll strategy although facing tough anti-incumbency itself. Congress authorized former CM Bhupinder Hooda to finalise poll prospects, refusing to cede 10 assembly constituencies to AAP for pre-poll alliance. Hooda’s son Deepinder, a Lok Sabha MP organized fanfare for Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat (a Jat) on her return following the Olympic debacle. She was part of the Jantar Mantar agitation over molestation charges against ex-president WFI and BJP MP Brijbhushan Singh. Julana constituency choice for Phogat, however, raises questions over winnability with Congress never winning the seat and potential loss of face for the party that garnered 10,000 votes at best from here. AAP fielded former WWF wrestler Kavita Dalal against Phogat to further dampen Congress prospects while Kejriwal who steps down as Delhi CM utilizes bail time to canvas against Hooda’s choice of candidates. Brijmohan Shrivastav, Chief National Spokesperson NCP (Ajit Pawar) feels Phogat will emerge victorious in husband Somvir’s home constituency as Jat and Rathee communities will combine in her favour since caste is dominant factor in Bihar, UP and Haryana. Phogat’s recent disqualification at Olympics and perception of BJP not backing her up upset the two communities. It may be recalled that Phogat and wrestler husband Rathee even challenged norms at their wedding ceremony, opting for eight rounds (vows) of holy havan kund including extra phera emphasizing the girl child (Beti Bachao, Beti Padao, Beti Kilao) over gender bias evident in population ratio of Haryana. Will Julana solemnize Vinesh’s Congress alliance too?
Six months after he was first arrested in the liquor policy scam, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal got bail in the CBI case. The AAP chief will now walk out of Tihar jail having been granted interim bail in the ED’s money laundering case in June. Fifth leader to get bail after AAP leaders like Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh in the same case, Kejriwal’s release may help the AAP go full throttle in its campaign in Haryana — where it will be taking on both incumbent BJP as well as the Congress, which refused to ally with it. Haryana-born Kejriwal will also have the advantage of testing his acceptability in the state even as AAP rules adjoining Punjab. The bail conditions make it difficult for Kejriwal to return to Delhi CM’s office. It is likely that he may go for an interim CM, elevate wife Sunita. Legally, the bail verdict has cast the CBI in a poor light as one of the judges invoked “caged parrot” analogy of the coal scam era and dubbed CBI arrest as “unjustified” after Kejriwal had secured bail in the ED case. Lok Sabha MP Sheikh Abdul ‘Engineer’ Rashid, who had been incarcerated in a terror-funding case under PMLA for 5 years, was recently freed by a NIA court to take part in J&K polls. To his surprise, the man who had trounced former CM Omar Abdullah in Baramulla was shocked to find that only fewer people had turned up to listen to him as he addressed his first election rally in Baramulla. Will Kejriwal’s experience be different from Rashid’s?
PM Narendra Modi’s 3.0 avatar will prioritize judicial, electoral reforms, bolstered in large measure by Amit Shah’s twin criminal laws kicking in come July 1, 2024. Recent judicial trends, including a temporary bail gift to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for indulgence in unfettered propaganda, criminal indulgence against his party’s youngest woman MP, has irked Modi. The proverbial last straw was the Supreme Court mandating 48-hours for full disclosure of voting percentiles pan India. “The ECI will submit to court the minimum 96 hours requirement for professional, fool proofed disclosure of pan India voting percentages considering manual processes involved for collation,” BJP’s senior leader told shortpost.in. Teachers, civic staffers drafted by ECI, for the election process are trained in the run up to polls. These personnel, up by 3 am, reach Lok Sabha polling booths (1500 to 1800 booths per constituency) by 5 am to precede the 7 am public voting. EOD time of last vote (between 8 pm and 10 pm) depending on voters at booths before timely deadline follows voter count data manually maintained by personnel collated like a police panchnama, even as EVMs get transferred to strong rooms. EVM machines at rural centres take longer (3-4 hours). Missing names in voter rosters, recurring concern every general elections, to be resolved through AADHAR synchronization in 3.0, long standing BJP requisition put off by judiciary in India backed by ‘privacy concerns’ prevalent in Western nations. The Collegium system is also set to go, according to those in the know.
