Newswallah: Long Reads Edition

ReutersA magazine stand on a railway platform in Mumbai.

A bearded, grinning Rahul Gandhi, the heir apparent of the ruling party in India, graces the latest cover of The Week. The cabinet reshuffle may not have worked according to his plan, the magazine tells us, but he has a blueprint for 2014.

The story says that Mr. Gandhi, who is the general secretary of the governing Indian National Congress, has the responsibility of setting the tone and pace for the party's “battle moves” for the general elections scheduled for 2014 but which may take place earlier.

The article delves into a visit by Mr. Gandhi to Prime Mini ster Manmohan Singh's house on Oct. 17.

The meeting on October 17 highlighted Rahul's footprint on key issues in both the government and the party. The meeting put the final touches, said a party leader, on launching the first stage of an ambitious GenNext plan. A plan that would “significantly recharge the inner dynamics of the government and the party in the 18-month run-up to the next general elections.”

The more crucial Stage II would be rolled out either in early November or just after Diwali, and officially anoint Rahul as working president or secretary-general. It would give him complete power on all important appointments and decision-making, powers equalled only by the Congress chief.

Tehelka magazine makes a case for why the chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, is facing his toughest election battle yet. The story, entitled “The Iron Man begins to rust,” says that many communities aren't likely to vote for him .

Here's an interesting anecdote the magazine shares about Mr. Modi's address to a meeting of senior party members:

Seated in the first few rows was an MP (member of Parliament) from the state known for his opposition to Modi. As the chief minister rose to speak, the MP whispered to the person next to him that Modi would cry while delivering his speech. The news spread across the room, whisper to whisper. Some laughed it off; others waited, curious to know if the prediction would come true.

Modi did not disappoint; he recollected a quote of Swami Vivekananda and a tear dropped from his right eye. As if on cue, the cameras zoomed in on him as he wiped his eye with a linen kerchief. The stunned neighbour turned searchingly towards the MP. The latter laughed. “In Gujarat,” he said, “our seniors, including the likes of Ashok Bhatt, have resorted to the same tactic when they seemed to have been losing ground among their own men.”

The magazine notes that although opinion polls predict a win for Mr. Modi, some factors in Gujarat point to “the unpredictable nature of politics” and concludes that a different picture may emerge.

Open magazine has the Bollywood beat covered with a story (only in print for now) on a reported rift between Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn. The two actors who work in the Hindi film industry, also known as Bollywood, are starring in movies slated to be released on the Hindu festival of Diwali, which is Tuesday.

“Both stars have gone on record saying they have no mutual enmity and this is just a fight between two production houses,” the magazine says. “But theories abound of the two middle-aged stars preferring to kiss a frog than shake hands with each other.”

A legal tussle between the producers of the two films has ensued and the magazine asks “Is there a bigger, personal war being fought here?”