A date with Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor’s annual Mango & Chaat bash is a much-awaited event on Delhi’s social calendar. Apart from the delicious variety of mangoes, there is also some mouthwatering street food chaat and chola bhaturas, which go very well with the meet and greet nature of the lunch. But more than that it is the gracious hospitality that makes the event a must attend. The host is there at the entrance and makes it a point to welcome each guest as well as pose for that inevitable selfie—for everyone wants one with Tharoor. What added to the flavour of the afternoon was the cross-section of guests including MPs cutting across party lines, along with diplomats and authors. In fact this time because the timing coincided with Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament, the number of NDA and I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders who made it outnumbered the Congress ones. But the star of the show was Akhilesh Yadav, the much sought after SP chief who rarely attends such events in Lutyens’ Delhi. But as he said, Tharoor was a friend so he made it a point to drop in, leading to quite a selfie frenzy as the guests now had not just Tharoor but also Akhilesh to click with. Definitely a problem of plenty and one that the netizens just love.
Why did Shehzad Poonawalla resign?
One of the more articulate faces from the BJP and a National Spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla created quite a stir when he updated his X profile recently. Poonawalla dropped the designation BJP National Spokesman from his bio but retained the line “Lifelong Follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. While there is much speculation behind this move, sources within the party claim that Poonawalla was feeling quite sidelined of late as he was not being sent to represent the party in TV debates. Party sources say that he has fallen out of favour with an influential organizational leader and Rajya Sabha MP. However, Poonawalla is still keeping his connect with the party open, stating that he remains as avid a supporter of PM Modi as earlier. Given the fact that BJP president Nitin Nabin will soon be reshuffling his team, it remains to be seen if Poonawalla’s protest will be heard and whether he will be re-accommodated; or not.
Delulu is not the Solulu
After the youth protests there is a feeling amongst the BJP that the party needs to revive its connect with the youth. After all, in 2014 when the Modi government first came to power, a key voter base was the first time voter. But down the line there seems to be a shift and the party has taken that into account. BJP leaders have been advised to open Instagram accounts and use reels to get the party’s message across to the youth. As is usually the case, the PM himself is leading the charge with his late night Instagram posts. The party is also reaching out to YouTubers, for there is a feeling that the Opposition’s voice gets a stronger play in alternate media. But a word of caution to BJP MPs trying to use the GenZ lingo by using phrases like Clock It and Delulu—you also need to walk the talk. And in the meantime a BJP handle has tweeted a short montage of the PM’s various interactions with the youth set to the tune of the signature jingle from Friends (a popular sitcom that was popular in the mid-90s). The catch here is that the handle is using a Gen X show to reach out to the Gen Z.