Amidst allegations of assault by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal against Bibhav Kumar, personal aide of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on May 13 and registration of FIR against him, AAP has unleashed a full-scale war in social media to damage Swati. The party released video footage of what happened at Kejriwal’s residence on May 13 to battle allegations of Swati assault. The video recordings are not CCTV footage as CM’s drawing room is not fitted with cameras. It is a video by somebody inside. In unleashing personal attacks on Swati, AAP seems to have completely lost its logic. For a party that initially admitted Bibhav Kumar had assaulted her. Kejriwal deployed his minister Atishi Singh to dub Swati as a BJP stooge. It may be recalled that Kejriwal’s assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in 2018 had no video evidence because of lack of CCTV images in the drawing room. BJP sources said in her call PCR from CM’s residence, Swati had clearly mentioned that she had been attacked by Bibhav Kumar at the behest of CM (she referred to him in third person). Oddly, she did not mention him in the FIR. As images of her walking with difficulty to AIIMS for medical check-up and trip to the magistrate to register her statement, it established beyond doubt that she had been assaulted by Kejriwal’s PA. That’s why senior ministers in the government like FM Nirmala Sitharaman and Assam CM Himanta Sarma came out rallying in her support. Delhi BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa pointed out that it was Sunita Kejriwal who had prompted Bibhav to attack Swati. That’s why Kejriwal has gone all out to protect Bibhav. In the FIR, Swati reportedly appealed to Bibhav not to hit her as she was menstruating and in pain. “I repeatedly told him that I am having my period and he should please let go of me as I am in unbearable pain.” It was only thereafter that she called the police.
In a significant development, Delhi Police recorded AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s statement in connection with alleged assault on her on May 13 at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. Her statement to the police comes four days after the incident when she had made two calls to PCR from CM’s residence. On the day of the incident, Swati had gone to the police station to file a complaint but had refrained from doing so and had remained incommunicado. In her initial complaint she had blamed Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar and another person for assaulting her. It is not clear if her police complaint followed efforts made by Delhi Police to reach her. Delhi’s Additional Commissioner of Police Special Cell and Additional DCP North visited Swati’s residence. Swati’s complaint to cops is bound to spell trouble for Kejriwal perhaps cancellation of his bail. It is not clear what would be Swati’s fate after this fate — it is quite likely she would not be able to stay in the AAP. There is already talk of Punjab Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha having moved close to BJP. Taking suo moto cognizance of media reports of Swati being assaulted by Bibhav, the NCW has summoned him to appear before it on May 17. It must be recalled that, two days after the assault, Kejriwal had sent Sanjay Singh to negotiate with Swati. Singh had accepted that Bibhav had attacked Swati. However, instead of keeping promise made to Swati, AAP supremo Kejriwal tried to brazen out the assault incident. He reached Lucknow for a media interaction with assaulter Bibhav Kumar. Sanjay Singh gave vague excuses like Manipur incidents and Prajwal Rewanna to justify non-action on Bibhav. The only silver lining was Congress leader Priyanka Vadra came out in support of Swati notwithstanding her party’s alliance with AAP.
A day after former DCW chief Swati Maliwal approached the Delhi police alleging assault inside Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house, the Aam Aadmi Party admitted that the AAP chief’s aide had “misbehaved” with her. Maliwal, a senior AAP leader and a Rajya Sabha MP, went to the Civil Lines police station on May 13 morning and claimed she was assaulted by Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant, Bibhav Kumar. However, she didn’t lodge an official complaint. Curiously a day after the episode, AAP MP Sanjay Singh came forward to acknowledge that Kejriwal’s aide indeed had misbehaved with Maliwal when the latter was waiting to meet Kejriwal at his house. It is not clear why Kejriwal is in a damage control mode now. “A condemnable incident took place. Swati Maliwal had gone to Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to meet him. While she was waiting for him in the drawing room, Bibhav Kumar allegedly misbehaved with her. The CM has taken cognizance of the matter, and he will take appropriate action,” Sanjay Singh said. As per Delhi Police records Maliwal had called the PCR number at 9.34 am on May 13. AAP sources say Swati was most likely being pressured by Kejriwal to vacate her Rajya Sabha seat– a position that is being coveted by his lawyer who lost his RS seat in a draw of lots recently from a hill state. That is why no sooner than AAP leader Sanjay Singh came up with a false narrative of action against Bibhav Kumar, Swati’s ex-husband Naveen Jaihind asked him to stop acting. He also felt there could be a threat to Swati’s life. Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar has informally sought to know if Swati as RS member would be needing security cover.
In a bizarre incident, Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was reportedly assaulted at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence by his PA Bibhav Kumar. As per calls made to police PCR from CM’s residence, the police received two calls. At first, the woman didn’t reveal her name. But in the second call made around 9.54 am, the caller said her name was Swati Maliwal and she accused Bibhav Kumar of manhandling her. Oddly Swati, who had headed Delhi Commission of Women for 9 years (July 2015-Jan 2024) did not follow up the assault charge with a written complaint. It is being speculated that she initially took two names — police are not sure if she had directly named Kejriwal. Swati had gone to meet with Kejriwal; she was not in India when he was arrested. Bibhav was denying Swati access to meet Kejriwal. BJP leaders dubbed CM’s office as a “boxing ring”, recalling how Kejriwal had assaulted chief secretary Anshu Prakash (Feb 2018) by calling a meeting of his MLAs at midnight. Bansuri Swaraj, the BJP candidate from New Delhi, claimed it was most likely that it was Kejriwal who must have instigated the alleged assault on Swati. AAP sources said party circles including wife Sunita Kejriwal have resented phenomenal growth of Swati — particularly her nomination to Rajya Sabha in January 2024. She was not seen as a grassroot AAP worker. Within AAP, Swati was seen as someone who was always aloof as she had worked with Kejriwal’s NGO. It is possible with Sunita’s growing clout and say in AAP affairs, one could see more such skirmishes at Sheeshmahal!
