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Union Home Minister Amit Shah is so convinced that the BJP is in a position to defeat Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal that he wants to concentrate more on the state than in Tamil Nadu. Once elections are over in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on April 9, Shah will spend more than two weeks in Bengal. PM Modi is likely to address two rallies within a week. The BJP has pressed a battery of leaders into action, hoping to unseat the TMC government. “A number of our senior leaders are camping in the state, and more are set to join once the elections in Assam are over…” says a senior BJP leader. Work is being carried out in silos — at the level of both assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies. The BJP has divided West Bengal into nine zones, each zone is being handled by senior leaders, including ministers such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Nityanand Rai, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Sanjay Jaiswal, and Nishikant Dubey. Most of the leaders deployed so far are from Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, among others.”The fact that Amit Shah ji has himself announced that he will campaign and stay in West Bengal for 15 days shows the party’s commitment and seriousness,” a senior leader said. The BJP is also making sure to counter any ‘negative narrative’ by the TMC to ensure such a depiction does not affect its prospects. For instance, soon after Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP would ban fish, meat, and even eggs if it came to power, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar claimed that Bengal’s next CM from the BJP will be a ‘non-vegetarian’ when it comes to food habits. Shah has said, “I have a shortcut for bringing change to the state. Just make Suvendu Adhikari win from Bhabanipur (against Mamata), and the change is bound to happen.”
Raghav Chadha had been the AAP’s face on national media for years now, but recently the MP came into prominence for taking up “quality-of-life issues”, most of which largely concerned the middle- and upper-middle class. Each of his interventions in the Rajya Sabha was crisp in its own way. Chadha, a technocrat with good communication skills, knew exactly how to highlight them. He has 123 lakh followers on Instagram, and almost 10-lakh on X. He went on to become the Aam Aadmi Party’s leader of the House, and later the deputy with the return of senior colleague Sanjay Singh. It may seem odd that the AAP has stripped Chadha of his post as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. It is being said that Arvind Kejriwal suspected that Chadha may shift to the BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections. Kejriwal noticed Chadha was not critical of PM Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah. He hasn’t been very vociferous on issues against the BJP. Besides he was found missing in action when AAP may have needed him most. Like when Kejriwal was arrested Chadha was in the UK for eye surgery. Chadha was also absent at the recent “Jan Sabha” at Jantar Mantar, which was Kejriwal’s first public address following his discharge, along with Delhi’s former deputy CM Manish Sisodia. But Chadha has been far from idle and was always present and voluble in Parliament. Chadha campaigned against high samosa-and-chai prices at the airport. Nobody likes paying Rs 350 for a samosa and Rs 150 for a cup of chai. It is an issue that affects at best 5% of people in India who can afford to travel by air. Yet oddly, the government began to work on Chadha’s ideas. Within weeks of his raising the issue, UDAN Yatri cafes opened at 17 airports which offered samosas and tea for Rs 20 and Rs 10, respectively.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) is experiencing extreme discomfort following its outgoing MP Priyanka Chaturvedi’s ‘courtesy’ call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Although she has declared that she will remain in the opposition, the praise heaped by her on Modi is viewed as a signal. Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray is already uneasy since two of his Lok Sabha members attended a reception hosted by Maharashtra’s deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s confidant Pratap Jadhav, MP, in the capital a couple of days ago. While Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut has been predicting that several MLAs from the NCP(Ajit) are planning to defect to the BJP in Maharashtra, he has avoided any comment on the two MPs meeting Jadhav. Significantly, this meeting happened soon after Shinde had visited the national capital. Thus, revival of the so-called ‘Operation Tiger’ is being discussed afresh. The two MPs are Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Hingoli) and Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim), who had attended Jadhav’s felicitation last year as well. Both have clarified that it was a friendly visit and that no politics should be searched about it. However, given the fluid phase in the state polity, their defence is taken with a pinch of salt. Newly-elected Sena (Shinde) Rajya Sabha member Jyoti Waghmare had indicated the possibility of some MPs crossing sides but she had not provided any details. As Priyanka Chaturvedi was in the news over the reported tiff in the Sena (UBT) over the denial of another Rajya Sabha term to her, the call on the PM by her is considered fraught with several possibilities.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar’s entry into the state legislative assembly will not happen ‘unopposed’ since the Congress party is seriously considering the option of jumping into the fray. Voting for the byelection for Baramati constituency, caused by the demise of deputy CM Ajit Pawar, will take place on 23 April. According to present indications, Sunetra will file her nomination on 6 April in presence of CM Devendra Fadnavis and deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Already a member of the Rajya Sabha, she will relinquish the Rajya Sabha seat after getting formally elected on 4 May. As Baramati is the stronghold of the NCP(Ajit), her victory is considered a foregone conclusion. Moreover, the NCP (SP) has pledged its support to her. Hence, any opposition to her will be a token gesture at best. Still, the Congress party has decided not to offer Sunetra a walkover. The Congress candidate will be announced in a day or two. Some fringe political elements have said that they will support the Congress. However, it will not make any difference. Thus, the precedent of not contesting a byelection against the family member of a deceased sitting member will thus be sidelined. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is yet to decide its strategy. The other assembly byelection in the state will be held for the Rahuri constituency, again a BJP stronghold. The ruling party has fielded Akshay Kardile, son of the late Shivaji Kardile. There is no worthwhile opposition to the scion of the former minister. Counting for both will be held on 4 May.
He is a veteran Parliamentarian who opens all the debates from the Treasury bench side. So, it was surprising to see this senior BJP leader, a four-time MP Nishikant Dubey stir a controversy by calling Biju Patnaik, a CIA agent. Dubey is not a loose cannon and this is why clued-in political analysts say it could be BJP’s strategy to assess Odia’s icon Biju Patnaik popularity today. It did backfire with people from within BJP taking strong exceptions to Dubey’s loose remarks. Some BJD leaders walked out of the Parliament to register their protest. Seeing the backlash, Dubey apologised on X saying “My thoughts on Nehruji were misconstrued as being about Biju Babu,” It is learnt that PM Modi has intervened to douse the fire. He wrote to Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi praising Biju babu as a symbol of Odisha’s strength and pride having commitment to nation building. Interpreting Modi’s recent praise for Biju babu, Odia’s are asking will Modi ever confer Bharat Ratna status to the late Biju Patnaik or is this just lip service praise to bring the temperature down?
Nayanthara, after marriage and two kids, is still the “Queen” of female leads in Kollywood. Not just her drop dead gorgeous looks, hit Telugu film directors and producers like Dil Raju and Vamshi Paidipally bet big on her charisma and acting …Nayanthara films have rarely failed and her fans love her regal presence, dignity and talent. Any wonder that this director-producer duo (with five consecutive Telugu hits ) have signed her to play the heroine to Salman Khan? Sixty-year old Salman needs a hit, badly as it’s a long time since Bhai danced to his jubilant fans drum beats. Especially Eid releases …this year he didn’t have much to celebrate. Also his already signed work-in-progress, Battle for Galwan is facing some roadblocks and delays. It has undergone a name change to Maatrubhumi directed by Apoorva Lakhia. Sallu needs that one incendiary hit to keep him going. A South team made Jawan with Nayanthara and Shah Rukh Khan unforgettable. Chiranjeevi, not exactly mothballed but not having frequent films had her as his lead in the recent ‘Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu’, an out and out entertainer. Two decades as a heroine, Nayan is not about to settle for a “blink and she is gone” role. The story with Salman is planned to be a solid plot to showcase two great talents. Pre-production work is almost done and shooting is to commence. The producers are all geared up for 2027 Eid release. Salman Khan is sure to celebrate this Eid with warm Mubarakaan from his huge legion of fans.
The time has arrived for those who missed the World Cup bus (ICC Men’s T20) to exhibit their wares in the shortest format of the sport — the Tata-IPL Season-19. India’s Test and one-day international captain Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant must have been hurt not making it to the showpiece event at home. The selectors provided a window for Gill to make an attempt and fit into the Twenty20 squad; they even made him the vice captain for the Asia Cup in the UAE. But to get the “balance of the team” right, they dropped him for one of the signature events of the ICC-19. The IPL has started with the likes of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma flaying the bowling in their team’s opening matches. And young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi too has lashed out at the Chennai side. But the world would watch with keen interest the ability of Gill and Jaiswal, the men in blue team’s best opening pair in the Twenty20, but who had to make way for the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. Rajasthan Royals’ Jaiswal used the IPL to force his way into the Indian team, but Gill and Pant came through the BCCI’s established domestic system. Gill is an IPL regular for eight seasons and scored 3866 (3626 as an opener) and will be in the running for the next World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2028, and so would be Jaiswal and Pant. While they would target the 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year, they would double down in the ongoing IPL and make the big splash in order to force their way for the bilateral matches.
