Fickle mind
Politicians are more fickle than the weather. One fine day recently, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Tejashwi Yadav, who did not attend the monsoon session of the Bihar legislative assembly, changed his bio on the social media platform, X. He is currently the leader of the Opposition in the assembly but chose to substitute this designation with “Ex. Deputy Chief Minister, Bihar” much to the surprise of his party members and allies. While they were left wondering about the possible reasons behind this change, the Bharatiya Janata Party grabbed this opportunity to attack him. BJP leaders went to town calling the action of the younger son of the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad, proof of the fact that he cannot stay without power and hated being in the Opposition. They pointed out that Yadav was continuously trying to escape the important responsibility of being the leader of the Opposition and that he and his family lived for power. On the other hand, several RJD leaders took it as a sign of the things to come. “You never know when the words like ex or deputy will disappear in Bihar. You see, the past, present and future are intertwined. Just wait and watch,” a senior RJD leader said. However, Yadav remained unfazed and his X bio still states that he was the deputy chief minister of Bihar.
Dressed to impress
Several Malayali and Tamil actors have already extended financial help to rehabilitate the people displaced by the landslides in Wayanad that have left hundreds dead and wiped out entire villages, including houses, schools and shrines. The Malayali star, Mohanlal, is among those who offered help and even visited the affected areas. An honorary lieutenant-colonel of the territorial army, Mohanlal appeared in full army fatigues with only his trademark beard making him the odd man out. Even his fans are asking if there was any need to turn up in camouflage when all he could do is provide financial and material help.
Confusions galore
The RJD leader, Manoj Kumar Jha, has triggered a domino effect with his question in the Rajya Sabha about steps being taken to put in place reservations for other backward classes as per the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. His question has left people from Delhi to Patna reeling. The query was baffling because it did not spell out whether it was about the two laws on increased reservations passed by Bihar and stayed by the Patna High Court. These laws hiked reservations for not only the OBCs but also the economically backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. But minister of state for social justice and empowerment, B.L. Verma, gave a reply which was equally befuddling because nobody understood which question it was in response to. Amid all this, the RJD leader, Tejashwi Yadav, called for a press conference and accused the Centre of misleading Parliament about putting the Bihar laws in the Ninth Schedule. Journalists, too, were left confused about the question and answer and were uncertain about what to write or report. Some scribes asked a senior RJD leader for clarifications, at which the latter fled after saying that journalists were the ones behind all the confusion in the world.
Changed fortunes
The absence of Kailash Gahlot, a member of the legislative assembly and a cabinet minister from Delhi, from an Aam Aadmi Party meeting held to plan for the assembly polls next year has set tongues wagging. Gahlot was one of those who had been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in the liquor scam case and has since focussed on governance rather than political work. He was also not seen on the stage to felicitate the Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, when the latter was out on bail in May. The AAP member of Parliament, Raghav Chadha, who was in the United Kingdom, ostensibly for eye surgery, during the entire Lok Sabha campaign has quickly wormed his way back into the clique that runs the party. Chadha has spoken multiple times for his party in Parliament, the videos of which are being widely shared by the AAP on social media.