Will PA Sangma ever settle down? He was among the NCP’s founders with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar. But given his eccentricities, it was surprising when he parted ways and joined Mamata Banarjee. It was not long before he left the Bengal Didi and then toyed with the idea of joining the Congress again. Finally, he is back in the NCP. Sangma was on the dais at the NCP national convention in Dehradun and Pawar was seen happily embracing him back. Sangma’s return could have one man anxious—Praful Patel, who has risen to become Number Two in the party.

Red reels

Bollywood, watch out. The Left has designs on you. The main hall of AK Gopalan Bhavan, the CPI(M) headquarters, is also the venue for regular film screenings organised by the Ritwik Ghatak Film Club, started by the party’s cadres. The first screening, under the gaze of portraits of pensive party stalwarts, was of the 2003 film Khamosh Paani, which was attended by its music composer Madan Gopal. But as a member pointed out, the club was also about entertainment, so there should be screenings of Bollywood hits as well. The film club is a first for the CPI(M), but the comrades are dusting the “cultural thesis” written by Ghatak himself in the 1950s lamenting the absence of leftists in the field of culture. He had sagely suggested that popular art and culture would always serve the party.

Via media

The clash between the Defence Minister’s Scientific Advisor M Natarajan and his second-in-command at DRDO, M Sivathanu Pillai, has taken confidentiality at the organisation to bizarre levels. Insiders say Natarajan has made it unofficially known that he is uncomfortable with Pillai’s informal interactions with the media, especially following a year of relentless DRDO-bashing in the Press. Pillai, on the other hand, also had the challenging role of heading BrahMos, the country’s corporate cruise missile joint venture with Russia, which has received relatively glowing coverage. Though he finds the muzzle bemusing, Pillais hasn’t dared put his unhappiness on record. Now that he has moved from being Chief Controller of Missiles & Strategic Systems to the much less prestigious Naval Systems, DRDO stays mum.

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