It was 2019 when a Karnataka cadre cop waded into the murky waters of Tamil Nadu politics with a dream…to bring the BJP beacon to TN, to get its rightful recognition in this Dravidian stronghold, K Annamalai came in with a vision of Camelot…but today his political survival and special status in the BJP is under a big question mark. The very BJP which nurtured and applauded his strength, is ignoring him. What happened to all that mercurial charisma that made Annamalai, Modi’s favourite (remember he was perhaps the only BJP member who got a one-hour car ride with the PM when Modi drove to the Coimbatore airport). But recently, as the PM was on his way to Kerala, he stopped at Coimbatore airport where a 11-member team was waiting to receive him…BJP’s Women’s Wing leader, Vanathi Srinivasan sounded surprised that Annamalai was not there…did they know that the official list did not have his name! What a profile he had etched in TN… Annamalai was here, there and everywhere …he led padayatras, nursed his Coimbatore constituency and was the inevitable face of the BJP…but in his meteoric rise, he rose in strident speech too … making enemies of the established AIADMK and its chief Edappadi K Palaniswami. The internal warfare and jockeying were in full throttle. So when Annamalai lost the election in 2021, the AIADMK broke the BJP ties. Anticipating the need to keep the alliance going, Nainar Nagendran was made TN Chief. The BJP’s compulsion was to have a respectable presence in TN at any cost. Annamalai had to be downsized to please Edappadi. Now it is learnt BJP is making amends, TN in-charge Piyush Goyal has summoned Annamalai to party office to request him to enter the fray from a constituency of his choice. Will he? Annamalai is fired by the RSS ideology …this Knight is sure to find his place at the Round Table like Lancelot.
Trouble for the BJP-led Odisha government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi, in power for close to 21 months, never seems to be ending. The latest is the Opposition’s vociferous demand for the resignation of the state health minister over the death toll in the fire at SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack which rose to 13. Ten Opposition parties – Congress, BJD, CPI (M), All India Forward Block, NCP, RJD — and other regional outfits have come together in a rare display of unity against ruling BJP. Massive protest has been organised demanding resignation of Health Minister Nukesh Mahaling. The Majhi government has rejected the resignation demand of the health minister, even as it suspended four of its officials. Naveen Patnaik’s party, the BJD in alliance with the Congress, has made it clear that the protest and agitation are not being withdrawn until the health minister resigns on moral ground. Supporting its argument, BJD sighted the case of its Health Minister Atanu S Nayak who resigned over a similar tragedy in 2016 when BJD was in power. The BJP has turned the tables on BJD saying that because of lapses during their rule, of not making fire safety arrangements during their 24 years rule, the current accident took place.
This Assembly elections, the BJP has launched a focused outreach to women voters, crafting a candidate list featuring women activists and public figures to challenge West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s strong hold over the women vote bank. Over 15 years in power, Didi has built a strong rapport with women through welfare schemes such as Lakshmir Bhandar and Kanyashree. Notably, ahead of the elections, the TMC government increased monthly assistance under Lakshmir Bhandar. In a strategic shift, the BJP has fielded candidates directly associated with protests against alleged violence or injustice, particularly in cases linked to individuals associated with the ruling TMC. Ratna Debnath, mother of the RG Kar Hospital rape victim, has been fielded from Panihati. Rekha Patra, a key figure in the 2024 Sandeshkhali protests will contest from Hingalganj. Tumpa Kayal, known for leading protests after the 2013 Kamduni rape and murder case in North 24 Parganas, has joined the BJP. Together, Ratna, Rekha and Tumpa represent the BJP’s effort to foreground real-life experiences of violence against women and are expected to campaign across the state, including Bhabanipur, where Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari is contesting against Mamata. The BJP has also fielded women candidates such as actors Roopa Ganguly, Sarbori Mukherjee, Papiya Adhikary, and advocate Priyanka Tibrewal, who contested against Didi in the 2021 Bhabanipur bypoll after her defeat in Nandigram. Meanwhile, TMC has raised concerns over a reported drop of nearly 57 lakh women voters after the SIR. It claims numbers rose from 3.59 crore (2021) to 3.73 crore (2024), before falling to 3.16 crore (2026), alleging many women were marked “under adjudication” due to marriage, address, or surname changes, effectively excluding them and weakening participation.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sunil Tatkare’s nephew Avdhoot Tatkare has joined the BJP, snapping his ties with the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray. A Sena MLA for 2014-19, Avdhoot is the son of Tatkare’s brother Anil. Avdhoot’s decision is considered politically crucial since his action to enter the BJP is looked at as a double blow, to the NCP and the Sena under Uddhav. NCP has recently appointed Sunil Tatkare as its national general secretary. His daughter Aditi is presently MLA and was a minister of state in the previous ministry led by Uddhav as chief minister. Sunil Tatkare himself is a confidant of NCP leader Sharad Pawar. In view of the stature of Sunil, the step taken by Avdhoot is considered significant against the backdrop of future electoral calculations. Avdhoot was welcomed by BJP state unit president Chandrakant Bawankule. After his formal entry, Avdhoot told the media that he had not joined the BJP for any post or with any precondition. However, it is felt that Avdhoot falling out with uncle Sunil happened since his claim was ignored in favour of Aditi. The BJP has been struggling to find a firm footing in the Konkan region of Maharashtra. Avdhoot is considered a prize catch by the BJP since he is considered capable to take on the heavyweight Tatkare in Konkan.
Looks like Kanimozhi is the flavour of the season, not just in the DMK power camp but in the BJP’s net casting too. Just last month, she thanked home minister Amit Shah profusely for facilitating her mother’s trip to Germany for medical treatment. Then followed the significant reshuffling of Parliamentary Committees and appointment of new chairpersons by Narendra Modi. Kanimozhi was handpicked by the PM to head the Committee on Rural Affairs and Panchayat Raj. Not without rhyme or reason; it is well known that PM Modi imbues his decisions with ironclad logic and perceived future insurance. The DMK MP from Thoothukudi has worked hard in her constituency to make the Adopt A Village program noteworthy. Venkatesapuram, a village adopted by her, scored high in most development indices. This focused result-oriented work backed the PM’s choice for his Adarsh Gram Yojana outreach plan. The penny dropped at the just held DMK General Body Meet, Stalin was unanimously re-elected for a second term as party Chief, and he in a surprise move announced Kanimozhi as one of the five general secretaries. This was followed up with courtesy visits to her home by both Stalin and son Udhayanidhi. It may be recalled that the nephew Udhayanidhi had earlier ignored aunt Kanimozhi and now he was cosying up to her. Kanimozhi is a prized 5G asset now –a big contrast to the humiliation of the 2G days.
Ahead of 2024 election preparation, BJD and BJP in Odisha are all set for high voltage by-election drama to contest Dhamnagar assembly seat on November 3.This decision was necessitated after the recent death of two-time sitting BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi. This win or loss at Dhamnagar by election which as of today is BJP’s citadel, will set the pace for 2024 Lok Sabha elections. BJP is likely to field a member of the Sethi family as it is hopeful that voters will give BJP another chance to fulfill the unfinished task of Sethi who was known as a prolific writer, poet and thinker. However this time, the task for BJP is cut out, given that in 2019 election, BJP’s Sethi had won by thin margin 48% visa-vis BJD 45% votes, while Congress garnered only 4% votes. Interestingly, if one looks at by-election results held in Bijepur, Tirtol, Pipili, Brajrajnagar, Balasore Sadar between between 2019 and 2020 then all seats have been won by the ruling Biju Janata Dal. Leader of opposition Jaya Narayan Mishra representing BJP is hopeful that Sethi’s good reputation will ensure victory at Dhamnagar by-election and BJP will treat this as a practice match ahead of the final match in 2024.
