🖋️ From the desk of Abhijeet Rane:
- dhadakkamgarunion0
- Jun 22
- 4 min read
🖋️ From the desk of Abhijeet Rane:
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis used the Maharashtra Radio Festival not merely for nostalgic storytelling but to craft a relatable public persona. Recounting an accidental foray into college modelling and likening it to the proverbial “man bites dog” headline, he recast an embarrassing youthful prank as a self-deprecating ice-breaker. The anecdote dovetailed with his broader message that radio—because it relies on voice and imagination—has always rewarded authenticity over image. By crediting the medium for shaping his cultural sensibilities and lauding Prime Minister Modi’s “Mann Ki Baat” as a direct pipeline to the grassroots, Fadnavis positioned audio outreach as both a heritage symbol and a cutting-edge political tool.Strategically, the interview served a dual purpose. First, it softened his technocrat image by revealing formative experiences—early-morning songs, radio plays, college antics—that humanise a leader better known for hard-nosed governance. Second, it reminded advertisers and voters alike that the BJP’s electoral machinery understands youth culture: when campaigns flood radio slots, it’s because data show millennials still tune in, whether for music or podcasts. By stitching together memories, humour, and media savvy, Fadnavis demonstrated how storytelling can reinforce political branding while celebrating a medium that continues to shape public discourse in the digital age.
🔽
🖋️ From the desk of Abhijeet Rane:
Tehran’s decision to reopen a narrow corridor of its airspace—just 48 hours after shutting it during the Israel-Iran flare-up—has given India a critical evacuation window. Two additional Air India aircraft are now slated to ferry stranded citizens and OCI card-holders back to New Delhi, cutting nearly four hours off the circuitous reroutes airlines had been using via the Gulf of Aden. For New Delhi, the gesture underscores the residual goodwill it still enjoys in Tehran despite tighter U.S. sanctions, and it shows that pragmatic, people-centric diplomacy can survive even when missiles are flying elsewhere in the region.The episode also highlights India’s larger strategic calculus. Rapid, government-backed air bridges reassure the nine-million-strong overseas Indian community that their home country can extract them from crisis zones—a soft-power asset Beijing has long leveraged. At the same time, each exemption Iran grants to Indian carriers solidifies a de facto aviation back-channel that could later facilitate oil or Chabahar-port logistics if sanctions ease.
🔽
🖋️ From the desk of Abhijeet Rane:
The Election Commission’s refusal to hand over full CCTV footage from Maharashtra’s recent Assembly by-polls to Rahul Gandhi underscores an institutional tug-of-war between transparency demands and procedural guardrails. Citing chain-of-custody concerns, voter-privacy safeguards, and an ongoing forensic audit, the Commission argued that releasing raw video could compromise ballot secrecy and fuel selective, out-of-context clips on social media. Instead, it offered to show the footage to a Congress delegation inside a secure “viewing room” under EC supervision—an approach consistent with past precedents but one that inevitably invites suspicion in an era of heightened electoral scrutiny.Politically, the stand-off is a double-edged sword for both sides. Gandhi gains a talking point about opacity that can energise his base and reinforce claims of systemic bias, while the Commission risks appearing defensive even if its legal rationale is sound. Yet setting a precedent of unrestricted footage release could backfire: future losing parties might weaponise partial clips to delegitimise any tight result.
🔽
🖋️ From the desk of Abhijeet Rane:
Mumbai’s civic-run school system has shed an alarming 150,000 students in just 13 years, shrinking from roughly 420,000 enrollees in 2011-12 to around 270,000 this academic year. Parents cite three drivers: the mushrooming of low-fee English-medium private schools, aggressive state subsidies that allow children to transfer with tuition vouchers, and persistent perceptions that BMC classrooms lag in digital tools, English proficiency, and after-school enrichment. The exodus is most pronounced in lower primary grades, signalling that young families are voting with their feet even as the city’s population in that age bracket remains steady.The trend carries fiscal and social consequences. Fewer students mean under-utilised buildings and a heavier per-pupil cost burden on municipal coffers, diverting funds from classroom upgrades to salary overhead. More critically, BMC schools historically served first-generation learners from informal settlements; their desertion risks deepening educational inequity if private options prove unaffordable over time.
🔽
🖋️ From the desk of Abhijeet Rane:
Reports indicate that the RSS has mapped nearly 12,000 polling booths across West Bengal where Hindu votes split almost evenly between BJP and TMC in the Lok Sabha election. The strategy now is two-pronged: first, mobilise shakhas and cultural outfits to hammer home the message that “vote division equals minority-centric politics,” and second, revive booth-level seva projects—health camps, coaching classes, flood relief—that create a non-electoral rapport before the 2026 Assembly poll cycle begins. By embedding welfare with ideological outreach, the Sangh hopes to shift undecided Hindu voters who may appreciate TMC’s welfarism but remain uneasy about perceived appeasement.Politically, this puts both major parties on notice. For the BJP, the groundwork gives it a ready-made volunteer infrastructure in a state where its own cadre depth remains patchy beyond northern districts. For TMC, the tactic threatens to erode its carefully crafted image of inclusive populism, forcing Mamata Banerjee to double down on development and sub-regional pride to keep Hindu swing voters in the fold.
🔽
Comments