Who Let The Boys Out
Some unhappiness emerged in DMK chief M.K. Stalin’s move to take son-in-law Sabareesan along when they met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi this weekend. Sabareesan is credited with the DMK’s digital push and Stalin now expects the Congress to keep Sabareesan in the loop during future dealings. But the arrangement is not going down well with Stalin’s sister and party parliamentarian Kanimozhi, hitherto the Delhi point person for the DMK. She is already peeved that Stalin’s son Udayanidhi did a much-publicised tour of the storm-hit districts but she was kept off the cyclone circuit.
An Ash Up Yadav Sleeves
Tej Pratap Yadav, the ‘rebel’ son of Laloo Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, may have been adamant on getting a divorce from wife Aishwarya Rai, but he has found no support whatsoever from his family. Far from it, Laloo is learnt to have chastised him for the divorce petition while Rabri has stood by her daughter-in-law. Tej Pratap has now been staying away from his family. But in his absence, Rabri has been trying her best to comfort her. Speculation swirled that Aishwarya, daughter of former minister Chandrika Rai and granddaughter of former Bihar CM Daroga Prasad Rai, might be groomed by her in-laws and fielded as an RJD candidate in an election, if not the next Lok Sabha polls. They apparently believe she will make a better politician than her husband.
The Call Is Wake Up Sid
Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s last trip out of the country—to Europe for a holiday in September—came amid some noisy jostling among his party leaders. The clamour was about claimants for the six cabinet berths that the Congress has kept vacant in the coalition government in Karnataka. That matter reared its head again and there’s an assurance that a cabinet expansion will happen in late December. But Siddaramaiah, who leads the Congress legislature party, has piqued curiosity. He’s scheduled to attend a wedding in Malaysia, a trip that apparently was planned much earlier.