Looks like this whole Bharat Jodo Yatra is all a bid to change perception about Rahul Gandhi. That is why a day after Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was attacked for praising industrialist Gautam Adani at the State Investor Summit even as his party leader is known to target Adani-Ambani, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi came forward to clarify his stand. Overruling Jairam Ramesh at a Bharat Jodo presser, Rahul volunteered to speak up on Adani-Gehlot cosying up by saying that “Adani has committed ₹65,000 crore to Rajasthan. No chief minister can refuse such an offer. In fact, it wouldn’t be correct for a CM to refuse such an offer.” Tweeting a pic of Adani with Gehlot, BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya dubbed it as another sign of revolt and brewing discontent against the Gandhis. “Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot invites Gautam Adani for the investor summit. He is given a seat right next to the CM. This is an open message to Rahul Gandhi, who doesn’t tire berating Adani-Ambani, to back off.” It was to answer such jibes that Rahul said, “My opposition is to 2 or 3 or 4 large businesses being helped politically to monopolise every single business in this country. That is where my opposition is.” High on media hype, Gehlot declared will welcome all investments from “Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani to Jay Shah.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Eknath Shinde’s admirer Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s latest statements have suddenly sprung a surprise for many since MNS had stood steadfastly with both leaders till recently. The change has happened after the Dussehra rallies of the Shiv Sena’s two factions. The first surprise was MNS leader Akhil Chitre’s criticism of the rally’s management by the supporters of chief minister Eknath Shinde. In a tweet, Chitre expressed displeasure that the Mumbai University Kalina campus was used for parking the buses which had transported Shinde supporters from various districts of the state. He was particularly sore about the mounds of empty liquor bottles spotted where the visitors had camped. The second chiding came from MNS leader Amey Khopkar, who opposed BJP MLA Ram Kadam’s demand to ban the movie ‘Adipurush’ forthwith. Kadam had said that the movie demonized Hindu deities and hence would not be allowed to screen in Maharashtra. Khopkar said that it was wrong to criticize a movie without first watching out. No ban was called for, he felt, adding that this could be Kadam’s personal stand. Raj Thackeray had recently praised Modi and Amit Shah. His meetings with CM Shinde had generated speculation about his plans in regard to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election later this year.
The Andheri assembly constituency by-election scheduled to be held on November 3 will be the first electoral combat between the BJP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), though the Congress party has still kept its stand undeclared, creating some suspense. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has declared his support of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav) candidate Rutuja Latke, wife of the deceased MLA Ramesh Latke. The other factor that will impact the outcome will be the allotment of the election symbol, Bow & Arrow, claimed by both Sena factions. The Election Commission will decide which claimant gets the symbol. The Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction has decided to allow the BJP to fight the by-election though earlier, it wished to stake its ownership of the seat, since it wants to establish itself as the ‘true’ Sena. But a BJP announcement on Sunday that it will field veteran Murjibhai Patel has put all speculation to rest. Patel had contested the 2019 election as an independent candidate and gained substantial votes. Late Ramesh Latke was a popular personality since he used to help anyone who approached, irrespective of party affiliation or caste or creed. Uddhav Thackeray’s unilateral decision to allow Rutuja is considered a smart move although the Congress party is facing a dilemma since its electoral presence in Mumbai is going to be reduced further.
In his first media interaction in Delhi, Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that there was no G-23 camp now in the Congress. The Congress presidential candidate who is tipped to win the party polls said all those leaders wanted to fight unitedly against the RSS-BJP and therefore had supported him. Several dissident leaders such as Bhupinder Hooda, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari and Prithviraj Chavan of the group of 23, who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking scale organisational reforms, have put their weight behind Kharge by becoming his proposers instead of backing Tharoor who was a prominent member of G-23. Party leaders agreed if Kharge got elected it immediately raised the prospect of AICC headquarters functioning full throttle. That is because in his own words he has the habit of “working full-time”. “If I sat in Parliament then I would get up only in the evening at the time of shutdown.” With the Gandhis at the helm, most party functionaries preferred to operate out of their own homes as the Gandhis rarely visited the party office. “Unlike Indiraji and Rajivji who always met party workers before beginning their official work, Soniaji and Rahul never had time for Congress workers, ” pointed out a Himachal leader. Aided by three spokespersons, Kharge will start touring states beginning with Karnataka followed by Chennai on October 7.
The only refreshing break in the ongoing slugfest between BJD and BJP in Odisha is the Ollywood casting couch allegation going viral with newspaper headlines screaming that an eminent high profile Ollywood film maker Akshay Parija has joined the unenviable list of men who have been accused of sexual harassment, assault and misconduct. Me-too campaign has hit Odisha. Akshay, is an NRI film producer who makes both commercial and parallel cinema. He is in talks with Zee Sarthak for a tie-up. This national award winner has won acclaim for his documentaries on environment issues such as Kadvi Hawa, Agastya, Paiko Bidroho, Kehi Nuhen Kahara and others. According to a FIR filed by a lady in Bhubaneswar Parija established physical relation with her, against her will at her house by luring her with an offer of a role in a film and threatened her if she dared to marry anybody else. It seems to be endemic in the film industry globally. In the case of the Odisha film industry it seems to be rocked by controversies. Popular actor Babushaan’s wife Trupti Satpathy stopped his co-star Prakruti Mishra from boarding an auto-rickshaw for having an affair with her husband. Earlier, actor Anubhav Mohanty and his actress wife Varsha Priyadarshini hit headlines over their marital discord.
Vedanta-Foxconn’s proposed $22-billion joint venture project in India for an integrated display and semiconductor fabrication ecosystem has kicked off a controversy over a sudden change in the project location from Maharashtra to Gujarat. Significantly, the location change came just three months before the Gujarat assembly election. Both Foxconn and Vedanta’s Anil Agarwal have long experience in dealing with political powers in host countries. During Donald Trump’s presidency in the US, Foxconn planned a $10-bn unit in Wisconsin. The project was announced by Trump himself at the White House in 2017, boasting of it as an example of his ‘America First’ agenda to revive technology manufacturing in the US. However, within months of Trump’s defeat Foxconn drastically pruned the project! The planned investment was reduced to merely $672 million, slashing the number of new jobs from originally promised 13,000 to 1,454. However, it is difficult to understand why Foxconn, the 22nd ranked Fortune Global 500 company needs the shoulder of Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta to enter India when the government allows up to 100% foreign holding in this hi-tech sector. Could there be a political reason on Foxconn’s part to tie-up with Vedanta to ensure best incentive deals from a BJP-governed state? Or, is there an understanding on Vedanta’s part to exit in favour of Foxconn after the project gets started? Time alone can tell the future of the project.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm, it seems even his own party cannot get away with any violation of norms. Well that’s what seems to have happened after he threw open the revamped Central Vista on September 8 to the public. While the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) that manages the area has been battling with an avalanche of litter thrown by the visiting public, what caught the attention of the civic authorities was a surge of BJP flags in the area put up without permission around the India Gate. The NDMC is controlled by the BJP, and the enforcement department raised the issue with the authorities after which the flags were removed four days after the event. According to officials, the flags were installed during the mega event BJP organised on September 17 to mark PM Modi’s birthday. A NDMC functionary asserted that it was routine business “to remove flags, banners and posters installed without seeking permission from us. Be it BJP or any party, we remove all such illegal installations in our areas routinely”. According to the rules laid down by the civic body, no flag or hoarding by a political or private organisation can be put without prior permission in the area it governs. “Only national flags and banners or posters related to government functions are allowed in the NDMC controlled area,” says a senior civic official.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has declared in unequivocal terms that the BJP’s central leadership has no tacit electoral understanding with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar regarding Baramati parliamentary constituency. “Don’t be misled by any talk,” she told her party workers. Sitharaman was interacting with BJP workers of Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, a fiefdom of the Pawar family for decades. She has been entrusted with the responsibility of the seat for 2024. She was trying to dispel the widespread impression that Pawar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s camaraderie had prevented any serious BJP attempt to wrest the constituency from the powerful political family. This sentiment was articulated by Daund MLA Rahul Kul, who told Sitharaman bluntly that such signals affected the enthusiasm among the party workers. The finance minister replied that her mission was to strengthen the BJP and hence she was not concerned for any particular family. Sitharaman advised the BJP workers to comb all six assembly segments of the constituency to spread the Union government’s message about the various welfare schemes. She blamed Pawar for ignoring genuine problems of grape growers when he was India’s agriculture minister. “Our colleague Nitin Gadkari led a farmers’ delegation to me and the grievance was resolved,” she recalled. Pawar’s daughter Supriya won the last LS election by a slim margin and the victory was attributed to Modi’s decision to skip the constituency from his campaign tour.
Election strategist Prashant Kishor has accepted an assignment to revive the decades-old movement to demand a separate Vidarbha state. He will be visiting Nagpur at the end of the month to begin his homework. His teams have already started collating data useful for framing a forceful argument in support of the demand. Former Congress MLA Ashish Deshmukh has invited Prashant to give direction to the movement that began even before India gained independence. Over the years, the popularity of the protagonists went on waning, finally the movement going into oblivion. With the entry of Prashant, the movement organisers hope to infuse a new life into it. Vidarbha in general and Nagpur in particular are a point of political prestige since the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is based in the second capital of Maharashtra. With the exception of the 1989 Lok Sabha election, the BJP was never able to win the Nagpur seat till Nitin Gadkari trounced his Congress opponent in 2014 with a huge margin and repeated his victory in 2019. The BJP was the first major political party to resolve the creation of a separate Vidarbha state. However, it kept the issue in cold storage as its then electoral partner, the Shiv Sena, was opposed to the demand, pressing for a united Maharashtra.
