After his son, let’s talk about Kanhimozhi’s daughter. After the 2G scam and Tihar Jail stint, Kanhimozhi’s Rajya Sabha term ends in April 2013. So, she went to meet her father and talk about it and was given an assurance that she need not worry and her relevance in national politics would continue. Now the DMK has decided that instead of the Rajya Sabha, Kanhimozhi will not contest elections from Nagacoil during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It is worth mentioning here that the DMK has a lot of clout in this Parliamentary seat. There is a large number of Nadar votes here, which could make Kanhi’s win sweeter.

Looks like the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit has got a second life and she may remain in her post for a while. Otherwise what would have happened was quite different; when Sheila met with Congress President Sonia for nearly 20 minutes, Sonia straightaway told her, “The prime minister wants to include you in the Cabinet and I am of the same opinion.” Then Sheila hag agreed to the idea and it is believed that she had asked for the home minister’s post for herself. But the government then spoke to the IB and discussed what would happen if the Delhi elections would be contested next year in Sheila’s absence. The report was one that worried the government and in the end it was decided that it would not be wise to take away Delhi from Sheila for now.

If there is one who is advising Pawar to go a little soft on the Congress, it is none other than his close confidant Praful Patel. Also, Congress strategists are also trying to implement the idea if Praful can be made to break away from Pawar and join the Congress? But the biggest hurdle here is that Praful and Pawar’s business interests are inter-linked and so deep are the ties that it is believed that Praful has a big shareholding with an aircraft company, thanks to Pawar. Pawar, on the other hand, is said to have a big share in two infrastructure investment companies, and it is believed that Patel takes care of that. Praful has ties with 10, Janpath at all times, and maybe that is the reason that there has been an offer from the Congress that if he leaves Pawar’s side and joins the Congress, he may be projected against Narendra Modi in Gujarat by the party.

When BJP President Nitin Gadkari hosted the wedding reception of his son Sarang at The Ashok in Delhi, the big event turned into a show of power. Biggies from all big parties came together for the event. Presence of big industrialists such as Subrata Roy and Mukesh Ambani was surprising for all. Most industrialists from Mumbai had already marked their presence at the wedding on June 24, which took place in Nagpur. But Mukesh Ambani could not attend the ceremony because he had to go out of Mumbai for a wedding from his wife Nita Ambani’s relation. So he had to come especially to Delhi for the reception that was held on July 2.

Short in height, Sangma has always posed tall challenges before the nation. Thus, his challenging Pranab da in such a way is not going down well with the Congress at all. Strategists in the Congress are still trying with all their might so that Sangma takes back his nomination. The other worry Congress has is that they don’t quite trust Maya and Mulayam completely and fear that both these politicians may change their word at the last minute. Thus, all Congress leaders from the northeast are in constant tough with Sangma. The chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh is the leader of the entire effort. The CM of Arunachal spoke to Sangma a few days ago and said, “If he (Sangma) is ready, talks can be initiated with Sonia and he can be made the next vice-president.

After Pranab da resigns from his post in the next day or two, the big gap left by him will him will not be an easy one for the Congress to fill. Will any other leader be able to fit into Pranab’s shoes – that of the country’s finance minister, the government’s trouble shooters and as a leaders in the Parliament? The biggest difficulty will be to find a replacement for him as a Parliament member. Sources associated with the Congress reveal that for now, it is two names that are being considered – Jairam Reddy and Sushil Kumar Shinde. Looking at Jaipal Reddy’s clean image, he may have an edge over Shinde.

As the national president of the BJP, Nitin Gadkari didn’t want a lot of issues arising about the Presidential elections, which may give rise to mid-term polls. It is believed that Gadkari also spoke to Narendra Modi about the issue, whose line of thinking was similar – that mid-term polls should not take place before the Assembly elections in Gujarat. On the other hand, the iron man of the BJP Advani and leaders who support him wanted that if mid-term polls were to happen, this was as good a time as ever. This would facilitate another election under the leadership of Advani because until now, Modi has not been projected as the PM candidate until now. And if the elections take place soon, there is no way he will be projected for the top post, which will benefit Advani. But looks like Advani camp’s plans came to naught.

Narendra Modi and Sharad Pawar are surprisingly united on one thing – that come what may, the export of cotton be allowed. And while both leaders are giving the reason as the rights of farmers, the reality is that the export of cotton has exceeded the target by one-and-a-half times. That too by one person to one country. This person is a Gujarati businessman Bhadresh Shah, who is close to both Pawar and Modi. And the country is China. The textile sector of India is worried that it may have to buy the yarn from China at a high price now.

In a discussion that happened in the Congress about the UP elections, Rahul clearly stated that he will fix the accountability of Congress leaders. Which means all those Congress ministers who held responsible positions during the UP elections might come under the scanner. During this process, Digvijay Singh may have to relinquish his post of being –n-charge, and a new state president for the party may be brought in in place of Rita Bahuguna Joshi. Shriprakash Jaiswal and Raj Babbar were in-charge of campaign committee and media committee, respectively. They are bound to lose their posts.

Winds of change are flowing over the Congress. The UP elections have taught Rahul Gandhi another lesson in politics. In Rahul’s old older ways of politics, two political specialists Zoya Hassan and Sudha Pai, had a lot of influence. Rahul would heed to their political advice. All the data would be collated and then fed into the computer and then analysed. Any grassroots level leaders who would want to place their point in front of Rahul were told to his office and put forward the point they wanted to discuss and that they should say in concise whatever they had to, to Rahul. Such leaders would barely get any time to meet such leaders and now Rahul is tracking them down and talking to them. Rahul has now started to place a lot of importance on Rajiv-Sonia advisors and is listening to what they have to say and heeding their suggestions. Rahul has already had a long conversation with Sonia’s political secretary Patel, and the discussions have lasted over three rounds. All in all, Rahul is changing himself to change the Congress.