Relations between Jayalalitha and Narendra Modi had soured when the former had ignored her equation with Modi and was working on forming a fourth front. This is before the Lok Sabha elections were held, and when it came to Modi’s turn to answer, the Tamil queen got no assistance from the Centre or the CBI. Modi’s motto is clear – jaise ko taisa!

Prakash Javdekar may emerge as a master politics player. For him to reach so far without any political background is nothing short of a miracle. Apart from his own party boss, he has also managed to please the Sangh. He may have received a lot of flak after showing live the Sangh’s Sanchalak’s speech on Doordarshan, but both the BJP and the Sangh are happy with him for the same. However, Javdekar didn’t play a direct role in the episode and he doesn’t deserve so much credit for it. Actually, the director general of Doordarshan news Archana Dutt received a phone call from Nagpur and it is said that Dutt, without asking for permission from the minister, coordinated directly with Nagpur. And because the Sangh bears the expenses for the OB van in the city, Dutt gave the required permissions in the hurry.

The elections in Haryana are special for several reasons and are different from other elections. The urban areas in the state have changed, thanks to malls and multinationals there. Consequently, the urban population has changed the rules of the game where election campaigning in concerned. The usual publicity material such as banners, posters and flags have been replaced by wrist bands, mobile covers, stickers, T-shirts and women’s hair clips bearing the party’s logo. The young population supporting INLD are seen wearing bands, mobile covers and glasses. On the other hand, women supporting the BJP can be seen wearing clips bearing the lotus sign. In his Lok Sabha campaigning, Narendra Modi had made the lotus pin-up fairly popular. In the coming Assembly elections in Haryana, party candidates, their supporters and even those contesting independently can be seen flaunting the pin-ups.

Nitish Kumar, who has gone around town talking about ethics and clean politics, has shaken hands with INLD’s Om Prakash Chautala. Now he will campaign in favour of INLD’s candidates. Nitish has probably ignored BJP’s allegation that Chautala’s party is full of gundas. Now the main aim of Nitish and Chautala is to find ways to keep BJP out of the race for power in Haryana. Sources also claim that on the other hand, behind closed doors, Chautala is also in touch with the BJP because there are chances of a hung Assembly in the state this time. If that happens, Chautala wants to keep options open for himself and can form a government with the BJP to keep the Congress out. So for now, Nitish’s attempts to explore power may go to waste; in the past, Nitish’s JD (U) and Chautala’s INLD had been a part of the NDA.

After a lot of hard work, Congress High Command Sonia Gandhi has given a green signal to 90 candidates for Assembly elections. The party did not want to release these names during the Shradh period and the names were made public during the auspicious Navratra period. This time, Sonia has taken several stern steps in ticket distribution in Haryana. In several ways, her decisions have been nothing short of shocking. For instance, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda wanted to contest from two Assembly seats but his request was turned down and he was told that the party has taken a stand on “one person one seat” policy. Also, two people who were from the same family were refused tickets. Sonia took personal interest in cancelling tickets of MLA Jiley Ram Sharma from Ansad and Ballabhgarh’s Sharda Rathore. A murder chargesheet has been prepared against Sharma and the Congress High Command did not like Sharda Rathore’s plan to go to the BJP. It is worth mentioning that Rathore, who has been an MLA twice from Ballabhgarh constituency, had a meeting with BJP President Amit Shah. BJP State Party President Ram Bilas Sharma wanted his samdhi Mool Chand Sharma to contest from the same constituency and succeeded in his efforts. So, Ram Bilas tried everything he could to halt Sharda Rathore’s entry into the BJP. Minister Captain Ajay Yadav’s son Chiranjeevi Yadav’s ticket was also cancelled at the last moment, although he is the president of the party’s state Campaign committee. Of the 90 candidates, about 11 women have got tickets, and each one of them comes after a vetting from Sonia Gandhi.

Modi government had made all preparations against Bhupinder Singh Hooda Chief Minister of Haryana regarding land scams in Gurgaon. A chargesheet may be filed against him after the Assembly elections. Modi government’s intentions are clear – maybe this will be the excuse Priyanka and Robert’s secrets will be out.

People are of the opinion that the election coalition between Gopal Kanda, Vinod Sharma and Kuldip Bishnoi in Haryana is actually the coalition of Jessica, Deepika and Fiza. You can well imagine what the result of this will be.

Mulayam and Akhilesh are rejuvenated in their confidence after the UP by-elections when the party won eight of the 11 seats. Their darbar is now attracting more and more people. The Yadav family believes that when the party lost the elections despite the Mulayam during the 2012 Assembly elections. But getting those seats from the BJP in two-and-a-half years is no small feat. The number of voters for the by-elections was about half of those who voted in the Lok Sabha elections and the SP was able to get votes of its usual supporters, that is, Yadavs, Muslims and those from backward castes. At the same time, he had put no less than 10 ministers each on duty of every constituency and the same went for Pradhans. The ministers made no compromises on the money spent, and those who were disillusioned with the BJP votes for them.

CBI Chief Ranjit Sinha’s tenure gets over on December 2. Sources reveal that Sinha will complete his service with the organization but his wings will be clipped. This means that in the days to come, he may be removed from the investigations into coal and 2G scams.

When France’s popular President Hollande’s former partner Valerie Trierweiler exposed the details about Hollande’s intimate relations with other women in her autobiography “Thanks for the moment”, things got really exciting in France once again. But the French people didn’t like the way the former partner had made allegations at the president and the matter misfired, in a way. Such autobiographies are a rage in India, too, at present and it all began with Sanjaya Baru’s ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’. Then Natwar Singh came with his ‘One life is not enough’. Now the news is that Sonia Gandhi, who is in Italy at the moment, has also started working on her biography. Punjab’s Governor Shivraj Patil’s book is also out in the market, and sources reveal that President Pranab Mukherjee has given a final shape to his autobiography and it is ready to hit the market. Sheila Dikshit, who just resigned from the governor’s post in Kerala, is also penning her autobiography. Former Central Minister Jairam Ramesh is working on three books at the same time – one of them is about environment, the other on land reforms and the third is on Naxal movement. All in all, several secrets may come tumbling out in the days to come.