Glasshouse

THE NEW FACE OF EMPATHY

The Jantar Mantar protests have given the Samajwadi Party a new political mascot: Dimple Yadav, wife of party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Videos showing the Mainpuri MP kneeling beside an injured protester, tending to another unconscious student, confronting police and so on, had gone viral in Uttar Pradesh. Analysts say it has recast the soft-spoken Yadav bahu as a “compassionate yet assertive leader”. Party insiders say the moment was planned. Ahead of the Parliament
session, the SP leadership chose Dimple, not Akhilesh, to lead the ‘paidal (walking) march’ from Parliament to the protest site. With unemployment, paper leaks and recruitment irregularities likely to dominate the 2027 UP election, the party is planning youth outreach programmes across the state. Dimple now could be at the centre of its campaign to win young voters.

COST OF VICTORY | SO, WHO’S PAYING?

Perhaps late in the day, but Sidda Ramaiah, who recently joined the league of former CMs, has realised how much electoral politics has changed. “Earlier, the people of the constituency would pool money to help us win,” the veteran Karnataka Congressman reminisced at an event near Mysuru on July 25. Today, he rued, the equation has reversed, with candidates expected to pay the voters. The veteran leader, who will be 82 when Karnataka votes again in 2028, also reiterated that he would not contest another assembly election. For a leader whose career has spanned some
five decades of Karnataka politics, the announcement was both a personal sign-off and a bleak commentary on the rising cost—and changing character—of elections.

JINXED CHAIR

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy had a pointed good luck message for the new Union education minister, saying he hoped Pralhad Joshi would be able to avoid the fate of his predecessors who had occupied the ministry since 2014. “Smriti Irani, Prakash Javadekar, Dharmendra Pradhan... lagta hai jo bhi us kursi par baithta hai, uski political kismat kharab ho jaati hai (looks like whoever occupies that chair, his political fortunes dip),” Revanth quip ped last week. Indeed, it looks like Joshi may need all the good wishes he can get for his onward journey.

BROTHERS IN ARMS

For some time now, Lalu Yadav’s sons Tejashwi and Tej Pratap have been on divergent paths, their public diff erences making any reconciliation seem unlikely. But Bihar’s politics often produces unexpected turns. Returning to Patna on July 26 after a long absence, Opposition leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi demand ed the release of those arrested during the paper leak pro tests, which pointedly included “mere bade bhai Tej Pratap” (who had allegedly been inciting the protesters). The elder Yadav scion’s adventures may have landed him in jail, but they also seem to have restored some fraternal warmth.

A GEN Z MOMENT

It was a classic family Whats App moment, only this one unfolded on Instagram. Archita Sachin Rahar, daughter of BJP MP from Bhubaneswar, Aparajita Sarangi, posted a celebratory reaction to the Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the NEET leak controversy, adding that she was sure someone would push her mother to get the post removed. “Don’t bother. I won’t delete it,” she wrote. Meanwhile, Sarangi praised Pradhan’s ‘courage’ on X, while her office was busy defending Archita’s right to speak, as part of “Gen Z”. Sources say top BJP leaders were least amused with the hullabaloo the social media chats created.

— with Ashish Misra, Ajay Sukumaran, Prasad Nichenametla, Arkamoy Datta Majumdar and Amitabh Srivastava