Manohar Lal Khattar could be the top contender for the next BJP president for several reasons. He kicked off his political career by joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a permanent member in 1977, sticking with it for 17 years before joining the BJP in 1994. Fast forward to 2014, Khattar debuted as an MLA, and BJP chose him to be the Chief Minister of Haryana.
After a solid decade of leading the state, in March 2024, he handed over the reins to his close ally Nayab Singh Saini, making way for himself to enter the Lok Sabha. His first attempt at the general elections was a resounding success he won the Karnal seat by a massive margin of over 2.35 lakh votes, leaving Congress’s Divyanshu Budhiraja in the dust.
Many also say Khattar shares a strong bond with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having worked together in the party’s organisational wing back in the 1990s.
PT Usha, sports ministry locked in combat over ‘Kalaripayattu’
The ongoing clash between the legendary Indian athlete and president of the Indian Olympic Association, PT Usha, and the Union Sports Ministry has been either making headlines or part of the corridor talks recently. The latest issue revolves around including Kalaripayattu, a martial art from PT Usha’s home state of Kerala, in the upcoming National Games in Uttarakhand starting January 28.
Usha, who remained firm on the matter, even told some delegates from Kerala that as the president of the Indian Olympic Association, she couldn’t think from a state-specific perspective. This came despite Kerala’s impressive performance at the last National Games in Goa, winning 19 golds, two silvers, and one bronze. Usha didn’t budge despite nudges from the Sports Ministry.
The situation escalated when Harshita Yadav, a Kalaripayattu practitioner from Haryana and a student of Delhi University, approached the Delhi High Court, which ruled in favour of reinstating Kalaripayattu as a competitive event. Harshita had trained under Dr PB Sumesh, a Malayali and Vice-President of the Indian Kalaripayattu Federation. The Indian Olympic Association is under pressure to either comply with the court’s order or challenge it in a higher court before the Prime Minister inaugurates the event on January 28.
Rare recognition for Jaishankar at ambassadors’ meet in Madrid
This moment stood out as quite unique in the realm of diplomacy, where optics matter a lot. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar received the rare honour of addressing the 9th Annual Conference of Ambassadors, organised by Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid.
Typically, such meetings are reserved for internal discussions among heads of missions and with their ministers and leadership. Jaishankar’s official visit to Spain on January 13-14, 2025, marked his first trip to Madrid as Minister, and it was undoubtedly a befitting honour.