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has reportedly made it clear to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that he must ensure Kanhaiya Kumar, former JNU student leader and Congress candidate for Delhi’s North-East Lok Sabha seat wins. This is the only seat where the BJP has repeated its candidate, Manoj Tiwari, who is considered to be a popular candidate. With Rahul making the extra push and Kejriwal promising to deliver, BJP sources say the contest will get keen in this seat as well as in South Delhi where the party had changed candidates. In 2019, Rahul’s efforts to get Kanhaiya elected from Bihar did not get adequate support from the RJD (he lost to Union Minister Giriraj Singh). After being in jail for 50 days, Kejriwal, the AAP star campaigner, began his poll campaign .Twenty parliamentary seats in Delhi and Punjab – two states where the Kejriwal-led AAP is in power – will go to polls in the fifth and sixth phase on May 25 and June 1. In his first public interaction, he began with making a wild charge that there was no point in voting for PM Modi as he wouldn’t be around to fulfil his guarantee. He charged that since Modi would be turning 75 next year he would perhaps retire and hand over reins to HM Amit Shah. Responding to Modi’s “retirement”, Countering Kejriwal, both Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh clarified that PM Modi will not only complete his 3rd term till 2029 but will also lead the party for “next round of polls”.
In a boost to the I.N.D.I.A front, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on May 10 — three days after the Enforcement Directorate argued that politicians could not be treated differently from non-politicians in the PMLA case. Kejriwal has been granted bail till June 1 in connection with a money laundering case connected to the Delhi excise policy scam even as his counsel pleaded that his bail be extended till June 4 — that is the day of Lok Sabha results. The court has asked the AAP supremo to surrender on June 2. The interim bail has been granted in order to enable Kejriwal to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal, stated that interim bail was essential to ensure that Kejriwal had a level playing field in the upcoming elections as Delhi votes on May 25. The ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21. There is a sense of jubilation over release of the AAP chief in the I.N.D.I.A front with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee welcoming it. Congress sources, however are not sure if Kejriwal would have polled more votes for the alliance from behind the bars in Tihar or now actively out campaigning across states. Opposing his bail solicitor general Tushar Mehta admitted that “only thing at stake was Kejriwal’s right to campaign for elections, which was not an absolute right to begin with”. Dismissing the objections, the bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna felt “There are extraordinary circumstances for interim bail. We are only examining if those circumstances were met here, in view of the upcoming elections.”
Ever since Sunita Kejriwal and Kalpana Soren –wives of jailed chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren — took part in the Opposition I.N.D.I.A rally on April 21 in Ranchi, their role in party politics seem to be getting firmer. AAP leadership now wants Sunita Kejriwal to campaign for its three Lok Sabha candidates in Delhi from April 27. Sunita’s campaign will be to protest her husband’s arrest, explained Delhi minister Atishi Singh. Sunita Kejriwal will apparently hold a roadshow in East Delhi Lok Sabha on April 27, follow it up with another roadshow in the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency the following day. She is also expected to visit Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat. AAP sources hope people of “Delhi, Punjab, and the entire country will vote in favour of Arvind Kejriwal”. The party has also launched a Lok Sabha campaign focussing on Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED. Titled Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se is a song written and sung by AAP MLA Dilip Pandey. Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has declared Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren, as candidate for by-election to Gandey assembly seat. Bypoll in Gandey, which fell vacant following the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad, is scheduled on May 20 along with Lok Sabha polls in the state. Kalpana, a homemaker with MTech and MBA qualifications, is contesting from a general seat as she is a non-tribal and hails from Odisha. She was previously considered a frontrunner for the position of CM after Hemant Soren’s resignation but faced opposition from Sita Soren, the elder daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren.
For a disciplined party this one certainly comes as a shock. A section of BJP cadres in West Bengal have launched “Save Bengal BJP” campaign by organising a rally to protest against turncoats being given Lok Sabha tickets. The criteria for getting a party ticket should be local representation and party loyalty. They feel outsiders are being accommodated while genuine party leaders are getting elbowed out. Interestingly the “BJP Bachao Manch” is canvassing to press the ‘NOTA’ button, expressing no confidence with BJP candidates. These vociferous cadres are also questioning the legitimacy and authority of its own leader — Suvendu Adhikari whose proposals have been considered by the Delhi High Command. Convenor of this committee Deepak Sarkar says, if chief ministers like Hemant Soren, Arvind Kejriwal are jailed then why Adhikari is being given a breather despite being named in several CBI and ED cases. They have also questioned why the high command has shifted Dilip Ghosh from Medinipur to Burdwan-Durgapur constituency, Debasree Chowdhari from Raiganj to South Kolkata. Besides, they have also objected to the candidatures of SS Ahluwalia from Asansol against Shatrughan Sinha and that of Suvendu Adhikari’s brother Soumendu nominated from Kanthi. The rebel cadres have made it categorically clear that they will not leave the party, instead, if necessary, they will field independent candidates in seats where original BJP leaders have been ignored. Hope Delhi high command is listening.
The arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor gate scam has deeply shaken the decade-old Aam Aadmi Party with a number of its MLAs and MPs looking for safe exit. In fact the resignation of one of Delhi’s six ministers, Dalit leader Raaj Kumar Anand, a day after the Supreme Court refused to provide urgent relief to Kejriwal has added to unravelling of the AAP at least in Delhi. First, Kejriwal suffered a setback after Delhi High Court dismissed a challenge by him against his March 21 arrest by the ED. The court stated that the central agency was left with “little option” as Kejriwal had ignored several summons in the case. The ED also alleged that Kejriwal was actively involved in using and concealing the alleged proceeds of crime. Thereafter the Supreme Court also did not seem to be in a hurry to provide succour to him. Meanwhile, desertions in the party began with the lone Lok Sabha member, Sushil Kumar Rinku, a dalit leader from Jalandhar joining the BJP along with Punjab MLA Sheetal Angural. It also set off a buzz that next in line to jump ship would be Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. In midst of these desertions senior AAP leader Dr Sandeep Pathak took an ostrich-like approach to those wishing to exit AAP. He tweeted “Jho bhajpa (BJP) mein jana chahte hain, unhe tata bye bye“. Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jhakhar found it odd that the AAP should be dismissive of those leaving the party. “Instead of reflecting on the reasons, Dr Pathak has reacted exactly in the same manner as Amrinder Warring of the Congress did when its leaders left Congress to join BJP. This arrogance will prove to be the one of the reasons for the undoing of both their parties”.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal must have surprised his party cadre when he named two junior ministers — Aatishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj — as people who were more aware of the now scrapped liquor policy than him. Why did he drag them into the multi-crore liquorgate? Atishi, Oxford educated and first term MLA is famed for assisting now jailed Manish Sisodia in reforming Delhi government schools. She has been with AAP since 2013. Did Kejriwal feel she was a threat to his wife Sunita? Saurabh Bharadwaj, a qualified engineer, may be facing brickbats from Delhites as Water Minister– the water meters are a scam that Kejriwal may have foisted on him. But did Bharadwaj and Atishi deserve to join Kejriwal league of Delhi’s dirty list — Manish Sisodia (in jail and has been dropped) Satyendra Jain (out on bail, no longer a minister) and Kailash Gahlot, Transport Minister was summoned by the ED. Kejriwal who was sent to judicial custody for a fortnight, does not hold any portfolio. Interestingly, Kerjiwal’s jail term came a day after the Opposition rallied behind him on March 31 and condemned ED action against him. A high point of the rally was the clash between the Congress and the AAP over display of Kejriwal cut-outs at Ramlila maidan. The Congress wanted to know why cut-outs of jailed ex-Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren were missing. Post Congress protest, Kejriwal’s cut-outs were removed. Sunita Kejriwal and Kalpana Soren displayed bonhomie by publicly hugging each other. Meanwhile it was the ED which informed the AAP leaders about Kejriwal’s claims. About how “Vijay Nair didn’t report to him but to Atishi and Bharadwaj and his interaction with Vijay Nair was limited.
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.
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.
When it comes to alliances, it seems, the Congress seems to be getting a raw deal – whether it is from a newbie like AAP or even from an old ally like Samajwadi Party. The Congress with diminishing bargaining power it seems did not have much say on the seats it would contest in states — be it in Gujarat or UP. It was as if everything was left to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal or SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to finalise the seat sharing pact. That is probably why the party did not bother to resist claims of AAP for Bharuch Lok Sabha seat — a constituency once represented by Sonia Gandhi’s close aide and AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel — or Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat once represented by former Union Minister Salman Khurshid. That is why Khurshid, who is a CWC member, did express his disappointment that his Lok Sabha constituency was not part of the Congress-SP alliance. So did the late Patel’s children– Faisal and Mumtaz. They both gave voice to disappointment among Congress workers in Bharuch over the AAP-Congress poll pact. Faisal went a step further to assert that Bharuch which has been with the BJP since 1989 can be won only if the Congress contests from there. Meanwhile, the Congress hopes to wriggle out of this unequal electoral pact thrust on it by AAP only if ED finally catches up with Kejriwal.”If ED arrests Kejriwal, our alliance will end. We are hoping it will happen soon,” admits a Congress leader.
