3 min readMar 2, 2026 03:23 AM ISTLeader of Opposition Rahul GandhiLeader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Sunday extended birthday wishes to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin. “Wishing a very happy birthday to… Thiru@mkstalin. May you have good health, strength, and a long life of dedicated service to the people of Tamil Nadu,” the Congress leader posted on X. The greeting left many in the Congress confused as the deadlock over seat-sharing in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls continues between the two allies. Sources said while senior Congress leaders are bargaining hard with the DMK for seats, Gandhi’s birthday post for Stalin is an attempt to signal that there is no bitterness between the two leaders. This comes even as the DMK has refused “power sharing” with the Congress – an idea floated by the grand old party’s leaders in Tamil Nadu.Post & RoastCPI(M) MP John Brittas and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who are known to share a warm friendship, are of late engaged in a war of words on social media, thanks to the increased election heat in Kerala. It started with Tharoor’s quip on what would residents of Kerala be called after the state is renamed ‘Keralam’. Responding to the post, Brittas said a “gentle glide will not trigger an identity extinction event”. He took a swipe at Tharoor’s polysyllabic English vocabulary and his “Oxford accent”. The Rajya Sabha MP did not miss a chance to criticise Tharoor when the latter talked about Kerala facing “mounting debt and development challenges”. Brittas reminded the Congress MP about one of his articles in which he mentioned how the state had begun to “stand out as a model of economic innovation”. He attributed Tharoor’s latest stand to the recent “ceasefire” between him and the Congress leadership.Holi with VotersUP BJP leaders, including MLAs, MLCs and party office-bearers, will organise ‘Holi Milan’ for the voters of their respective polling booths on the evening of the festival next week. A directive in this regard was communicated to the party leaders on Sunday. Each leader is expected to meet at least 10 voters and extend Holi greetings. As most residents, including those working in other states, are likely to come home for the festival, the party leaders will approach them with Form 6 to get them enrolled as new voters. Also, the BJP leaders will help the electors, who have received notices from the Election Commission due to no mapping and logical discrepancy in mapping in their enumeration forms during the SIR exercise, complete the formalities and get their names included in the final roll. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd