Popular leader

The newly-appointed chief minister of Telangana, A Revanth Reddy, is trying every trick possible to get closer to the people — a style of functioning that is distinctly different from that of his predecessor, K Chandrashekar Rao. After the state police upgraded his security to the Z Plus category, the CM directed the VVIP security wing to not provide a green channel for his motorcade. While most CMs these days move around in green channels with zero vehicular traffic, Reddy has asked the police to find alternative arrangements so that regular vehicular traffic is not affected. KCR had lived in a complete security bubble throughout his tenure. Reddy, it seems, intends to burst that bubble with a pinprick through his people-friendly approaches.

Offer declined

Shivarajkumar, the Kannada film star and son of the late thespian, Rajkumar, would have been a great addition to the Congress’s list of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The deputy CM and state party chief, DK Shivakumar, was also eager to get Shivarajkumar to contest. The actor, who belongs to the powerful Ediga (other backward classes) community, would have added great value as a star campaigner as well. However, Shivarajkumar has declined the offer and said that he would rather prefer his wife — a Congress leader — to be the candidate. Shivarajkumar is married to Geetha, who is the daughter of the late CM, S Bangarappa. The actor and his wife had campaigned for the latter’s brother, Madhu Bangarappa, in Soraba for the assembly elections in May. Madhu is now a state minister.

On Clout nine

The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo may have got Shivraj Singh Chouhan to give up the CM’s chair in Madhya Pradesh but the latter continues to assert his clout. Recently, he posted an aerial shot of him encircled by a crowd of people on X (formerly Twitter). Chouhan captioned the photograph, “ Mera parivar (my family)”, in a reference to the prime minister’s use of the phrase, “ mere parivarjano (my family members)”, to address the audience in his recent speeches.

A post-poll survey has revealed that Chouhan remains the popular choice for the CM’s role. Even though Chouhan has helmed the state for more than 15 years, he was replaced under the pretext of promoting younger leaders. The choice of the lightweight Mohan Yadav as CM is meant to allow Modi-Shah to dominate the state’s affairs like they do in Gujarat. Sources said that the duo now wants the former CM to move to Delhi. But Chouhan seems to be in no mood to accept the offer.

Tables turned

The Union petroleum minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, recently aimed a dig at Jawaharlal Nehru University. The Opposition parliamentarian, John Brittas, who has a PhD from JNU, stated that India’s dependence on petroleum imports has gone up to 88% and enquired about the Centre’s plans to reduce imports. In reply, Puri derided Brittas for, perhaps, seeking a PhD on the issue, maybe from JNU. To this, Brittas retorted that he was proud to have obtained his PhD from JNU. But in the face of criticism, Puri had to backtrack and say that he was an admirer of JNU.

Tit for tat

The Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, who has been instrumental in forming the INDIA bloc, recently tried to challenge the prime minister, Narendra Modi, by deciding to hold a public rally in the latter’s Lok Sabha turf, Varanasi. The rally was scheduled for Christmas Eve and a college ground was fixed as the venue. However, the college administration reportedly refused to give permission for the rally. This made Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) allege that the saffron party had a hand in the cancellation.

The Bharatiya Janata Party retaliated by stating that it was the JD(U) that had cancelled the rally out of fear of not getting a big enough audience. Some of its leaders asserted that it was done due to Nitish’s poor health. This did not sit well with the JD(U). It has since pledged to send its leaders to every village in Uttar Pradesh to canvass against the BJP.

Bottled message

Bihar’s prohibition policy keeps hogging the limelight, often for the wrong reasons. This time it became a bone of contention among the National Democratic Alliance partners. Jitan Ram Manjhi, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) founder and former CM, while recounting the failures of the liquor ban, promised that the alliance would withdraw it if voted to power in the 2025 assembly elections.

No political party wants to be seen as a supporter of liquor. The BJP quickly stepped in to counter Manjhi and said that his comments were his individual opinion and should not be construed as the stand of the NDA. Other alliance members also refused to take sides, making Manjhi sulk in a corner. The saying that liquor induces fights is true after all.