Gossip And Tales: Sonia Gandhi's Safe Seat
Post the grand inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the Pran Prathistha ceremony, the Congress party feels Sonia Gandhi will lose her Raebareli Parliamentary seat in the upcoming national elections. Like for Rahul Gandhi during 2019 elections, Congress is now searching for a 'safe seat' outside of Uttar Pradesh (UP) for Sonia Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, who first entered India's Parliament in 2004 from Amethi, lost the seat to BJP's Smrit Irani in 2019. Then, Irani rode the Modi wave to defeat the Congress scion in his family bastion of nearly 50 years. But the wily Congress party had anticipated its fate and negotiated a deal with Kerala's communist regime to let Rahul Gandhi fight the 2019 elections from a 'safe seat' of the Muslim-dominated Wayanad constituency in Kerala - India's minority community has been a loyal voter base for the Gandhi family and Congress. But this time, Kerala's communist parties may not spare anymore ground for Gandhi's, since it will bring down their tally in Parliament. Telangana is another option the Congress is looking at, to field Sonia Gandhi, unless she decides to take a break from electoral politics on health grounds.
Sleepless in BJP
Anxiety is running high among several BJP MPs. No no... their fear is not of losing the up-coming elections, but of not being able to get a ticket to fight one. If the recent move by the BJP top brass to appoint newly elected MLAs as the state chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan is any indication, the MP's believe new faces can replace them as well in the 2024 national elections. Since 2014, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took over the reins of BJP, the party has sent several new faces to the Parliament. This time too, the guessing game is on.
Fierce competition
Heiress of a large Indian retail giant has vowed to finish an e-commerce-cum-fashion company. Among the siblings, she has emerged as the most fierce and is trying to aggressively acquire some fashion brands around the world. It is anticipated that soon, the young CEO of a beauty e-commerce company, her friend turned business rival, is likely to feel the heat. For many, it does not seem like a fight of equals, since the heiress has vast pools of recourses. Yet, if the opponent is fierce enough, it may turn out to be a saga like the 1980s corporate battles.
Mughal's of misfortune
Names can make a lot of difference if you own a priced property or a residence in Lutyens Delhi, home to India's biggest politicians, corporates, high ranking officials in the military establishment, judiciary and others forming part of the country's rich lobby. Recently, Aurangzeb lane in the Lutyens area was rechristened as Abdul Kalam lane. The name change came a few years after Aurangzeb Road was rechristened on the similar lines. In the upper echelons of New Delhi, the grapevine went that those living on Aurangzeb Road were cursed since the Mughal tyrant was infamous for breaking hundreds of temples in India. Hence, the large corporates residing on Aurangzeb Road faced enough misfortune from big family disputes to their companies being lodged in debt tribunals and court cases. Over half a dozen company promoters residing on Aurangzeb road got caught in the debt trap and witnessed the liquidation of their family silver. But the mood after the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya is so electrifying among the BJP leaders that even Tughlaq Road, Akbar Road, Humayun Road, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Marg, Najaf Khan Road, Mohammad Ali Jauhar Marg and Lodhi Road etc. could go in coming years. Afterall, under the earlier governments British names of these roads gave way to Mughal names.
Fatal Inaccuracies
A regulatory chief was caught at the receiving end of Finance Minister's wrath. The ministry had sought names of most debt laden companies. The data from the regulator's office in Mumbai showed Public Sector companies having highest debt in their books. But this was not the reason for the Finance Minister's fury. The resentment was caused by the fact that the data turned out to be inaccurate.
Fueling Speculation On ZEEL-Adani
The merger deal between ZEEL-SONY has witnessed high speculation in the past two years, something that was being passed as a daily soap opera by the stock markets. Yet, after Sony sent a notice of termination of the deal on Monday, ZEEL promoter Punit Goenka's Tweet following the notice sparked more speculation. Goenka, who rarely Tweets otherwise, wrote two tweets on Monday: the first one said "It could be Lord Ram's will" referring to the termination notice by Sony. In the second tweet, Goenka posted his picture in Ayodhya with Adani Group's media man Sanjay Pugalia, who has been advising the billionaire on deals and acquisitions in the media space. ZEEL promoters holds only 4 per cent stake in the company but are in control to give effect to any merger or a takeover. Adani Group has been on an acquisition spree in the media space lately. Pugalia too posted his picture with Goenka from his handle with the title: Meanwhile...
