Saini halts ‘future PM’ chorus even before it begins
Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini was on the dais at an event in Narnaul marking PM Narendra Modi’s birthday when a compere described him as “future Prime Minister”.
Saini, however, didn’t swallow the bait.
The compere, a local Saini community leader, Jai Parkash Saini, was mid-flow, warming up the crowd, when he deviated off script: “Aap desh ke pradhanmantri ke pad par pahunche. Nayab Saini zindabad.” (May you become Prime Minister. Long live Nayab Saini)
The chief minister’s reaction was instant. Forehead in hand, then a finger raised at the man on the mic, telling him to stop, right there.
The venue was a Saini Sabha function on Narnaul’s Rewari Road, timed for the Prime Minister’s birthday and the unveiling of a renovated statue of Maharaja Soor Sain, considered the ancestor of the Saini community. Jai Parkash Saini, former Saini Sabha president, had the mic that day.
Two of the chief minister’s security personnel didn’t wait to hear the sentence. They were at the dais within seconds. Jai Parkash Saini was pulled aside for a word from the chief minister. The mic changed hands. And the statue, the actual reason everyone had gathered, stayed under wraps, with no explanation offered for the cancelled unveiling.
A source told The Print that it was a renovated statue, originally unveiled way back on 14 August, 2014 by Rao Narendra Singh, then Health and Medical Education Minister in Haryana in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, and currently president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. The jury is still out on whether this fact prompted CM Saini to skip the unveiling of the statue.
However, the event held a lesson for stage compères: crowd-warming has a ceiling, and in Haryana, it sits a few floors below the Prime Minister’s chair.
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Legalise paying (respect to) govt officials
The sequence of events at a public meeting held by Shivalinge Gowda, Karnataka’s Minister for Excise, has snowballed into a controversy. As the minister in-charge of Hassan district, Gowda was on stage during the ‘Praja Seva’ event—the flagship public grievance redressal programme by CM D.K. Shivakumar.
Gowda started off well, asking those in attendance to come forward and share their problems with officials. What he said next has now triggered outrage: “After the work, please pay them (officials) respectfully. This is your Dharma.”
The minister’s remarks led to heated exchanges with some members of the public, visibly agitated at his allusion, questioning why a government official should be paid a bribe.
“(Pay) whatever you like,” Gowda responded.
When matters escalated, the four-time MLA threw a clarification into the works, saying he was referring to paying ‘respect’ to officials. But it was too late; social media was abuzz, attributing the statement as the minister’s candid submission to ‘legalise bribes’.
Outside support (conditions apply)
As Tamil Nadu heads into the October 6 bypolls in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, the Left parties have decided to attempt a delicate balancing act.
CPI and CPI(M) continue to extend outside support to CM C. Joseph Vijay’s TVK-led government. Their initial justification was clear: respect for the people’s mandate, and preventing the BJP from exercising indirect influence through the Governor.
However, the Left parties have now jumped onto the campaign trail with messaging almost exclusively targeting the TVK.
The Left is contesting both seats independently, turning the bypolls into crowded multi-cornered contests. Campaign speeches have zeroed in on the defection of AIADMK MLAs who later joined the TVK and are now contesting on the ruling party’s ticket. In Madurantakam, Left candidates and leaders have gone as far as comparing TVK’s methods to the BJP’s ‘Operation Kamal’, warning that a win could open the door to more ‘poaching’.
But, this is part of a pattern. In recent weeks, the Left parties have accused Vijay’s party of horse-trading, opposed the proposed new Secretariat-Assembly complex at Pattinapakkam, and questioned the credibility of private investments the government claims to have secured in its first 100 days. They also objected to personal remarks directed at DMK president M.K. Stalin in the Assembly, while expressing broader differences on economic policy, price rise, power cuts, farmers’ issues, and the overall functioning of the legislature.
This is being seen as part of a political strategy: prop up the government in the Assembly, while simultaneously dismantling its image on the ground.
UP Congress media dept led by ‘outsiders’
There is growing discussion within the Uttar Pradesh Congress that ‘outsiders’ have come to dominate the party’s state unit, particularly its media department. The appointment of Kunwar Singh Nishad as chairman of the UP Congress media and publicity department has added to the discussion. Nishad had joined the Congress in 2021 after leaving the BJP.
Whether by coincidence or as part of a strategy, the party’s media department has lately been headed by leaders who walked over to the Congress from other parties.
For instance, Nishad’s predecessor C.P. Rai had joined the Congress after a stint with the Samajwadi Party. He was also part of Shivpal Yadav’s Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), which later merged with the Samajwadi Party led by nephew Akhilesh.
Before Rai, the department was headed by Nasimuddin Siddiqui, who had moved to the Congress from the Bahujan Samaj Party, where he was considered close to party chief Mayawati. Siddiqui left the Congress earlier this year and joined the Samajwadi Party.
Before Siddiqui, the reins of the UP Congress’ media department were in the hands of Rajiv Bakshi. Bakshi was in no way involved in the Congress’ organisational politics, although he comes from the family of former UP Congress minister Swaroop Kumari Bakshi. He was subsequently associated with the Aam Aadmi Party, and eventually joined the BJP in 2023.
A senior UP Congress leader, speaking on a lighter note, remarked: “I cannot even remember the last time a ‘true Congressman’ was given this responsibility.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)