If the Congress has three MLAs left in its fold in Goa, it is not because of any commitment towards the party. Apparently, pressure from priests of the local church had prevented Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemo, Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa and Aldona MLA Carlose Alvares Ferreira from making the switch to the ruling BJP. Sources say that eight party legislators had crossed over to the ruling BJP largely due to the pressure from their constituencies. With the BJP returning to power for a third term in a row, a number of them felt compelled to meet demands of their voters. In July, when party managers like AICC in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao got first whiff of plans of Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo to engineer a split in the CLP, Lobo was removed as CLP leader/Leader of the Opposition. Subsequently, Rao got busy with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka. Goa PCC chief Amit Patkar was found to be a rookie. The Congress termed defection of eight out of its 11 MLAs in Goa as the “height of betrayal and shamelessness.” Prior to the February elections Congress candidates had taken an oath not to defect. So “how can someone defy God?” asks Alemao. BJP Goa chief Sadanand Tanavade summed up extra support as “unconditional”. It also means securing both North and South Lok Sabha seats for 2024.
The ruling alliance in Maharashtra between the BJP and the Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde faction, will face its first acid test over the Andheri assembly constituency by-election, due to be held after the monsoon. The by-poll is caused due to the death of Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke, who was elected twice from this western suburb constituency. He died a few months ago. His wife Rujuta is desirous of contesting. She had called on Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray last week and is reported to have received a positive signal. While chief minister Eknath Shinde is yet to make any statement about the by-election, the BJP is likely to consider the candidature of its erstwhile corporator Murjibhai Patel, who had been trounced by Latke in 2019. At that time, the constituency was allotted to the unified Sena under the BJP-Sena seat sharing pact. Still, Patel had entered the fray as an independent. He was said to have BJP’s tacit blessings. As the petitions of the two Sena factions are embroiled in legal cases, the BJP wishes to claim this prestigious seat. On the other hand, Shinde wants to record his faction’s first grand electoral victory by snatching away the seat from Uddhav. Taking any decision either way is going to prove an acid test for the ruling alliance.
While Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo’ yatra is just taking off, the BJP has appointed campaign chiefs and co-chiefs in 15 states, with leaders from Maharashtra being entrusted with major responsibilities. According to an official announcement from the BJP headquarters, former Union minister Prakash Javadekar will be in-charge for Kerala. The state that has been on the BJP radar for many years. An accomplished organization veteran, Javadekar will face a formidable challenge, it is felt. BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde will begin mobilizing support in Bihar, the state that was under a coalition of the JD(U) and BJP till recently. Known for his strategy skills, Tawde will be assisted by party MP Harish Dwivedi. Former minister Pankaja Munde has been appointed co-chief for Madhya Pradesh, a state under prolonged BJP rule with a brief interruption. Another senior BJP leader, Vijaya Rahatkar, is made co-chief for Rajasthan. She was chairperson of the women’s commission in Maharashtra. Javadekar was regarded highly by the media as an ace spokesman when the BJP was out of power. A find of Pramod Mahajan, he has handled various portfolios at the Centre. Javadekar was dropped in the latest cabinet reshuffle. He has maintained a stoic silence since. Pankaja had been expressing her dissatisfaction time and again. The new responsibility is expected to keep her busy and away from Maharashtra.
Frosty ties between the Telangana Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao came to the fore with the Governor bitterly recalling how she was not allowed to hoist flag on the 75th Independence Day and earlier at the Republic Day. “The state will write history about how a woman Governor was discriminated against… Even now wherever I go protocol isn’t followed,” she said at a public function on completing three years in office. KCR’s daughter and TRS MLC K Kavitha charged the governor of turning her office into a “political stage” to “defame” the Telangana government adding that “BJP-driven smear campaigns” would not cut any ice with the people. Initially, KCR had kept the Governor in good humour and maintained a good relationship with the Centre. This equation turned adversarial after BJP’s steady gains in Telangana post 2019. Kavitha lost her Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat to the BJP. A year later in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls, the BJP emerged as the second-largest player on a turf where it was considered a negligible force. Out of 150-seats, BJP won 48, TRS 55 and AIMIM 44. With just 17 Lok Sabha seats, KCR knows Telangana may not count for much. That’s perhaps why he decided to team up with Nitish Kumar to raise opposition bulwark against the BJP.
Independent MP Navneet Rana now finds herself at the receiving end as the families of police personnel in Amaravati, Maharashtra, have demanded action against her in connection with Rana’s behaviour in a local police station over an alleged Love Jihad case. The anger against Rana turned into a barrage as the girl concerned in the so-called Love Jihad matter told the police that she was not abducted, but had gone away herself. The girl has charged that Rana has defamed her by making various statements about her absence from Amaravati. Spouses of the police personnel in Amaravati have said action must be initiated against Rana since she stormed into the police station, accompanied by a BJP functionary, argued with the police officials and generally created ruckus for over 20 minutes. “This behaviour of Rana amounts to creating obstructions in performing lawful duty by a public servant,” a policeman’s wife said. The tables turned against Rana as soon as the girl was traced and explained to the police that she had gone away on her own accord and that none had forced her. Rana has been in the news ever since she challenged then Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, daring to arrest her over reciting Hanuman Chalisa outside his residence, Matoshri. Her arrest had created a wave of protest against him.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi created a flutter on Day Two of his Bharat Jodo Yatra when he suggested that he could possibly return as Congress party president. At the same time, he added, “I have decided what I have to do. There is no confusion”. Suggesting that everyone must wait till September 30 when nominations open for president’s post, Rahul said the matter of him becoming party president will be clearer when elections happen. What added to the buzz was the news of the party general secretary Mukul Wasnik being relieved of his Madhya Pradesh responsibilities. His was one of the names doing rounds for the party’s president post. Meanwhile, Rahul was responding to questions from local media in Pulliyakuruchi in Tamil Nadu that wanted to know why he was not accepting party responsibility but instead had embarked on a yatra to unite India. Fobbing off more prying questions, the Congress leader offered to even learn Tamil. He made it clear that he was only participating in the padyatra. “I am not leading this padyatra. You like to focus on me, that is a different issue.” Meanwhile, the BJP and Congress slugged it out in the social media over the high priced Burberry T-shirt that Rahul wore during the yatra launch. The Congress was also trolled for 60 luxury containers that were being used as transport vehicles for Bharat Jodo.
All is not well with the West Bengal BJP unit ever since Trinamool Congress came to power with a thumping majority for the third term. The divide in the state saffron unit was clear since Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumder became the state president replacing Dilip Ghosh. Ghosh, a diehard RSS man, was the state president between 2015 and 2020 and under him BJP won 18 Lok Sabha seats. Recently, Ghosh criticized the CBI stating that it has “done some setting in Bengal”, putting the BJP leadership in a spot. His criticism can be attributed to the RSS’s cold war with the BJP. This is reflected as a direct attack on PM Narendra Modi. Moreover, it is not the first time Ghosh has defied the gag order from the central leadership. Earlier in June, in an email communique, the former Bengal president was asked to refrain from making comments against his party colleagues. Even the party president JP Nadda spoke to him on this issue. However, repeated defiance by Ghosh makes a section in the BJP believe that he enjoys sanction from “powerful authorities”. It is learnt that RSS has a game plan to add around 700 more shakhas to its existing network of 1,900 shakhas in West Bengal by 2024. This syncs well with Ghosh’s defiance.
Mumbai Bomb Blasts case accused Yakub Memon has generated a furore in Maharashtra politics seven years after he was hanged as the ruling and opposition parties have indulged in a blame game over the beautification of the 1993 blasts convict’s grave in south Mumbai. Police and civic authorities removed the marble slabs and decorative lighting as soon as the news was flashed, but not before the political storm had started sweeping the state. The revelation that terrorist Yakub’s grave in Bada Kabrastan at Marine Lines in Mumbai was beautified with white marble and decorated with LED lights dismayed the state. Within minutes, the ruling BJP came down heavily against the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray. BJP leaders lamented that the Uddhav government could go to this extent in its appeasement bid. Even as the onslaught continued, Congress and NCP leaders accused the BJP of diverting the public attention from the burning issues of the day. Opposition leader Ajit Pawar said, “Numerous farmers are facing hardships throughout the state, but the BJP is engaged in a political blame game, ignoring their plight completely.” Expectedly, a thorough enquiry has been ordered to find out how the beautification was permitted and took place. Yakub’s brother, Tiger Memon, is among the main accused led by Dawood Ibrahim, absconding since 1993.