The AAP and the Congress are set to jointly contest from Delhi, Haryana, Goa, Chandigarh and Gujarat. As per the pact, AAP will contest four of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, two of the 26 seats in Gujarat, and one of the 10 seats in Haryana, while the Congress will contest the rest of the seats in these states. In Gujarat, the AAP will contest two – Bharuch and Bhavnagar – and in Haryana, it will contest the Kurukshetra seat. Late Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s children — Faisal and Mumtaz — have opposed giving away their home turf Bharuch to AAP. Incidentally the Congress tie-up with AAP comes full circle nearly a decade after the party first came to power in Delhi riding an anti-Congress wave in 2013. Kejriwal with 28 MLAs was propped by the Congress with its 8 MLAs. It is clear that Kejriwal, who had tasted a tough fight during MCD polls to take control of the Delhi civic body in December 2022 is not keen for a repeat in May 2024. He had boasted about limiting BJP to 20 seats in the 250 member MCD. The BJP went on to notch a cool 104. “It is clear both the Opposition parties are too scared to face the Modi juggernaut alone,” said a BJP poll strategist. It also shows that by joining hands with the Congress, Kejriwal has shelved his PM ambitions for now. It is not Kejriwal alone who has seen his limitations. Congress stalwart in Haryana Bhupinder Hooda also knows there is no way he can beat the BJP bulwark in Lok Sabha. By pitting AAP in Kurukshetra — a seat held by state BJP chief — Hooda has tossed an unwinnable seat in AAP’s lap and got an alibi for poor show in 2024.
Guess it is in the nature of I.N.D.I.A. front, you could be a member of the group and still not belong to it. Well that is what is happening to at least two main stakeholders in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc — the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Leaders of both the parties met for the first time early this week to discuss seat sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, with the Congress expressing the desire to contest four of the seven Lok Sabha seats, and the latter seeking to expand the scope of the discussion to include an alliance in Gujarat, Goa, and Haryana. The Congress leaders, however, told AAP representatives that their current mandate was limited to discussing seat sharing in Delhi. Interestingly, the Congress leaders did not even mention Punjab. Congress sources pointed out that the AAP was mainly interested in increasing its footprint across India and was keen to fall back on the Congress apparatus to grow. Delhi Congress leaders are not too comfortable working with Arvind Kejriwal. With ED noose tightening on Kejriwal, political analysts point to the way even an obliging Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann — who has been relentlessly flying Kejriwal around in state aircraft – had decided to make himself scarce for once and pushed off for a 4-day vipassana break in Andhra. “Our Punjab unit is determined to fight the Lok Sabha polls on their own. But for the electricity subsidy, the AAP Government has done nothing here,” says a Congress MP from Punjab.
In a major reshuffle in the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party president Mallikarjun Kharge appointed Shashi Tharoor, Anand Sharma, Manish Tiwari and Sachin Pilot to the policy making body. Except for Pilot, whose inclusion is being seen as a sop ahead of Rajasthan assembly elections, inclusion of the other three leaders is significant as it finally buries the ghost of Group-23. These three leaders were among the many who in a letter to Sonia Gandhi last year had questioned non-transparent functioning in the Congress. Only exception among the G-23 leaders who got left out is former Maharashtra CM Prithiviraj Chavan. It is surprising that Chavan was kept out of the CWC unless the Congress brass is planning some other assignment for him. Also important is the inclusion of Ajay Maken and Alka Lamba, leaders who have been vocal against Arvind Kejriwal. Party sources were equally surprised that Kharge’s team decided to keep out a close Rahul Gandhi aide Milind Deora out of the CWC. Party circles from Telangana blamed bias of Kharge’s team for packing the CWC with men from Andhra — 4 leaders and only 2 from Telangana that too at a time when assembly elections are going to be held in Telangana by end of this year. “It just seems we have lost the plot to win elections,” said a close Rahul aide from Telangana who got axed in the CWC rejig.
In the face of fierce attacks from the Opposition, particularly, the local Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, over the violence in during the West Bengal panchayat elections, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had initially planned to skip the Opposition unity meeting on July 17-18 in Bengaluru. She had cited her limb injury as a reason for not attending the meeting. However, a phone call from Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi to Didi has changed her mind. It is being said TMC supremo will travel to Bengaluru accompanied by her medical team. Sonia reportedly urged Mamata to attend the dinner event that she would be hosting on July 17. It is quite possible that the West Bengal CM with her limited mobility may just register her presence at the dinner event and possibly skip the main meeting on July 18. Confirming Mamata’s presence at Bengaluru, Congress sources however claimed that the Bengal leader had responded to party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s letter. What about Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal? Would he be there too? “We are hoping to hear from the AAP side too,” said a close Kharge aide. The 24-party Opposition meet, aiming for a united front against BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,will be meeting for the second time. This time it will be watched with interest for its outcome.
