At home

The Union home minister, Amit Shah, who is the second-most powerful leader in the present regime, has carved out a distinct image for himself. Distinct even from his boss, the prime minister, Narendra Modi. In contrast to Modi’s love for travelling around the world and visiting different countries, Shah comes across as a leader who abhors going abroad. As the Union home minister since 2019, he hasn’t undertaken any foreign visits, neither official nor personal. His predecessor, Rajnath Singh, now the defence minister, had visited several countries as home minister.

According to Shah’s website, he hasn’t gone on a foreign visit since 2006. It doesn’t, however, say which country or countries he had visited before 2006. Leaders close to him say that Shah wants to project himself as a leader devoted to cultural nationalism. His hatred for English-speaking Indians emanates from this aspiration. Despite his mother tongue being Gujarati, Shah firmly believes that Hindi should be the lingua franca of a diverse country such as India. Some in the corridors of power feel that Shah might have taken a pledge not to visit any foreign country till he becomes the prime minister. He is a strong contender to succeed Modi but faces strong competition from the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath.

Visible chasm

There appears to be a rift between the Odisha CM, Mohan Charan Majhi, and the Union minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. The latter used to be the poster boy of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Odisha. It was Pradhan who had chalked out a plan and worked for the BJP’s victory in the state. But things went wrong after Majhi was sworn in as the CM. Over time, Majhi curtailed Pradhan’s influence over governance.

During the PM’s recent visit to the state, big cut-outs of Majhi and other state leaders were featured in Bhubaneswar but Pradhan’s pictures were hard to come by. During the PM’s earlier visits, Pradhan used to take the lead in organising the function. But this time, he maintained a low profile. Majhi and Pradhan were seated on either side of Narendra Modi on the dias. Modi, however, spoke to both leaders equally, striking a perfect balance.

Nervous reaction

The Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, claimed that “For the first time, there is so much foreign involvement in Assam politics,” citing posts originating from Islamic countries favouring the Congress and the new president of its Assam unit, Gaurav Gogoi. The claims that such posts have been promoting anti-India content are serious and should be probed. But these come on the heels of Sarma’s allegation that Gogoi and his wife share close ties with Pakistan, fuelling speculation about whether Sarma is targeting Gogoi before the 2026 assembly polls.

Congress insiders said that there is fresh enthusiasm in the party following Gogoi’s appointment. This has made Sarma and the BJP wary. Gogoi’s surprise win from the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat last year had caused a furore in the BJP. Sarma’s onslaught can be seen as an attempt to dent Gogoi’s image. Nothing better than harping on a foreign bogey to discredit someone, Congress insiders say.

Unique selling point

The British Navy’s F-35B fighter jet, which made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport a week ago, has created quite a sensation. It is the first time that an F-35B has come to India. The authorities had claimed that it would fly off to rejoin the HMS Prince of Wales (R09), the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, within a few days. But the hydraulic failure that the fighter plane had experienced after it flew on a lower amount of JP-8 military aviation fuel is yet to be rectified.

Meanwhile, a Keralite decided to pull a prank. He put up an advertisement on OLX, an online marketplace, claiming that the British fighter jet was for sale for $4 million. The ad also shows that the listing has been posted by “Donaldu Trumpan”. The description says it is driven by a “lady doctor” and has “automatic parking, an automatic gun to destroy traffic violators, brand new tyres and a new battery”, making it “neighbours’ envy”. The prank has left netizens
in splits.

Eleventh hour

The quick fixing of the signboard of the ministry of civil aviation ahead of a press conference of the civil aviation minister, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, grabbed the attention of journalists who turned up last Saturday for his first briefing after the Air India crash. Some of them started taking photographs and capturing the visuals of workers fixing the signboard. For scribes, it became a topic of discussion and one of them commented, “This is the news.” A few wondered why it was being done at the last minute. Then they found out that this was the first time this room was being used for a press conference and the staff was clueless about all the arrangements needed in the room.