The Indianisation of Rahul Gandhi begins on Wednesday (Sep 7). The real test for him as he takes up a padayatra in the fashion of many in India, from Mahatma Gandhi downwards, is whether he can sustain a 150-day walk covering 3,570 kms. The padayatra is his biggest attempt to revive a sinking party as he hits the ground that he has rarely done as a politician more prone to taking foreign breaks periodically. He is to begin this campaign with a visit to his father’s memorial in Sriperumbudur on September 7 morning and then to the starting point of the padayatra where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will give him a national flag to carry on his march. The walk is loaded with symbolism and if Rahul is serious enough in walking from one end of India to the other, he stands some chance of washing off the image of a person born with a silver spoon in a political dynasty. While he is still inclined not to worry about who becomes the Congress President, he will assume the mantle of campaign leader for the 2024 elections. If he can simply double the Congress 2019 tally of 52, he would be giving his party and the combined opposition half a chance to down the BJP. But first, he would have to be seen walking like an Indian on home soil.
Focus in Maharashtra politics is back on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray, who is wooed by one top BJP leader after another. However, the issue of any alliance with Raj is still kept open by the BJP, apparently as a precaution. Maharashtra BJP’s newly-appointed president Chandrashekhar Bawankule called on Raj at the latter’s Shivaji Park residence on August 30. Bawankule said it was a goodwill visit. “I regard Raj as an elder brother and am impressed by his solid support of Hindutva,” he added. Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had received Raj at his official residence ‘Sagar’ on August 29 morning. In the evening, BJP’s all-India general secretary Vinod Tawde was closeted with Raj. Both are old friends. As Tawde is now burdened with various responsibilities, the visit has assumed importance. Union home minister Amit Shah is slated to visit Mumbai next week. He will bow before Lalbaug cha Raja, as has been his practice for many years. The visits were interrupted for two years due to the Covid outbreak. Shah will also perform Ganesh pooja at the residence of Fadnavis and meet chief minister Eknath Shinde. BJP president JP Nadda will be visiting Mumbai in September. Bawankule said any decision about taking Raj along for fighting various civic elections in the state will be taken in Delhi by the party leadership. ‘Mine is just a friendly visit,’ he quipped.
Union highways and transport minister Nitin Gadkari has declared his resolve to contest the next Lok Sabha election, setting to rest all speculation about his probable retirement from active politics. Addressing a convocation ceremony at the All India Local Self Government Institute at Andheri in Mumbai, Gadkari said he has always believed that people respect good work and performance. “I have decided to ask for votes in the next election on the basis of what I have done for the nation. I will not offer even a cup of tea to anyone for supporting me. Let people see my work and decide,” he declared amidst huge applause. Without referring to the praise that had been showered upon him by Institute director-general Jairaj Phatak and other speakers, Gadkari said he had been working every waking moment to create new infrastructure of international standards in India. He outlined his vision for the future, expressing confidence that adopting proper technology and methods would catapult India to the top. Gadkari was in the news after the recent restructuring of the BJP supreme body, the Central Election Committee since he had been replaced by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. Soon, there was talk of his saying goodbye to active politics. A couple of days ago, Gadkari had threatened to take legal action against all those elements spreading such canards.
Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has kicked up a fresh political storm by declaring that “The right hand of Uddhav Thackeray is already in custody, very soon the left hand will join him there.” Somaiya has been relentless against the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray over the past two years by making one serious allegation after another. Although Somaiya has not mentioned any name, it is believed that he has trained his guns against former minister Anil Parab, whose sea-side resort at Dapoli in the Konkan is now on Somaiya’s radar for some illegal construction in the property. Parab has denied any connection with it. By right hand, Somaiya is believed to be referring to Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who is in ED custody. BJP activist Mohit Kamboj has been similarly tweeting over the past few days to warn that ‘some big fish’ from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) would soon be caught in the net. Kamboj says the list has 10 names but hasn’t disclosed any of them. Incidentally, only the Congress party is not targeted by any BJP functionaries. Somaiya poured out his chagrin against Uddhav by describing how his wife Medha, son Neel and he himself were hounded by the previous government. A retired naval officer was beaten up while a family was publicly shaved for talking against the then government, he recalled.
The political focus in Maharashtra once again turned against Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray when he was challenged by the BJP and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray in the course of the day. BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar referred to Thackeray’s past announcement of resigning his legislative council membership and asked, “Where is that resignation?” Uddhav had made the announcement the night he quit the chief ministership following the rebellion in the Sena led by Eknath Shinde. In that connection, Bhatkhalkar ridiculed Uddhav and taunted, “You are telling your followers to come to the streets to fight for people’s problems. But what about you? Why can’t you come to the legislature and highlight them? Bhatkhalkar alleged that many crucial decisions under Uddhav’ government were taken at the behest of Aaditya Thackeray. He said these arbitrary decisions had cost Mumbai billions of rupees. Bhatkhalkar demanded a thorough enquiry of all such matters. Raj Thackeray, while addressing his party workers, challenged cousin Uddhav on many counts. He said, ”PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah had announced from public platforms in 2019 that Maharashtra’s next chief minister would be Devendra Fadnavis. Some of the announcements were made when you were on the same dais. Why did you remain silent then?” Raj announced his plans to tour Maharashtra after the 10-day Ganesh festival is over.
Maharashtra BJP has fired the first salvo in the upcoming battle for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) by squarely blaming the Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray for the neglect and deterioration of Mumbai. The BMC has remained the Sena’s backbone and losing it would dent its main support base. “We will make Mumbai free of corruption. Be sure that a mayor belonging to us and the Sena of chief minister Eknath Shinde is going to be installed,” declared deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis amidst huge applause at a rally today organised to felicitate newly appointed Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar. All BJP bigwigs, including its city MPs and MLAs, were present to show solidarity. Fadnavis recalled that when Shelar was heading Mumbai BJP earlier, the party had registered a handsome win in BMC elections. “Even at that time, we would have been able to install our mayor. However, as responsible alliance partner, we allowed the Sena under Thackeray to occupy the mayoralty,” Fadnavis claimed. The BJP and the Sena under Shinde have made it a strategy to corner and attack the Sena under Uddhav at every possible opportunity. He is yet to venture outside Mumbai. But Sena workers feel that Uddhav himself needs to be at the forefront of the assault. He is expected to announce his plans shortly.
Within two days of PM Narendra Modi’s making a pitch for women empowerment, the BJP appointed two women — BJP Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan and former Haryana MP Sudha Yadav — to the party’s 15-member Central Election Committee. Both Vanathi, who is also a Tamil Nadu MLA and Yadav belong to the OBC. In another significant move veteran BJP leader BS Yediyuruppa, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Sudha Yadav, Union Minister Sarabananda Sonowal. OBC Morcha chief K Laxman, B L Santosh, Satyanarayan Jatiya and former chairman of Minorities Commission Iqbal Singh Lalpura have been appointed to the 11-member parliamentary board. It also includes party chief J P Nadda, PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The board significantly saw the exit of Nitin Gadkari, probably making way for Fadnavis and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan making way for former Union Minister Jatiya.
While most of the members are common to both the parliamentary board and the CEC, the party has inducted a mix of young and experienced hands. While Fadnavis , Yediyuruppa, Sudha Yadav and B L Santosh are on both the panels , veteran party functionary Om Mathur has a place only on the CEC.
The uneasy question among the top leadership of Trinamool Congress is: who would take up the mantle from the party supremo Mamata Banerjee. Significantly, after a long time, Didi was accompanied by Abhishek Banerjee who holds the position of national general secretary during her recent visit to New Delhi. He was also present with Mamata when she took stock of her party’s activities in the monsoon session and endorsed the joint opposition moves in Parliament, especially those against the BJP’s use of central agencies to raid and arrest opposition leaders. Incidentally, a section of senior leaders including Kalyan Banerjee had been vocal about Abhishek’s prominence in the party. He was criticized for both the Goa election and Tripura bypoll debacle, and also for trying to replicate the Diamond Harbour model, his Lok Sabha constituency. However, the opposing faction including Kalyan babu praised Abhishek stating that the young leader gave space and a patient hearing to all senior MPs and leaders. But, the message is loud and clear; in the run-up to the party’s Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata, posters put up across the state featured just two leaders — Didi and her nephew Abhishek. Furthermore, it’s Abhishek who’s now expanding the party in Tripura, Goa, Assam, and Meghalaya. Clearly, Abhishek is being projected as the natural successor of Mamata Banerjee, but it has been the BJP that made him a leader by constantly attacking him.