After Delhi and Punjab chief ministers met Shiv Sena (U) leader Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, party MP Sanjay Raut claimed that many top Opposition leaders were in contact with their party. However, no names were disclosed by him. AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann called on Uddhav at his residence Matoshree, Bandra. They later attacked the Union government and the BJP for misusing various Central agencies for political purposes. Kejriwal felt that Maharashtra was behind Uddhav. But he averted a direct reply when asked if he would form an alliance with Uddhav. Nonetheless, he indicated that the association among Opposition parties would be strengthened rather than fighting with each other. Uddhav had earlier announced that he would liaise with major opposition parties to mount a joint front against the BJP. His supporters had hinted that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, too, could come to Mumbai to further the process. But she has yet to make any such plans known. Sena (U) detractors remember Raut’s prediction at the time of Uddhav swearing-in as chief minister in 2019 that he (Uddhav) would be a prospective PM choice by the non-BJP opposition in 2024. Though Uddhav himself has never been heard to have made any such intention public, he has neither discounted the possibility. Political activity in Maharashtra will warm up after the two Pune assembly byelections results are out next week.
In the run up to 2024 Lok Sabha polls it is not just Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) who has been proactive in acquiring a national media profile ahead by engaging a media adviser and establishing an office for his Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti in Delhi to refurbish his image. Taking cue from KCR, is Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He may not have got any relief from the court for spending government money on political advertisements in 2015 and has been issued a notice for recovery of Rs 163.62 crore by his own government department. Yet, there is no stopping the AAP supremo from burnishing his profile. On the occasion of Lohri, Makar Sankranti & Pongal, Kejriwal chose to reach out to Delhi-based media from the South, mainly from Tamil Nadu. The media was invited over for a get-together at the Delhi Vidhan Sabha complex. Invites sent out in the name of Speaker Ram Niwas Goel. Reaching out to Tamil media makes sense because of their pockets of influence and votes in the capital.
In the fiercely contested elections to Municipal Corporation of Delhi which saw the Aam Aadmi Party edge out the BJP after 15 years of presiding over the civic body by winning 134 out of 250 municipal wards, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal came across as a humble man. Maybe the results had a sobering effect on him — for a party that had vowed to restrict BJP to 20 wards, AAP fared poorly in Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and his jailed minister Satyender Jain’s assembly segments. The BJP went on to secure 104 wards. “We need cooperation from all, especially the help and blessings of the Centre and PM to improve Delhi,” he said. For a start, these words may have been enough to soften bruised ego but the BJP is unlikely to fall for it. In fact it doesn’t view the civic poll results as a setback. “We wanted an honourable exit from the MCD. That is what we have got”, conceded a top BJP poll strategist. In fact the idea of getting high profile campaigners for street corner meetings was to ensure that the party has an adequate presence in the MCD. “If our senior leaders hadn’t made this effort, AAP could have restricted us to 50-60 wards. At least we managed to reach three-digit”, pointed out a leader.
Even before AAP could make much headway in Gujarat, it has been caught into a trap of its own making in Delhi. Yes, the party that was founded by the Ghaziabad boys — Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia — and won its first election in 2013 on an anti-corruption plank has now lost its credibility over corruption charges. Allegations of selling tickets for the upcoming Delhi municipal corporation (MCD) elections are flying thick and fast and Kejriwal has no answers. Two videos purportedly shot by an ex-AAP member Bindu Sriram alleged that the AAP had sold tickets to candidates contesting the polls. Sriram claimed that she was asked to fork out Rs 80 lakh to get a party ticket from Rohini ward D. IIT-educated Kejriwal who won three back to back assembly elections (2013, 2015 & 2020) on power freebies, is a cornered man now. It appears he will not be able to easily wrest control of the MCD which has been with the BJP for 15 years. Besides, the AAP Government’s flawed liquor policy, and visuals of its jailed minister Satyendra Jain receiving massage from a rape accused Rinku in Tihar Jail have further dented Kejriwal’s image. On its part, the BJP has unleashed a mega campaign to reclaim the MCD. Senior leaders like Rajnath Singh, CMs of Haryana, Assam and Uttarakhand have all hit the road.
