Fact check

While most celebrities made a beeline for the Ambani wedding, some people like Taapsee Pannu, the actress, and Aaliyah Kashyap, the daughter of the director, Anurag Kashyap, gave it a miss. The latter even called it a PR stunt. The Instagram influencer, Kavya Karnatac, who had previously promoted Anant Ambani’s controversial project, Vantara, claimed that she was offered Rs 3.6 lakhs to promote the Rs 5,000-crore wedding as an economic boon. Karnatac, who charges three lakh rupees per promotion, said in a LinkedIn post that she “didn’t want to be part of an overwhelming crowd” of influencers and that, “at a time when Jio has increased internet charges, promoting a corporate giant like Ambani felt insincere.” She added in her viral post that not only do the values of traditional arranged marriages not align with her views, but also that “claiming that a wedding could positively impact the Indian economy might not be factually accurate.’’

Spot the difference

There is a noticeable verve in the poll consultant-turned-politician, Prashant Kishor. His Jan Suraaj campaign is going to be converted into a political party in October. The campaign is strengthening itself at the grassroots and whispers have it that Kishor is trying to project himself as Mahatma Gandhi by indicating that he may not contest the 2025 Bihar assembly elections as he has no ambition of becoming a chief minister. Rather, he would focus on selecting good candidates and ensuring their victory in the polls.

Prashant Kishor.

“He has several good qualities, but there are a few bad ones that are obstacles in his efforts to follow in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi. He reacts instantly... and discards diplomacy on several occasions, and likes to attack leaders of other parties... As far as we know, Gandhi did not behave like this during the Freedom Movement,” a Jan Suraaj member revealed. So, while Kishor plans to launch the Jan Suraaj party on October 2 this year, the date when he could be seriously compared to Gandhi might not dawn for a while.

The cracks are showing

It has been just over a month since the new government was formed at the Centre and fault lines have already begun emerging between the Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Apart from heading the National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar, Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), with its 12 Lok Sabha members, is a vital ally of the BJP at the Centre.

The JD(U)’s demand for special category status for Bihar and its contention that the reservation hike law (currently set aside by the Patna High Court) be placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to shield it against judicial review are two of the major fault lines that have been driving a wedge in the NDA. The party plans to go solo in the upcoming Jharkhand assembly polls and its growing closeness to the former BJP leader, Saryu Roy, suggests that there could be a tie-up in the offing with the latter’s Bharatiya Jantantra Morcha. These could be newer flashpoints in the relationship between the NDA and JD(U). Further, Kumar wants to strengthen the JD(U) in Jharkhand to at least bring it back to the position that it occupied before 2014 when it used to be a part of the ruling combine.

Then there is also the recent flurry of raids by the Enforcement Directorate and the worry that they could be used as traps to control allies politically. Nobody knows whether the cracks that are showing will develop into a chasm, or when and how this would happen. But no one can write off such a chance either.

Surprise move

Many eyebrows were raised when the Congress member of the legislative assembly, UT Khader, was elected as the Speaker of the Karnataka assembly. But time has proved his mettle. Having grown into his assignment, Khader flexed his muscles by admonishing ministers — all his party colleagues — for remaining absent from the assembly. He told them that their behaviour was bringing a bad name to the government. Even the BJP’s Opposition legislators, who staged a walkout protesting the ministers’ absence, were surprised by Khader’s action.