With Amit Shah exuding confidence in his recent trip to Odisha saying BJP will form the government in the state in 2024, questions are being raised if Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik is beatable by BJP in 2024? Political watchers dismiss Shah’s bravado saying “not possible during Naveen’s lifetime”. It’s difficult to defeat a leader like a performing chief minister like Naveen babu in 2024. He has never tasted defeat, as yet. Does BJP have one leader in the state who can match Patnaik’s stature? It is common knowledge that “Modi-Shah juggernaut isn’t all powerful enough to steamroll Patnaik’s huge popularity. This has been amply demonstrated by BJD in the panchayat and urban elections vis-a-vis BJP’s total washout in both instances. Here is the contradiction, while Modi-Patnaik politically are fighting each other at personal level they share a great equation. Given this scenario, Amit Shah has to tread carefully to ensure BJP leaders don’t attack Patnaik personally and at the same give cadres enough ammo that keeps them charged and hopeful that BJP will be in the saddle one day. For starters, the party has elevated Sunil Bansal to the National General Secretary position, in-charge of Odisha. He has been asked to replicate BJP’s UP victory in Odisha. Clearly, for BJP their task is cut out, to make a dent against a tall leader like Naveen babu whose popularity continues to be on the rise.
When Suman Bery, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog called upon Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik he was not really surprised when Patnaik reminded him of Odisha’s long standing demand of being accorded a special category status. But, what was unique this time was Patnaik’s tone — it was non-pleading. Naveen babu believes it is Odisha’s right to be given special category status as the state has been devastated by repeated cyclones. Ever since Biju Janata Dal split from BJP in 2009 Patnaik has been the lone crusader fighting for the special status without any success. What is new this time is Naveen’s request to the Centre for expanding railway infrastructure, extending banking facilities to rural pockets and providing telecommunication services in the remotest part of the state. Naveen knows that Odisha cannot qualify for a special category status which is presently restricted to North Eastern three hilly states by the Finance Commission. The message CM is trying to drive is asking the Centre to revisit/redefine special status criteria, so that less developed criteria suiting Odisha should be given special dispensation or the centre provides monetary equivalent of a special category status. Political observers say Patnaik has consistently supported Modi in all issues, and it is in Modi’s interest to reciprocate lest Patnaik joins chorus with the Opposition parties.
The Modi-Stalin bonhomie at the inaugural of the Chess Olympiad would not have gone unnoticed. The DMK and BJP may be daggers drawn in Tamil Nadu but the top brass of both parties are such pals in public that the signals can be confusing to the cadres. The good vibes between the leaders, despite the crosscurrents of Tamil pride versus Indian nationalism, may however lead to changes in political alignments. The DMK-Congress ties are already strained in the State. The local Congress honcho put out a statement criticising the police for selective action with regard to sticking of PM Narendra Modi’s images on images by the BJP on the hoardings and billboards promoting the chess event and the blackening of those images by DMK men. Knowing full well that Stalin is in charge of the Home Department and the police come directly under him, the Congress statement seems deliberate. The theory that the AIADMK is cosying up to Congress in Tamil Nadu in order to woo the minority voters in the next Assembly polls may be outlandish. The fact is anything is possible in politics, even in Tamil Nadu where DMK has been with the Congress much longer than in its ties with the NDA and BJP in occasional trysts for a share of capital power.
Former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s warning to the faction led by Eknath Shinde not to use Balasaheb Thackeray’s image has evoked sharp reactions from Shinde followers and the Bharatiya Janata party. “Is Balasaheb your copyright?” Uddhav has been asked. At interactions with Sena rank and file, Uddhav has been exhorting them to stay firmly with him so that the organization is rebuilt after the recent revolt. On his birthday on July 27, he told his detractors, “Don’t use Balasaheb’s image. I challenge you to get elected without using it.” The Shinde faction has taken strong exception to this provocation as its claim of being the ‘true’ Sena will be heard by the Supreme Court next week, beginning a long-drawn legal battle. The Shinde followers are countering by asking Uddhav, “Would Balasaheb have approved your decision to go with the Congress and the NCP? What moral right do you have to claim his legacy?” BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said Uddhav had perhaps forgotten that his candidates in the last election had used Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s portrait on their hoardings along with that of Balasaheb. “If that was all right, what right does Uddhav have to tell others not to use Balasaheb’s image now?” he demanded to know. Mungantiwar retorted that without Modi’s image, the Sena then would not have won any seats.
Besides the Shiv Sena, its two allies, the Congress and the NCP, are feeling apprehensive since the BJP has turned its attention towards their influential leaders in different parts of the state. After debilitating the Sena by denting its legislative and parliamentary wings, the BJP feels it should not stop just there but try to weaken the opposition as much as possible. While a dozen Sena Lok Sabha members have already joined the faction of chief minister Eknath Shinde, it is whispered that two or three more are on their way out. If this happens, the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray will be left with only three LS MPs. Against this background, detractors of Thackeray point out that Uddhav did not find time to call on senior MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who has been recovering from a minor surgery at his Goregaon residence, which is just a few kilometres away from Matoshri. In stark contrast, Shinde made it a point to meet Kirtikar. Though the MP has not revealed his plans, his moves are monitored closely by both sides. BJP leaders have now turned their attention towards affluent pockets in western Maharashtra. On their radar are the sugar barons who are the mainstay of the Congress and the NCP in this belt.
A 90-minute tete a tete between Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadavnis and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) boss Raj Thackeray at the latter’s Shivaji Park residence in Mumbai is considered significant in view of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election due later this year. Fadanvis drove to Thackeray to ‘honour’ his earlier pronouncement that he would be meeting Raj soon. MNS was considered a formidable factor against the Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray till the last civic election held five years ago. However, its performance was disappointing and hence was sidelined in Maharashtra politics. The installation of the Eknath Shinde-Fadanvis saffron alliance regime has changed most equations in the state overnight. The major among them is the BMC, which has been under Shiv Sena control since 1985. All attempts to wrest this body having the largest civic budget in the country away from the Sena have failed so far. To deal one more fatal blow to Uddhav, the BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction and MNS are in the process of reaching a pact that will take on the Sena of Uddhav. Raj’s decision to ‘postpone’ his public address a second time is viewed as confirmation of such an emerging understanding. Shinde, Fadanvis and Raj will sing the same tune from different platforms at the same time soon to sound the bugle, saffron insiders have indicated.
The BJP’s velvet gloves were off at the National Executive meet in Hyderabad. The message was “Look South for our next push”. No one was surprised by the new slogan, “Telangana first, TN next”. So is BJP working towards Opposition Mukt Bharat? Maybe! The Delhi-based journalist R Rajagopalan who has attended over 15 such political party executive meets in his long career says that the Hyderabad session left him in awe and admiration. Sensing its move, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao made his displeasure known by not receiving the PM Narendra Modi when he visited Telangana twice. “Telangana has several Eknath Shindes”, says BJP leader Bandi Sanjay in retaliation. The recent development in Maharashtra where two-thirds of Sena MLAs walked out to align with BJP and form the government could well be an eye-opener for KCR that BJP means business. In the neighboring Tamil Nadu the appointment of the Governor RN Ravi has made the MK Stalin-led DMK government very uncomfortable from Day One. It may be recalled that BJP has been trying hard to make inroads by appointing by former IPS officer K Annamalai as its party chief as its earlier experiment of wooing superstar Rajnikant failed. What perhaps could help BJP gain inroads in TN is the infighting within AIADMK. One thing is loud and clear that Telangana and TN are on BJP’s radar as it seems doable.
Presented with a fait accompli of a General Council meeting ratifying Edappadi Palaniswamy as the Interim General Secretary until elections are formally held in the AIADMK party, former CM and now former Coordinator O Panneerselvem will be exhausting all legal avenues before charting his future path. In seizing total control over the party, EPS also had OPS ejected from party membership saying he had been given enough opportunities to discuss issues and sort out differences. The only recourse available now for OPS would be to approach the courts with his claim that the entire GC meeting was illegal as he had not co-signed the notice convening the meeting. The courts did not take kindly to OPS seeking to stop the meeting and OPS didn’t attend the meeting either, preferring to go to the party HQ on Lloyds Road and camp there with his supporters. The BJP washed its hands of the AIADMK internecine tussle and will sit it out until it’s clear who is legally and officially in control of the party. OPS had no support from the top duo of BJP and is out in the political wilderness. He tried to play his cards too smartly, keeping a foot in the Sasikala camp while keeping channels open to the DMK leadership. OPS’ hold was on the treasury but he has lost that too.