On a day, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal announced in Ahmedabad his CM candidate for Gujarat, he was virtually pushing for the Delhi model of governance. Yes, in picking a journalist-turned-politician Isudan Gadhvi as AAP CM candidate, Kejriwal was actually seeking a repeat of Manish Sisodia story — Delhi’s Finance & Education minister — a former TV journalist. However, will the Delhi model work in a large state like Gujarat? Interestingly, Gadhvi, a popular TV anchor was picked via popular vote just the way Bhagwant Mann was picked in Punjab. Gadhvi was pitted against state party unit chief Gopal Italia who played a key role in the Patidar community agitation. Aged 40, Gadhvi hails from a financially strong family of farmers in Pipliya village of Dwarka district and belongs to the OBC. He had quit his media job a year ago to join AAP. While the Delhi CM urged Gujarat people to give his party one opportunity and said he will quit politics if he fails to deliver in the next five years, the AAP found it will be put to test in its own home ground as Delhi Municipal Corporation elections will be held on December 4. The results will be out on December 7. With Delhi civic polls clashing Gujarat poll dates, Kejriwal would really be spoiled for a choice.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is making a curious gambit. He is to announce the founding of his national party BRS (Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti) with regional TRS to merge with it on Dussehra day (Oct. 5). The new party will retain the TRS flag, its car symbol as well as the party colour pink. TRS, which came into prominence during the emotional agitation for a separate Telangana, will soon be consigned to history. Will the KCR gambit work is the question as long time Andhra-Telangana observers see a huge wave of anti-incumbency sentiment against KCR. While it is possible that KCR is doing away with the name TRS on the advice of soothsayers, it is his national foray into 150 seats that is loaded with risk. Those trying to unite the Opposition for 2024 are convinced that a single entity to take on the BJP will work better, as it may have been proved in the recent Italian elections where the Right coalition fielded a united single candidate in most seats. KCR’s national opposition unity moves, which he began in flashy meetings with Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar and HD Kumaraswami are also being met with scepticism by the likes of Mamata and Sonia Gandhi’s Congress. The BRS will dictate who will be PM in 2024, the new party’s intending founder KCR has been heard saying.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s latest attempt to de-link PM Narendra Modi from the ED-CBI investigation in the state surprised the political fraternity across the country. “Modi is not doing these things,” Didi told her state assembly while speaking about the recent raids by the CBI and ED against top Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, rather passing the onus completely to second-in-command of the country Amit Shah. Incidentally, besides NIA no other agencies come directly under the Union Home Ministry and no investigation would be possible without a go-ahead from the PM. Meanwhile, TMC is clear that Didi along with chief ministers such as Bihar’s Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren will join hands to fight BJP vis a vis PM Narendra Modi in 2024 and continue to be the “fulcrum of opposition unity”. Political analysts in West Bengal feel it is too much of a risk as Lok Sabha Polls are two years away and with TMC government only 16 months old it needs to have cordial relations with the Centre for its smooth functioning as well as tackle several issues like GST dues, fund allocations etc. Analysts also feel that it is slowly dawning on Mamata that the opposition unity remains an unreal proposition, especially with Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi two of the main Hindi-heartland anti-BJP forces doing their own brand of politics?
On a day Capt Amarinder Singh is scheduled to merge his Punjab Lok Congress with the BJP, there is a strong buzz that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal may replace Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann with his Education Minister and Anandpur Sahib MLA Harjot Singh Bains. This comes amidst reports that Mann was deplaned from a Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight in Frankfurt on September 17 because he was not found fit to travel. While AAP sources described Mann “as being a little unwell and would catch a flight from Frankfurt later in the night to return back home,” a passenger aboard the flight from Frankfurt described Mann being “totally drunk” who couldn’t stand “without support of his wife and security guards”. The passenger said the departure of the flight was delayed by over four hours as the luggage of the CM’s entourage which was loaded on the plane had to be taken off. Punjab government officials tried to prevail upon the Lufthansa flight crew but they refused to compromise on their flight safety rules. Navneet Wadhwa, media in-charge of the CM’s office was quoted that he would board a flight on “September 17 evening from Frankfurt around 4.30 PM (GMT+2) and land in Delhi at around 1 AM (GMT+5.30),” adding that as per the schedule available with him the CM was to remain in Germany till September 18.
On a day Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s home and 20 other locations across seven states were raided by the CBI over the Centre’s allegations of corruption in the Delhi liquor policy, his party colleagues from AAP like Saurabh Bharadwaj and Sanjay Singh were busy defending him on a different score — the twin articles that appeared in praise of Sisodia in front pages of the New York Times and the Khaleej Times. “If NYT article is paid news, I challenge BJP to get something published in it by spending money,” said Bharadwaj. While BJP MP Parvesh Verma dubbed it as paid news, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said the CBI landed at Sisodia’s doorstep the “day on which the Delhi education model was praised and Manish Sisodia’s picture was printed on the front page of America’s largest newspaper NYT.” Delhi’s Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena ordered a CBI probe, accusing AAP of bringing the Excise policy “with the sole aim” of benefiting private liquor barons for financial benefits to “individuals at the highest echelons of the government leading up to Manish Sisodia”. On July 30, Sisodia announced a rollback of the policy, a waiver of Rs 144.36 crore was given to the liquor cartel on license fee tender citing the Covid pandemic as the reason. It has now been alleged that the cabinet was not kept in the loop when this one-time waiver was given.
