Rites of return

Coming or going?: With the BJP hinting that a few leaders of the Trinamool Congress would soon join its ranks, the latter has started responding in kind. Mamata Banerjee’s campaign team, led by Prashant Kishor, has reportedly planted reports in party-backed news portals that many BJP leaders, mostly the ones who had deserted the Trinamool, were in talks to return home. A flustered BJP hurriedly held a news conference to deny these claims. The leaders said there was no confusion within the BJP and that the TMC was alarmed because it saw looming defeat. Incidentally, a few days ago, two BJP leaders from Uttar Dinajpur, who had jumped ship last year, returned to Mamata’s side | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

Sisters on the force: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had a special Rakshabandhan this year. As head of the state police force, Deshmukh invited a handful of female police officers and constables, who were doing exemplary work, to become his rakhi sisters. In doing so, he was making a promise to protect those who protected the public. Though initially surprised, the policewomen were happy to oblige.

Child politics: As is common on Rakshabandhan, social media was flooded with pictures of children in traditional attire celebrating the festival. One such photo, however, attracted special attention. The Telangana information department tweeted a picture showing Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao’s daughter tying a rakhi on her brother’s wrist. Within moments of it being posted, followers began asking why an official handle was tweeting about people who were not part of the government. As the comments turned political, the tweet was deleted, but screenshots and potshots continued.

High honour: Neeru Bhatia, THE WEEK’s deputy chief of bureau in Delhi, has been nominated to this year’s National Sports Awards selection committee. Other members of the jury include former cricketer Virender Sehwag, paralympian Deepa Malik and Sardar Singh, former captain of the Indian national hockey team. The committee will pick awardees for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Dronacharya Award, Arjuna Award and other sports honours. Neeru has been working as a sports journalist with THE WEEK for 19 years and has covered numerous hot button issues in her beat with great passion and verve.

Table’s turned: The vampires are back. After more than a decade, Stephenie Meyer is out with her new book in the Twilight series—Midnight Sun. The book goes back to “the beginning of Bella’s and Edward’s story”, only this time it will be from Edward Cullen’s perspective. While Twilight readers already know how the story ends, it will be interesting to dissect the thoughts of the mind-reading vampire | Kathy Hutchins

Bond time: As far as Raksha Bandhan gifts go, this one takes the cake. On August 3, actor Akshay Kumar announced his new film, dedicating it to his “sister Alka and the most special bond in the world… that of a brother and sister”. Titled Raksha Bandhan, the film will be directed by Aanand L. Rai. “It makes me happiest that my sister Alka is presenting and producing this film along with ace director Aanand L. Rai. Can’t thank him enough for bringing me one of the most special films of my life,” Kumar said in a statement | PTI

Cheat hunt: Filmmaker Asim Abbasi’s Churails will be the first Pakistani show to be made by an Indian company for an Indian OTT platform. The 10-episode web series is about an all-woman team of detectives who expose cheating husbands in Karachi. It will premiere on August 11 on Zee5, under its Zindagi brand. Abbasi’s critically acclaimed film Cake was Pakistan’s choice for Oscars in 2018. A banker for 10 years, Abbasi chose to study films only at 30.