Off the Record: November 1, 2021

When bail causes concern to CPM

Kerala CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri got bail in the Enforcement Directorate’s case related to Bengaluru drug trafficking. While it is generally considered as a relief to the CPM in Kerala especially since the party’s national meet is scheduled to be held in Kerala in April, a section in the party is feeling otherwise. Over the years, Bineesh has been involved in a series of rows for his alleged nexus with those with shady backgrounds. Hence there are concerns among a section in the party that Bineesh outside the prison poses a higher risk of inviting embarrassment to the party, rather than being inside the prison.

Arjun Raghunath, Thiruvananthapuram

Nawab Malik’s double entendre

As the family of NCB’s Mumbai zonal director Sameer Wankhede chose to target Maharashtra minority affairs minister and NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik taking out his community name ‘bhangarwala’, the veteran politician chose to answer in his own style. “Yes... I am a bhangarwala... I was a bhangarwala before becoming a politician. My family is in bhangar business and I am proud of it,” he said. He went on to add: “...they perhaps do not know what a bhangarwala does... they remove the scrap. I will also do that, I will take out each and every nut and bolt, melt it in the foundry and clean the mess,” said Malik, a close aide of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar.

Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai

Electricity and internet

While frequent power cuts during harsh winter is a norm in Kashmir, netizens in parts of Srinagar and southern Pulwama districts complain about spells of internet shutdowns for the last three weeks. The shutdowns started in the aftermath of a series of attacks targeting members of the minority community and migrant workers in the region are unannounced and unaccounted for. But like power cuts in winter, people in the Valley have got accustomed to internet shutdowns. For both electricity and the internet, they are waiting for the worst. When the mercury plummets, electric supply and internet services can also be snapped fully.

Zulfikar Majid, Srinagar

The number game

The fight between the RJD and the JD(U) is not restricted to the state of Bihar. It intensified after JD(U) broke ranks with the Grand Alliance to return to the BJP-led NDA. In Bihar, RJD has emerged stronger in the last Assembly elections but a diminished JD(U) has managed to hold on to power owing to a pre-poll alliance with the BJP. The JD(U) is not losing any opportunity to embarrass or push its rival to the corner. The fight has now stretched to Goa now where the “entire” RJD state unit is claimed to have merged with the JD(U). The Nitish Kumar-led party now believes that this will be a “new beginning” for JD(U) in the upcoming Assembly election in Goa. But the social media has raised an important question: How many members RJD had and JD(U) has now?

Shemin Joy, New Delhi

‘If SRK joins BJP drugs would be sugar’

Known for his sense of humour, Maharashtra’s food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal of the NCP took a dig at the BJP vis-a-vis the arrest of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan in a drugs case by the NCB. “The drugs would become sugar powder if Shah Rukh Khan joined the BJP,” said Bhujbal, the founder of All India Samata Parishad. It may be recalled that Bhujbal, his son and former MLA Pankaj Bhujbal and his nephew and former MP Sameer Bhujbal were booked in the Maharashtra Sadan scam when the BJP-led government was in power, but were discharged by a special ACB court.

Mrityunjay Bose, Mumbai