Deep Throat

Past Foe, Present Pal

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav attended a meeting with new Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu. Madhav and the mayor discussed development plans. It’s an interesting personal development too. Till a few months ago, Mattu had been a vocal critic of Madhav, calling him the “de facto CM of J&K” for meetings with state officials during the BJP-PDP rule, and also “unelected ambassador of the RSS with no sense of Kashmir’s history” . But after leaving the National Conference, he chan-ged his tune. And Madhav has responded kindly. After Mattu won the civic polls, which saw just three per cent voting, Madhav was all praises for him.

The Jinx Of Tipu

Tipu Jayanti came by when Karnataka’s ruling coalition, Janata Dal Secular-Congress, was in a jubilant mood after trumping the opposition BJP in a round of bypolls. But discretion, not valour, it appeared, marked the celebration of the birth anniversary of the 18th century Mysore ruler on November 10, over which the BJP has been making a noise every year since it was instituted as a state event in 2015. The CM and his deputy weren’t present at the state secretariat, raising eyebrows. Of course, the ministers present explained how unforeseen circumstances had led to their absence—the CM had been advised rest and the deputy CM was away in Singapore to visit an ailing former minister. The speculators added Tipu Jayanti to the list of jinxes that dot Karnataka’s political landscape.

Party-Pooper Police

Supriya Sule, MP and daughter of Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, had organised a Diwali party at a Pune farm house. The guest list included the swish set from business, media, movies and cricket. But Pune police came calling because the merrymaking went past the 11pm ‘curfew’. When Pawar came to know about it, he rang up CM Devendra Fadnavis, sources say. The CM then called the Pune police chief, who explained that his men didn’t know the link between the house and the Pawars. The nameplate reads Sadanand Sule, Supriya’s husband. The buzz now is that BJP is sending a signal to Pawar—seen cosying up to Rahul Gandhi.