Recently, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son and State Sports Minister Udhayanidhi made a statement that he belongs to a minority community as his wife hails from that community. It took many in the State by surprise but a little bird says it is a calculated political statement.
The DMK dominates the UPA alliance in the State and some parties such as the Congress, MDMK and VCK find themselves sidelined. In case these allies do not get a fair share of seats for the 2024 Lok Sabha seats, they might break off to form a separate alliance and may rope in the Naam Tamizhar party.
In such circumstances, the DMK could align with the PMK. The Congress-led alliance will likely be backed by the minority community that Udayanidhi says he belongs to. In case the 2024 Lok Sabha elections see a multi-pronged contest, the DMK would want at least a section of the minority community to back it.
CCI showing its fangs
The spate of high decibel orders passed by Competition Commission of India (CCI) against big tech (Google, MakeMyTrip etc) and domestic corporate behemoths (tyre cartel, cement cartel, beer cartel) has made the international regulatory and business community sit up and take notice!
A corporate observer pointed out that it takes lot of courage to call out anti-competitive practices in the current free market economy milieu. This observer even cheekily remarked, gone are the days when CCI was jokingly described as Cricket Club of India!
Now will the Indian polity let this over decade-old regulatory body take wings or blunt its powers in the days to come?
Changing faces
Cochin Carnival organisers have landed into a controversy following a protest by the local BJP workers in Fort Cochin taking objection to the face of Pappanji, the Santa-like long bearded structure, alleged to bore resemblance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pappanji is an integral part in Cochin Carnival since 1985, attracting largest annual tourist draw. Consigning Pappanji to flames on the midnight of December 31, it is believed to rid the evils of the year gone and enter a new year of goodness.
Terming the protest unnecessary, the organisers, however, agreed to change the face of the 65-ft Pappanji designed by noted artistes erected at Fort Cochin beach.
BJP’s go-to-man in Kerala
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, is emerging the BJP’s go-to-man for Kerala that has thwarted its best-laid plans for making decisive political inroads, despite boasting a robust RSS network. A Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, he is reportedly not averse to shifting base across the Western Ghats to what he calls is his home State.
Chandrasekhar made his first overture by visiting and dining with the Bishop of Thamarassery, a vocal spokesman for farmers threatened by a proposed one-km buffer zone around ecologically sensitive zones in the State as directed by the Supreme Court. The confabulations have made various political parties sit up and take notice, not least the ruling CPM-led front that had a tough time tackling the months-long protests against the Adani-led Vizhinjam port project.
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