On March 2, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will launch the BJP’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Howrah, kicking off Mission Bengal 2026. The campaign targets the TMC government, accusing it of disorder and law and order collapse, while promising a return to administrative glory. Top guns—Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan and Nitin Nabin—will lead outreach, especially to women and youth. Nine yatras, symbolically tied to Shakti, plus 65 major and nearly 300 smaller rallies are planned statewide. All roads end in Kolkata late March, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected at the finale rally.
Buzz over Congress names for RS race
With under a month to polls for 37 Rajya Sabha seats, the Congress is abuzz over nominees. The party is poised to bag five seats — two from Telangana, and one each from Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Leadership is expected to balance social and regional representation before sealing names. In Himachal, former Union minister Anand Sharma, seen as close to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, is in the mix. Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel figures in speculation. Telangana may see B Sudershan Reddy or Abhishek Manu Singhvi. Also circulating: B K Hariprasad, Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Kanhaiya Kumar, who is considered close to Rahul Gandhi. Final calls soon.
Cockpit counsel: Kharola is back
Air India has brought back a steady hand. Tata Sons has appointed former civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola as senior adviser. A 1985-batch IAS officer from Karnataka, he earlier served as Chairman and Managing Director when the airline was government-owned. His return comes at a sensitive time. Since privatisation in 2022, Air India has navigated turbulence, including a tragic crash and stiff regulatory penalties. The airline’s revival plan now gets seasoned oversight. Kharola’s deep familiarity with the ministry and operations positions him as a crucial bridge with the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The message from Tata Sons: steady the controls, rebuild trust, and climb again with confidence.
Digital roll call for AI summit
In a rare show of bureaucratic discipline, ministers and officers from joint secretaries and above were ordered to attend the AI Summit — no exceptions, no urgent files, no last-minute reviews. The directive came straight from the Prime Minister’s Office, making it clear: attendance was compulsory. The signal was unmistakable. If Artificial Intelligence is the future, the present must report on time. Corridor whispers say even die-hard hard-copy loyalists are now experimenting with chatbots and algorithms. The message from the top: governance must keep pace with code.
Protest strips, pressure slips
The BJP went on the offensive after volunteers of the Indian Youth Congress staged a shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit. Publicly, it slammed the Congress. Privately, some leaders admitted the surprise demonstration proved a blessing. The uproar, which reportedly caught security off guard, shifted headlines away from the Galgotias University “Robodog” controversy. “Once again, Congress became Sankat Mochan for us,” a leader quipped, suggesting the protest diverted attention at a critical moment. What began as an embarrassment for the ruling party morphed into breathing space. In politics, sometimes opponents hand you the cushion just when you need it most.
Ticket tangles for Cong in Kerala
As Congress prepares to release its first list of candidates for the Kerala Assembly polls, all is not quite well with the screening panel led by Madhusudan Mistry, with members Abhishek Dutt, Neeraj Dangi and Sayeed Naseer Hussain. Hussain, sources say, has largely stayed away from meetings. Some say it’s a potential conflict of interest given his organisational role, while others insist the Rajya Sabha MP prefers to keep a distance from the high-stakes contest. After the Bihar panel came under scrutiny for candidate selection and alleged irregularities, caution prevails. Viewing Kerala as a do-or-die battle after a decade out of power, Congress relies heavily on survey inputs overseen by strategist Sunil Kanugolu, privileging winnability over lobbying, despite some MPs expressing interest.