The curious silence over the past fortnight of a normally strident voice has led to much speculation, especially in view of the impending Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election, which will take place after the monsoon. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has hardly spoken about the current political developments though his party’s lone MLA supported the Shinde-Fadanvis alliance during the trust vote and election of the State Assembly Speaker. While stray comments emerge from the MNS camp, Thackeray himself has refrained from speaking. Raj underwent surgery recently and is convalescing. While a few prominent visitors have called on him at his Shivaji Park residence in the past few weeks, he himself has not made any public appearance nor addressed any meeting or the media. Otherwise a regular media feature, Raj is said to be biding his time to speak out. The BMC is called the Shiv Sena’s oxygen plant, being the richest civic body in the country. Hence there is little doubt that the Sena will try its best to maintain its stranglehold on it. However, with the changing political equations in Maharashtra, the Eknath Shinde faction and the BJP will spare no efforts to snatch it away. In such a scenario, the role of MNS and Raj Thackeray will be crucial. Whispers are heard that an announcement can be expected soon about this.
Are some members of the Shiv Sena breakaway group likely to reconsider their decision to follow Eknath Shinde out of the party? Guesswork is rife owing to some prominent rebel MLAs repeatedly declaring their loyalty and respect towards Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. When BJP’s watchdog Kirit Somaiya described Uddhav as ‘mafia’ before television cameras, several Sena rebel MLAs took strong objection to the derogatory term and warned the former MP to mind his language. Buldhana MLA Sanjay Gaikwad has declared that many like him will walk out of the alliance with the BJP if Uddhav is attacked. Former ministers Gulabrao Patil and Deepak Kesarkar have declared that Uddhav will not be criticized by alliance members. Another rebel MLA, Suhas Kande, said he will lead a delegation of the rebels to the Thackeray residence, Matoshri. But Shinde’s trusted aide Kesarkar added a rider. He said, “If there is any talk for a patch up, our ally BJP, too, will be in the picture.” On the other hand, Uddhav, his son Aaditya and their spokesman Sanjay Raut have adopted a tough posture in response to the various pronouncements by the Sena rebels. The situation is further confounded as actress and Sena functionary Deepali Sayyad has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the initiative. “Uddhavji and chief minister Shinde will not defy your word,” she has said.
Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Tudu Bishweswar who hails from Mayurbhanj, Odisha is on overdrive to appease the tribal communities who constitute about 23% of Odisha population. This explains why as many as 87 Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS), a co-ed school affiliated to CBSE have been sanctioned for Mayurbhanj which is highest for any state as well as district in India. Eklavya Schools are being set up in States/Union Territories with grants under Article 27 and are being implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Every block with over 50% of Scheduled Tribe population having at least 20,000 tribal persons will now have EMRS and all backlog have to be completed by the extended target date 2025. Already, the parliamentary committee has expressed dismay over the slow pace of EMRS implementation work by the Tribal Ministry which for not being able to meet the original target of 452 Eklavya Schools by 2022 forcing the government to now extend the deadline to 2025. Tudu, BJP MP, is also under pressure to arrest the large number of tribal children who drop out of school — 55% at primary and nearly 71% at secondary level. It is clear the Modi government is on mission mode to uplift tribal communities and its action of nominating Droupadi Murmu also from Odisha as NDA’s presidential candidate indicates it means business.
On August 6 the country will have a new Vice President and there is a lot of speculation about who it will be. Though the BJP has not revealed its card, there is a strong rumour that it is most likely to be Union Minorities Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. A day ahead of his term ending in the Rajya Sabha, Naqvi quit as minister. He and JDU’s RCP Singh, who is Minister of Steel, also attended the Union Cabinet meeting where PM Narendra Modi praised both of them. Soon after the Cabinet, Naqvi visited BJP headquarters to meet with party chief JP Nadda. Initially, when Naqvi didn’t make it to the list of Rajya Sabha nominations it was felt that he would probably contest the Lok Sabha by-election from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, his native State. However, after BJP fielded Ghanshyam Lodhi in SP stalwart Azam Khan’s stronghold, it was felt that Modi was likely to field the only Muslim minister in his cabinet in the vice-presidential elections. Another name doing the rounds is that of Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot. Seventy-four year Gehlot was leader of the Rajya Sabha before he moved as Karnataka Governor. Yet, what could still work in Naqvi’s favour is that he is much younger at 64 and has been very familiar with Rajya Sabha working.
Even though the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have a good equation, that has not stopped BJP from trying to foist its flag in the state. So every time there is an election in the state, BJP puts all its might only to come a cropper. Patnaik is a revered leader who has transformed Odisha which is helping the common man. BJP’s goal was to emerge as an alternative to the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha by 2024. Now that seems to be impossible given the fact BJD swept the panchayat and urban elections a few months back thereby derailing BJPs ‘look east’ campaign. But BJP is not giving up easily. Its State President Sameer Mohanty, National Vice President Baijayant Panda and Odisha State BJP in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar have jointly prepared a 3-month strategy to make the monsoon session stormy. This plan will see BJP raise its decibel level on Mahanadi water dispute, power outages, unemployment, mineral theft, PMAY corruption, law and order, tender fixing including Naveen babu’s foreign trip. BJD seems unfazed since it is well-versed in handling opposition darts. One has to wait and watch whether BJP’s going for the jugular strategy yields dividends?
Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis sprung a surprise by announcing that Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde would be the new Maharashtra CM. However, this is not the ‘large-heartedness’ of the BJP, as Shinde believes, but a masterstroke that the BJP has played to cut to size the stature of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav and grandson Aaditya in the party and the state politics. “With Shinde at the helm of affairs in the state as well in the party with the backing of 39 MLAs, the significance of Uddhav Thackeray in the party will drop significantly,” said Jay Prakash Singh, a senior political analyst. He added that the move will help Fadnavis and the BJP garner sympathy votes during the upcoming civic elections for letting go of the CM’s chair for the sake of Hindutva. Fadnavis will be very much in the driver’s seat as deputy CM and this is the wish of the party high command. Fadnavis has declared, “BJP is the single largest party in the legislature… I will ensure the smooth functioning of the government.” However, is causing embarrassment to the Thackerays the only reason why Fadnavis passed on the CM’s chair to Shinde? “Once bitten, twice shy!” Singh asserts. “Fadnavis wants to play safe as he doesn’t want to face a situation similar to that of 2019. NCP leader Ajit Pawar went back to the party fold less than 48 hours after rebelling. What’s the guarantee that the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs won’t return to the Thackeray camp in the coming days/months?”
When BJP announced the name of 64-year old Droupadi Murmu from Odisha as NDA’s Presidential candidate penny and jaws dropped. One of India’s best management minds Prof R Vaidyanathan said: “The choice of Droupadi Murmu is a massive tectonic shift in Indian polity. Mark my words, not many developed nations could have mustered the consensus for such a role model like Droupadi to adorn the Presidential chair”. Murmu, a capable administrator comes from the adivasi Santhals of Odisha with stints as a Minister and later, a Governor. A devoted Sanathana dharmi, the first thing Murmu did was to visit the Shiva temple. Undoubtedly, the polity and power shift is in favour of the OBC’s. The RSS, focusing on the importance of the Vanavasis, set up 600,000 vidyalayas in tribal areas to bring the tribals under the umbrella of education. So the choice of Murmu is a logical step for inclusion. Two significant irritants cast their shadow on the tribals of India –.the Naxalite threat and the Christian Missionary Conversion issue, parading under the euphemism, “Soul harvesting by planting the cross”. With successive government’s tough stand, the Naxal threat spread over 185 districts has now come down to 25. Murmu is bound to face and preside over more such irritants and challenges as our nation moves up to pole position.
BJP has woken up to the harsh reality of difficulty in dividing Bengal politically. This realisation saw BJP Chief JP Nadda telling partymen not to rake up the Bengal bifurcation issue in public. Some BJP leaders were pushing for a separate state/Union territory status for North Bengal from the state’s western plateau. This change of heart comes even as TMC postures on unity in political diversity making BJP top leader thinks it is inopportune time to be treading on the statehood landmine and getting perceived as dividers of Bengal. BJP’s MLA numbers are down owing to cross-overs to the TMC. Nine local BJP MLAs have written a letter to Nadda expressing displeasure over recent organisational changes in the state. More importantly, with the Presidential election in July, 2023 panchayat elections and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s top brass won’t risk slicing Bengal politically for the time being. BJP has also realised that there is no common cause among political parties in North Bengal. “The splitting of Bengal is far from being over, BJP has pressed the pause button for now”, analysts say. So, for now the party is focussed on consolidation fearing its anti-Mamata and divide Bengal politics may boomerang.
