A rare and emotionally charged family moment played out on Tuesday when Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tej Pratap Yadav visited 10 Circular Road, the residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, to meet his parents and younger brother Tejashwi Yadav.

The visit marked a notable departure from months of visible distance within the Lalu Prasad Yadav family and was centred around a formal invitation for a Dahi-Chura feast scheduled for January 14 on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

Tej Pratap personally handed over the invitation letter to Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, in a gesture widely interpreted as an attempt at reconciliation and reaffirmation of family unity.

Upon his arrival, Tej Pratap sought blessings by touching the feet of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, underscoring the personal significance of the meeting.

Rare public warmth between the brothers

The meeting was particularly striking as it was the first time in a long while that Tej Pratap and Tejashwi were seen together with visible warmth in front of the media. For several months, the two brothers had been living separately and maintaining a noticeable distance on public platforms, fuelling speculation of a rift.

A deeply personal moment during the visit drew widespread attention when Tej Pratap lifted Tejashwi’s daughter, Katyayani, in his arms. The images of the interaction quickly circulated on social media, presenting a softer picture of family bonds beyond political equations.

Tej Pratap later described the moment as a memorable experience, reinforcing the impression that familial ties remain intact despite past differences.

Political and symbolic significance

Political observers see the visit as a significant shift after a prolonged phase of strained relations, often described as a “cold war” between the brothers. The timing of the outreach, on the eve of Makar Sankranti, has also blunted opposition narratives of a deep and irreversible divide within the Lalu family.

Attention has now shifted to the Dahi-Chura feast scheduled for Wednesday. Beyond its cultural importance, the event is being viewed as a symbolic display of unity within the family and the party.

The outreach has generated renewed enthusiasm among RJD workers, with many keenly watching how Tejashwi Yadav and other family members participate in the celebration, which could further cement this much-discussed rapprochement.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that errors arising from AI-driven digitisation of the 2002 electoral rolls are causing widespread hardship to genuine voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state.

In her fifth letter since the SIR process began, Banerjee claimed that the use of artificial intelligence tools to digitise older voter lists led to serious inaccuracies in electors’ personal details. According to her, these errors have resulted in large-scale data mismatches, with many genuine voters being wrongly flagged as having “logical discrepancies”.

The chief minister accused the Election Commission of disregarding statutory processes that had been followed over the past two decades. She said voters were now being forced to re-establish their identity despite corrections having been made earlier through quasi-judicial hearings.

Calling the approach arbitrary and illogical, Banerjee alleged that it went against the constitutional spirit by effectively disowning the commission’s own past actions and mechanisms. She further claimed that voters submitting documents during the SIR exercise were not being given proper acknowledgements, terming the procedure “fundamentally flawed”.

Raising concerns over the nature of hearings, Banerjee said the SIR process had become largely mechanical and overly dependent on technical data, lacking sensitivity, human judgment and compassion. She argued that such an approach undermines democratic values and the constitutional framework.

Highlighting the human impact of the exercise, the chief minister claimed that the revision process had already seen 77 deaths, four suicide attempts and 17 cases of hospitalisation. She attributed these incidents to fear, intimidation and excessive workload caused by what she described as an unplanned exercise by the Election Commission.

Banerjee also criticised the treatment of several eminent citizens, alleging that they were subjected to harassment during the process. She further expressed concern over the handling of cases involving women voters, particularly those who had changed their surnames after marriage or shifted to their matrimonial homes.

According to her, women electors were being questioned and summoned to prove their identity, reflecting a lack of social sensitivity and amounting to an insult to women and genuine voters. She questioned whether a constitutional authority should treat half of the electorate in such a manner.

Urging immediate corrective steps, Banerjee called on the Election Commission to address the issues arising from the SIR exercise to end what she described as harassment and agony for both citizens and officials, and to safeguard democratic rights.

A delegation from the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Sun Haiyan, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), visited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in Delhi on Monday.

During the visit, the Chinese delegation held discussions with a BJP team headed by party general secretary Arun Singh. The talks focused on ways to advance inter-party communication and engagement between the BJP and the CPC.

Sharing details of the meeting, BJP foreign affairs department in-charge Vijay Chauthaiwale said the interaction involved an in-depth exchange on strengthening party-to-party dialogue. He confirmed the visit in a post on social media, stating that the CPC delegation was received at the BJP head office as part of ongoing inter-party interactions.

The Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, was also present during the meeting, accompanying the CPC delegation.

According to Chauthaiwale, the visit was led by Sun Haiyan in her capacity as Vice Minister of the IDCPC, underscoring the importance attached to party-level exchanges between the two sides.