From the India Gate: Operation Shakthi in Kerala, Bengal Drama and more
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FollowOPERATION SHAKTHI
This special ops surgical strike on the red bastion of the Communist party in Kerala has shattered its façade. Comrade and senior journalist G Shakthidharan, who was formerly on the editorial board of Deshabhimani, the party mouthpiece, is on a mission to rip the mask off CPM leaders. He took to social media to rewind and replay an incident that happened many decades ago. His FB post narrates the story of a comrade, who is known from Martyrs’ Column (in Thiruvananthapuram) to Times Square, New York.
Shakthidharan says he had helped this comrade to count many bundles of cash he had collected from various people in the Ernakulam district in 2005.
"Currency notes worth more than Rs 2 crore were counted. This had to be taken to Thiruvananthapuram. We wanted camouflage. Two of us rushed out to buy screw pine mats. Cash was rolled into these mats and kept in the boot of a car," the post reads.
This stirred the hornet’s nest, literally. Comrades unleashed all bullies on him. Shakthi’s second post was even more damning. He narrated how a comrade who was also in the Cabinet had to escape from a luxury hotel in Ernakulam with a woman comrade. This leader had to use the fire exit after party cadres laid siege to the hotel.
Further, he said how the party had deployed killer squads to annihilate the incumbent KPCC president K Sudhakaran, who escaped by the skin of his teeth. Sudhakaran is on top of the CPM’s hit list. Shakthidharan has threatened to continue his Snowden act if comrades bully him again. A real Red Card, indeed.
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SCOPOPHOBIA
It just takes one wrong question for any politician to sever a line of communication with the media. This Karnataka-based politician is the latest on the list. He has now decided not to take questions from Kannada media when he is in Delhi.
He is very guarded while interacting with the media after a recent faux pas which left him with an egg on his face. This leader blurted out comments about his party supremo totally unmindful of the live camera and microphone in front.
TV channels feasted on this byte making him paranoid about media glare.
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KITNE CASES HAIN…
This BJP leader from Rajasthan maintains a Gabbar-ish guffaw and continues to steamroll political opponents in the state. Though he has a national profile, he is seen in action on the streets of Rajasthan much more than his party colleagues in the state. The state government has till now slapped seven cases with a view to stopping his march. But to no avail.
Recently, one of the close associates of the chief minister tried some track-2 diplomacy to curb his tirade. He had a secret meeting with a confidante of this BJP leader and requested help to keep him under check. It seems an SOS message from the ruling Congress has gone to Delhi BJP for some respite from him.
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POLITICAL FAIR
None can be blamed for equating any electoral event in the country to a village fair. For, there is every element of fun and drama to keep the visitors (in this case - voters) occupied at any such event.
The run-up to panchayat elections in Bengal is living up to this definition. The sound and fury is such that there is every attempt to ridicule an opponent.
No wonder that there are a few takers for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s àir tragedy’ after her copter made an emergency hard-landing 'somewhere' due to bad weather. Opponents say it is to win sympathy citing her wheelchair campaigning during the last edition.
Congress is stopping short of calling this an election stunt. The party is also floating strange theories like the double ballot controversy. According to its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, duplicate ballot papers with registration numbers that correspond to the official one are ready.
He says votes will be cast for TMC candidates on these fake ballots and the original ones weeded out from the box before counting. Other opposition leaders like BJP’s Suvendhu Adhikari, etc., are echoing this fearing the arrival of pre-cast votes much like pre-paid cards.
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DAVIDSON RIDE
Harley-Davidson is the ultimate symbol of machoism for many. But even a macho political stallion like M K Stalin cannot handle his top cop Davidson Devasirvatham.
Stalin was flexing muscles against central government agencies including ED and CBI after recent raids and subsequent arrest of his minister Senthil Balaji. In Tollywood style, Stalin said: 'If we hit back, you will not bear it', borrowing the lyrics of the famous song 'naa adicha thaanga maata, naalu maasam thoonga maata' (you won’t stand my thrashing and you won’t sleep for four months).
But the TN CM had to surrender all posturing when the Centre brought to his attention a fake passport racket with full evidence that scores of people possessed such travel documents. Stalin had no clue about it as his trusted man Davidson Devasirvatham, who was the Chief Intelligence Officer, had not given any prior information.
Recently, Davidson’s sleuths had failed to inform the government about the Kallakurichi school incident. Similarly, the intelligence wing didn’t warn the government about the impending ED raids on Senthil Balaji's house. During that time, Stalin was in Singapore.
Stalin has now parked Davidson in an insignificant slot in the DGP’s office to save his government from further embarrassment.
From punctured dreams to 'kushti and dosti'
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