Glasshouse

WEIGHTY ADVICE

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) scion Nara Lokesh’s dramatic weight loss has drawn the attention of even the top bosses in New Delhi. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his May 10 tour of Hyderabad, dropped in at Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s Jubilee Hills residence, the conversation apparently also turned to Lokesh’s new, slim avatar. While the PM was all admiration for Lokesh’s fitness, he advised him not to lose any more weight. The new TDP working president, though, is reportedly determined to get even more trim. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Modi had paid a visit to another NDA ally, deputy CM and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan, who is recuperating after a sinus-related surgery. Sources say Modi had a genial conversation with Kalyan’s four children and his wife Anna Lezhneva, even attempting a few words in Russian. The PM, it seems, has not forgotten his allies despite the big win in West Bengal.

BOOK LAUNCH BANTER | PAGES FROM THE PAST

It was the launch of solicitor general Tushar Mehta’s two books, The Bench, the Bar and the Bizarre and The Lawful and the Awful, and Union home minister Amit Shah was in an unusually relaxed mood. The BJP No. 2 talked about their three-decade-old friendship and Mehta’s love for shayari and literature, often shared through morning Whatsapp messages. He also reminisced about the two decades they spent in Ahmedabad, when Mehta was practising in the high court and Shah was Gujarat’s home minister from 2002 to 2010. Both of them moved to Delhi in 2014 when Narendra Modi became prime minister. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was one of the honoured guests, so Shah was careful not to court controversy. But he did promise greater candour soon in his views on the judiciary and the executive.

DIVINE DEBUT

The first film in a new trilogy on Lord Krishna, Krishnavataram, has drawn much attention in Uttar Pradesh. Young actor Sanskruti Patel, granddaughter of current state governor Anandiben Patel, plays Satyabhama, one of the lord’s beloved queens. The film was in the news after a special screening at Lok Bhavan in Lucknow on May 10, where CM Yogi Adityanath watched it with the governor and members of the cabinet. Soon after, the Yogi government gave the film tax-free status in UP. Sanskriti, incidentally, is an alumnus of the New York Film Academy.

THE OUTREACH

Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma’s late-night review meetings, and his conspicuous presence at social and religious events have always made headlines. Now, his state tours also include night halts in villages where he holds on-the-spot grievance-redressal meetings and also goes on morning walks with villagers. What explains this latest attempt to reinforce his political image? Could it have anything to do with the growing chatter in BJP circles about a ‘performance review’ halfway through his tenure.

MAHA INTRIGUES

Speculation about Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s ‘Operation Tiger’ to poach leaders from the rival Shiv Sena (UBT) has resurfaced after he met UBT Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Patil and his wife Pallavi following her accident. Meanwhile, the ruling Mahayuti alliance is also seeing some rumbling. After deputy CM Sunetra Pawar’s impressive Baramati assembly bypoll win, son Jay Pawar is projecting her as a chief ministerial face for 2029. With the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis currently in the saddle and ex-CM Shinde still eyeing a comeback, another claimant in the mix has triggered some unease.

—with Prasad Nichenametla, Jumana Shah, Ashish Misra, Rohit Parihar and Dhaval S. Kulkarni