The famed Chowmahalla Palace built during the 18th century Nizam era has always been an exquisite setting for Sufi ghazal concerts. Lately, it has drawn most Congress leaders, thanks to Anita Singhvi.
Anita, the wife of Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, is a ghazal singer and has reportedly been visiting Hyderabad more often since her husband’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha from Telangana. In fact, some Congress leaders said there is almost a farman or decree requiring party members of all ranks to attend the concerts.
Everyone, from the Governor (the chief guest) to Telangana cabinet ministers, MLAs, MPs and corporation chairmen attended one such concert in early January. In fact, those present at the concert said it was organised for Singhvi to interact and socialise with Hyderabad’s elite, who are usually invited.
And while Singhvi’s renomination to the Rajya Sabha from Telangana on 5 March came as no surprise, it could perhaps mean more concerts for the Hyderabadis!
Akhilesh’s dual strategy
The buzz in Uttar Pradesh is that the Samajwadi Party (SP) has roped in political consultancy firm I-PAC, currently handling Mamata Banerjee’s campaign in West Bengal, to manage its strategy for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. However, according to top sources, I-PAC is not the only firm assigned the task.
ShowTime Consulting (STC), a Hyderabad-based political consultancy, has also been brought on board for the mission. The company has already begun recruitment for its Lucknow office. One of the firm’s co-founders is considered close to the Yadav family and was also part of the core group during SP’s 2022 election campaign.
Two factors are said to have worked in the I-PAC’s favour in securing the deal from Akhilesh. One is its association with Mamata, with whom Akhilesh shares a good rapport. Another factor is that one of I-PAC’s co-founders had worked on the Congress-SP campaign for the 2017 UP assembly elections alongside Prashant Kishor. The co-founder had worked closely with one of Akhilesh’s trusted aides, which is believed to have facilitated the arrangement.
According to a senior SP functionary, having learnt from past experience, Akhilesh is not willing to hand over the entire campaign to a single firm, leading to distribution of responsibilities. Under the current arrangement, I-PAC will focus on strategy, while STC will handle media monitoring and field operations, including surveys. Sources said the first round of surveys has already begun for over 100 seats where the SP has not won in the past 15 years.
Party functionaries are hopeful that the involvement of two professional firms may help change its fortunes.
MLA Rajeshwar Singh’s power show
Former Enforcement Directorate (ED) Joint Director and BJP MLA from Lucknow district’s Sarojini Nagar seat, Rajeshwar Singh, has been in the spotlight for bringing celebrities to his constituency. A few days ago, he invited actor Sanjay Dutt as chief guest for an environmental protection event. And before that, he organised a ‘Yuva Utsav’ where singer-rapper Honey Singh performed.
The celebrities not only interacted with the public but also praised Singh’s outreach and connections across different sections of society. Locals in the constituency were given free access to meet them.
According to sources, Singh plans to bring several more stars to the constituency ahead of the elections. Known for his strong networking skills, he has turned Sarojini Nagar into a high-profile seat, investing significant resources in constituency activities.
He has also hired a team of professionals to manage day-to-day work in the area. Meanwhile, some other BJP MLAs in Lucknow are said to be murmuring privately that they cannot match his “muscle power”.
‘I know. I see. Let me check’
Conversations between Congress’ Andhra Pradesh and Telangana district presidents, and general secretary K.C. Venugopal tend to end in one of three short sentences: “I know”, “I see”, and “let me check”.
District Congress committee leaders who sought an audience with Venugopal on the sidelines of an AICC-organised training programme in Vikarabad, Telangana, were frustrated after receiving this standard response from him on all the issues raised.
Whether it was a request for additional funds for party programmes or an invitation to address party workers in different districts of AP and Telangana, the response was the same, the leaders said.
While the district Congressmen attempted to speak in not just Telugu but also Hindi and English to convey their grievances or suggestions, many of them wondered if the AICC leader understood what was being said.
In fact, some leaders left half way through the 10-day training programme after being told that they would not get an audience with former party president Rahul Gandhi and current president Mallikarjun Kharge who had attended the valedictory session in Vikarabad on 2 March.
Interaction with a senior party functionary was seen as important since the AP Congress has just named 41 partymen to district committee posts this January.
Mumbai mayor’s wrist watch
Last month, on social media, a user tried to question the watch on Mumbai mayor Ritu Tawde’s wrist, claiming it was an expensive luxury watch. The post went viral and soon became the buzz on social media.
Tawde has been sporting the watch since the time she started making public appearances after becoming mayor.
However, she was quick to address the charge. Speaking to the media, she said the watch was a gift from her children and far from expensive.
“I’m not interested in any brand, whether it’s a watch, a saree, or any decorative item. I only know one thing: I want to serve the Mumbaikars. This is a very simple watch. My children gifted it to me on my birthday. I didn’t even know what company it was from,” the mayor clarified.
She said that upon enquiring with her daughter, it turned out to be a Michael Kors watch priced at Rs 15,000-16,000 and not a Rolex, as claimed by the user on social media.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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