The great American election heist

Ninja move: Speculation is rife in Patna about election strategist Prashant Kishor’s role behind Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan’s decision to go it alone in the Bihar assembly polls. Kishor, who had a sudden rise in the ruling dispensation in Bihar before he fell out with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is conspicuous by his absence in the electoral scene in the state. However, some corners feel that the poll pundit could have a role in the LJP’s split from the NDA, which is expected to undercut the Janata Dal (United) in favour of the BJP and gift more headaches to Nitish Kumar | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

Healthy revision: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s camp office at Tadepalli has adopted a new menu, thanks to the pandemic. Biscuit have been replaced with boiled chickpeas, and the usual milk tea with a herbal drink made with holy basil and ginger. The revised menu, apparently, reflects the taste of the chief minister, who is very particular about having a healthy diet.

Birthday bumps: It is no secret that the two mainstream communist parties in India, the CPI(M) and the CPI, never miss a chance to outsmart the other. The 100th year celebration of the formation of the Communist Party of India—on October 17, 1920, in Tashkent—has become yet another occasion for a spat between the two. While the CPI(M) is celebrating the “100th year” in a grand way, the CPI insists the real 100th birthday is only in 2025—according to them the party was founded in late 1925, in Kanpur. Apart from the usual verbal duels, the comrades even created memes to taunt each other. Quite a way to celebrate a birthday.

Woke blokes: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are rekindling their bromance with a charity initiative. The fundraising platform, Omaze, is organising a contest to raise money for Water.org and Affleck’s Eastern Congo Initiative. The prize? A chance to hang out with this dazzling duo in Los Angeles. If you want a teaser of what it is going to be like, check out the video of the two taking potshots at each other, mostly about how Jeremy Renner “expanded the Bourne universe” and Robert Pattinson stole Affleck’s Batman role. Obviously, time has not dimmed their chemistry.

Third time lucky?: After Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi, whose release has been postponed because of the pandemic, Ranveer Singh is getting ready for his third outing with filmmaker Rohit Shetty. Cirkus—to be shot in Mumbai, Ooty and Goa—will be Shetty’s take on the Shakespearean play, The Comedy of Errors. It will also star Jacqueline Fernandez, Pooja Hegde and Varun Sharma and is scheduled to release next year | AFP

Packing a punch: It is official. ‘Covid bod’ is now a thing. Or so says Sunny Leone. She has resumed her workout sessions after “six months of taking it easy” because she refuses to have the Covid bod. She said: “Even though I like to work out, during the past few months that has proved to be a challenge. I believe kickboxing is the best way to restart my fitness regime…. I have started working on every single muscle on my body while punching and kicking a bag.” There is certainly a lesson or two there for the rest of us ‘Covid-bod’ied people! | Getty Images

Time-tested love: A throwback photograph of Mira Nair and Shashi Tharoor from their St Stephen’s days, playing Antony and Cleopatra on stage, had netizens murmuring a collective ‘Awww’. The picture of the 1974 production was tweeted by writer and orator Joy Bhattacharjya on Nair’s birthday. The play also featured a star cast that included writer Amitav Ghosh and advertising legend Piyush Pandey as Cleopatra’s slave boys, in langotis, no less. Nair had quipped in an earlier interview that she used to eat onions before her love scenes with Tharoor because he was so pompous.