Newsmakers of the Week | Ex-Congress leader, Delhi’s new L-G, Uddhav confidant

Kapil Sibal: The veteran leader who quit Congress

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal announced his resignation from the party earlier this week and filed his nomination for the Rajya Sabha as an Independent candidate supported by the Samajwadi Party. While his exit from the Congress was swift and the circumstances leading to it eventful, it was not the first time the lawyer-politician had gunned for the leadership. Having emerged as one of the most trenchant critics of the Gandhis in the last two years, his exit may not really ruffle them, Manoj CG writes.

Vinai Kumar Saxena: The new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi

The new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, has had an unusual career graph – from the corporate sector to NGO activism to the world of khadi, to here. In that long road, the path to arguably the hottest gubernatorial seat in the country was paved by his stints in Gujarat and as head of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). For Delhi, the semi-state where the L-G holds almost all the levers of power, Saxena is as much of an unknown entity, being the first person in the post from a non-bureaucratic and non-defence background. Avinash Nair and Sohini Ghosh profile the Khadi champion, Modi supporter, and a familiar Gujarat face.

PDP leader Waheed Para

On May 25, after 17 months in custody, the J&K High Court granted bail to the PDP leader Waheed Para in a terror-related case. Para, whose youth engagement efforts won him praise from the state and the Centre during the PDP-BJP coalition government, has spent the better part of the last few years in various forms of incarceration. Read Naveed Iqbal’s report on how the PDP leader fell out with the Centre.

Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab

The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) raids at premises directly or indirectly connected to Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab have thrown a spanner in the works for the Sena ahead of the civic elections, bringing the focus on the issue of corruption. Parab is a known confidant of Uddhav Thackeray and among the Shiv Sena’s key strategists for the coming BMC polls. For the party, Parab functions as a bridge between the party’s old guard and the new generation of Shiv Sainiks.

From TMC to BJP to TMC: The political journey of Arjun Singh

BJP vice-president and the party’s Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh joined the Trinamool Congress last week — the latest in a long list of BJP leaders to return to the Mamata Banerjee-led party. Singh is among the biggest leaders to return to the TMC, which they deserted for the BJP ahead of the elections to the Lok Sabha in 2019 and the Assembly in 2021. Read Atri Mitra and Sweety Kumari’s report on the ‘strongman’ who is now back in the TMC camp.