Ahead of Gujarat and Himachal polls, the Centre pleaded in the Supreme Court (SC) to set guidelines on freebies with dos and don’ts till the time legislature steps in as the country was heading towards a financial disaster. In its affidavit, the Centre offered to set up a committee of experts such as Union and state finance secretaries, finance commission chairman, a member from every national political parties, officials from the RBI, and ECI, and NITI Aayog, representatives from FICCI, CII and Discoms. The panel would examine all freebies. The AAP vociferously argued against the SC getting into the area of freebies and warned that the Apex Court should not heed Centre’s plea as it would lead to a political thicket. The SC remained unfazed and has endorsed the Centre’s move for an expert panel. Looks like AAP’s free power promise has the Centre worried with “many electricity generating companies and distribution companies most of which are government-owned being severely stressed. But having won Punjab on freebies, Kejriwal is just not bothered and is out there wooing Gujarati voters with 300 units of free power and Rs 3,000 dole to unemployed youth. Ironically, when Modi took over the state as CM two decades ago people had proudly told him — we don’t want free power, we want assured supply. Does Kejriwal hope to entice Gujjus with his Revdis (sops)?
Following singer Sidhu Moosewala’s broad daylight murder, the Punjab government has been directed by the High Court to restore the security cover of 424 people, which it had earlier withdrawn. During a hearing in the Punjab & Haryana High Court, the AAP government had claimed it had withdrawn the security of 424 people only for a few days. Responding to a PIL moved by a Congress leader OP Soni against his security down-grade, the government told the court that the security covers of the 424 VIPs would be restored after Ghallughara Diwas on June 6, which is observed as a day of protest against Operation Blue Star. Incidentally, a day before Moosewala’s murder, the AAP government had highlighted it as ‘crackdown on VIP culture’ on social media. But then the government got cornered only because of Moosewala’s death. In a plea against his security downgrade, Congress leader Soni wanted to know how a report of security withdrawal with a list of VIPs came into the public domain. It is being said that Punjab police is being stretched beyond state borders to provide security cover to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal; also special cover for his key aide for Punjab area — Raghav Chadha. Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP almost functions like a de facto Punjab CM.
At first it just seemed ambitious Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, was taking a leaf out of the play book of his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin. Just as Stalin had visited Delhi in April, met with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and visited a Delhi Government school to learn about “innovation in education” KCR followed a similar schedule. Except that the Telangana leader added an extra dimension to the Delhi visit — reaching out to farmers. He made pay-outs to families of farmers who died during the course of the agitation against the now-repealed central farm laws. He travelled with Kejriwal to Chandigarh to hand over cheques worth Rs 3 lakh to 24 farmer families from Punjab and five from Haryana. The two CMs were joined by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann. Would these pay-outs help Telangana farmers? Of course, not. Rao lauded Punjab farmers for fighting the farm laws that were rolled back “If farmers want, they can change government. It is not a big thing. From where the power comes, it comes from us,” he said. Ironically, farmers in Punjab are now up in arms against the AAP Government for a whole range of issues including a bonus on wheat, MSP for maize and waiving of loans.
Should a film on genocide be exempted from state entertainment tax? Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s brazen attack on The Kashmir Files – a defining movie on genocidal horrors and forced exodus suffered by Kashmiri Pandits – not only killed the tax-free debate but also resurrected a new low, “You (BJP) don’t look good putting Jhoothi picture.” The genocide denial has led to a tide of opprobrium. Sikh social worker Manjinder Singh Sirsa tweeted, “Laughing at #TheKashmirFiles and calling it a lie!! Sorry to say @ArvindKejriwal you don’t deserve to be called a human being.” Earlier, came scathing remarks from BJP’s Amit Malviya: “Only an inhuman, cruel and depraved mind can laugh at and deny the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. Kejriwal has ripped open the wounds of the Hindu community, who have been forced to live as refugees in their own country, for 32 long years, by calling #KashmirFiles a jhoothi film.” Aditya Raj Kaul, a veteran journalist, pointed out, “Denying persecution, forced exodus and genocide of a minority community is a criminal act. I hope you will apologise to the victims of terrorism, Mr Arvind Kejriwal. Hate for Modi, BJP and filmmaker is one thing but to deny a historic reality is absolutely shocking.” Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Schindler’s List suffered the same genocide denial mindset and was banned from screening in many Islamic countries, including Pakistan.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Noticed By People Who Matter
Four years have zipped by and we are crossing another milestone on 31st January 2025 – it’s our 4th Anniversary. It feels good.
Looking back at the 1460 days, I must say Short Post has made its mark with people who matter via 4000 stories published in the areas of politics, business, entertainment and sports. All made possible by the unflinching commitment and dedication of our senior editors, most of whom have been part of this journey from Day One.
Small pack, big impact is in essence the story of Short Post which was launched at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. It shows our conviction. In all humility, I can say, we have created a new niche in the news segment space like Hindustan Unilever which created a new segment, when it launched CloseUp Gel.
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Our goal is to ensure that Short Post becomes a habit. I would like people to keep checking their smartphones to know the latest Authentic Gossip. As regards AI and the fear of it disrupting all businesses including media. On that, personally, I have no such fear as I am confident AI cannot smell news particularly Authentic Gossip. That’s the place we are well entrenched.