A day after receiving flak for all out appeasement of Gulf countries and suspensions of BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, over controversial statements regarding a religious entity, India is standing its ground while dealing with the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC). The Ministry of External Affairs on June 6 cited an OIC statement asking it to stop pursuing a “communal approach and show due respect to all faiths and religions”. “The Government of India (GoI) categorically rejects the OIC Secretariat’s unwarranted and narrow-minded comments. The GoI accords the highest respect to all religions,” the MEA statement stated adding that “offensive tweets and comments denigrating a religious personality were made by certain individuals. And that they do not, in any manner, reflect views of the GoI.” The MEA had earlier referred to Sharma and Jindal as fringe elements on June 5. BJP sources say Nupur, an Arun Jaitley protégé and Naveen Jindal were too ambitious and not in sync with the official party line; while perpetually competing to impress party bosses. During TV debates Nupur flaunted her skills in shaming fellow panellists. Only this time, her one upmanship blemished efforts by the PM to improve India’s ties with Gulf nations. The ‘y’ category security accorded to Sharma, however, remains unchanged particularly in view of threats issued to her.
BJP’s firebrand and outspoken Odisha MP Aparajita Sarangi, who is also BJP’s National Spokesperson, well known for her high decibel opposition pitch against BJD CM Naveen Patnaik missed out on a berth in the BJP’s newly constituted 17-member Odisha Core Committee. BJP President JP Nadda heads the committee. Only long serving senior BJP members with relevant experience apart from others the BJP thinks will add value and insight have been inducted. Some core committee members include: Baijayant Panda, Dr Sambit Patra, Jual Oram, Pratap Sarangi, Dharmendra Pradhan, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Biseswar Tudu, Suresh Pujari, Samir Mohanty and Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo. This Odisha Core committee has been formed to prepare for the 2024 general election. The purpose of this committee is to chalk out BJP’s blueprint for the state to win as many seats from Odisha in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Committee will sit together, think together and work together taking stock of progress made on a monthly basis. Clearly, BJP has understood the need to reinvent itself since the agenda of criticizing Naveen Patnaik and his party Biju Janata Dal BJD did not cut much ice with the people or even taken them anywhere.
After an all-party meeting when Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announced a caste-based survey in the state, he appeared a bit triumphant. He could not conceal his happiness that he had driven a wedge between the state BJP and the Centre on the issue. The Centre had expressed its inability to conduct a caste census after the experience of socio-economic survey of 2011 census. He had the satisfaction that Bihar BJP leaders were fully backing the caste survey. Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal denied there was difference between the Centre and the state unit on the caste survey. “Let us get one thing clear: what the Bihar government is going to undertake is a caste survey, not a census. Census comes under the Seventh Schedule and that it falls within remit of the Centre. As for Caste survey, Bihar is not the only state to undertake such a survey. Telangana, Karnataka has already done it.” He pointed out that BJP’s support for the caste survey was incumbent on keeping out Rohingyas and Bangladeshi Muslims. Also keeping out certain Muslims from claiming OBC status. Politically, of course, it is seen that Nitish Kumar has pushed the caste survey idea because the Centre had introduced a quota for the economically weaker section. With the lines of social justice getting blurred among parties, the JDU has been desperately trying to push “contradictions” within the BJP and failing.
In a bold move, the BJP national leadership has decided not to accommodate BY Vijayendra, second son of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, to the Karnataka Legislative Council for the upcoming June 3 Legislative Council elections. The BJP can win four of the seven seats of the Legislative Council for which MLAs will elect the members. The party has picked up former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi, secretary of the BJP state unit Hemalatha Nayak, president of BJP SC Morcha Chalavadi Narayanaswamy and S Keshavaprasad. Interestingly, Vijayendra’s name was recommended by the state BJP core committee. But central leaders decided against it. With one son BY Raghvendra, already a Lok Sabha MP, Yediyurappa himself a MLA, the BJP was not keen to give ticket to one more family member. It was felt Yediyurappa’s every wish had been accommodated – including his close aide Shobha Karandlaje being made a Union Minister. Of course the reason for denying MLC ticket to Vijayendra is because he had been exploring the possibility of setting up a breakaway political group – revisiting Karnataka Janata Paksha set up by his father during 2013 assembly polls. Reports of his meetings with Congress leader Siddaramiah have also emerged. With this action, the BJP has sought to grow out of Yediyurappa narrative. The party is betting on Bommai’s governance and Modi’s leadership.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s ambitious Ekamra Shetra Project which aims to transform the old temple town of Bhubaneswar into a world class tourist and pilgrimage centre at a cost of Rs 700 crore has run into rough weather. BJP is opposing the project while Congress is supporting it. The issue centres around the beautification initiative to make Bhubaneswar a world class heritage temple city based on 12th century Lingaraj Temple. Patnaik is keen to include Bhubaneswar’s ancient structures in UNESCO World Heritage sites. But it has already run into controversy over allegations that ancient monuments were destroyed during an excavation drive by the state government. ASI says they were never consulted and watchdog INTACH has alleged that many priceless structures were destroyed as there was no deployment of ground-penetrating radar analysis before commencement of work. Based on this feedback, the Union Home Ministry has blocked Odisha’s Lingaraj Temple Legislative Ordinance terming it unlawful as it falls under Ancient Monuments & Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR), 1958. The home ministry has pointed out that Patnaik government has already violated the AMASR Act around Lingaraj temple by building modern structures. The real bone of contention seems to be the appointment of Dr Santrupt Mishra, Group Director from the Aditya Birla Group to head the project instead of getting experts from INTACH. This move, many bureaucrats in Odisha believe, was needless.
When Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann picked Mandi for their roadshow on April 6 — the party’s first event in Himachal in the run-up to assembly elections later this year, they chose it because it was Chief Minister Jairam Thakur’s home ground. However, a week later AAP has announced it is dissolving its state unit. Delhi’s Health Minister Satyendra Jain, who is in charge of the Himachal, announced the dissolution after AAP state president Anoop Kesri joined the BJP before party president J P Nadda’s road show in Shimla. Kesri joined BJP as he found local leaders were sidelined. “We were toiling for AAP for the last 8 years but it neglected state party workers. There was disregard towards the people of Himachal Pradesh. During a rally in Mandi, no space was given to any leader from the state other than Delhi and Punjab CMs.” Kesri’s entry into the BJP was facilitated by I & B minister Anurag Thakur; he took along with him several AAP leaders. Congress leaders also acknowledge that the way BJP chief Nadda is camping in Shimla it is going to be a direct contest between BJP and the Congress. And there is no scope for a third player.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s standing in the BJP is vastly enhanced, especially after he managed to win both the Rajya Sabha seats from the state for the NDA alliance, dealing a blow to attempts by Congress-led opposition parties to corner one seat. Home Minister Amit Shah was immensely happy with Sarma’s strategy to clinch the twin wins. It is significant that the Congress came a cropper despite tying up with AIUDF. Apparently five of Badruddin Ajmal MLAs cross-voted for the BJP while one Congress MLA cast an invalid vote. The Congress suspended Siddique Ahmed, its MLA from Karimganj South, from primary membership of the party for writing ‘one’ instead of ‘1’ on his ballot paper as per voting protocol. While Sarma ensured a smooth win for BJP’s Pabitra Margherita and coalition partner United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) candidate Rwngwra Narzary, the Congress camp was in tatters. In fact, because of the setback in Assam, Congress President Sonia Gandhi went into overdrive last week to ensure at least two Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu. She is also in touch with Sharad Pawar for two seats from Maharashtra. Sources said the Congress is looking to get one seat from Jharkhand notwithstanding the political upheaval there. Following this round of biennial elections, the BJP has notched up a tally of 101 seats in Rajya Sabha.
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Editor’s Note: Short Post Is Here To Stay…
Time, they say, flies—and how true that is. Here we are celebrating our 5th Anniversary. Five years ago, when Covid-19 was wreaking havoc across the globe, I took a leap of faith and launched Short Post, India’s first website for Authentic Gossip. That was on January 31, 2021. I was convinced there was a clear gap in the market for gossip that was credible, sharp, and impactful—especially if told in just 250 words.
In this, I was fortunate. Scores of senior editors across diverse verticals bought into the idea and, in the process, gave wings to my dream. Quite honestly, Short Post could not have crossed these milestones without the unflinching support of its contributing editors. Like all start-ups, we have seen our share of ups and downs, but these editors have stood by us like a rock. I take this opportunity to doff my hat to them.
Thanks to their commitment, we have published close to 5,000 stories spanning politics, business, entertainment, and sports. I say this with pride: we made our mark as people who matter read us. “Small packs, big impact” truly captures the essence of Short Post.
We all know that Covid-19 has reset businesses worldwide, and the media sector is no exception. In the post-Covid era, investors have become more cautious and selective—and advertisers too. To compound matters, the entry of AI has disrupted the media landscape in equal measure. So far, we have managed to hold our ground, hopeful that some angel investors will take a shine to us.
What gives me confidence is this: AI cannot smell news—especially the gossipy kind. In other words, AI cannot churn out Short Post-type stories, no matter the prompt. That puts us in a safe zone. As someone rightly said, “AI is a co-pilot, not a pilot.”