After the formation of the Government, PM Narendra Modi had instructed all ministers to open their Facebook and Twitter accounts to connect with people. He selected the social media for media management instead of old options. He knows well that FB and Twitter trends make headlines. This is the reason he is very active on social media — he gave all updates of the BRICS summit and other bilateral talks on Twitter.
But most ministers, MPs and Parliamentary managers are not giving any updates via social media. There is no update on what the Government is doing in Parliament and which Bills are being passed. Reliable sources say till date Twitter handles have been created for only 15 ministers and even they are not very active on it. In fact, Opposition leaders are more active on Twitter.
In Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal continuously debated on Twitter, but BJP leaders chose press conferences. Most Congress leaders, such as Digvijaya Singh, Ajay Maken, Shashi Tharoor, Shakil Ahmed and Manish Tewari, are reaching out to people via Twitter and FB.
CHANGES IN CONGRESS STUCK
After the lok Sabha Elections, there were speculations that the Congress might change at least three of its CMs and almost a dozen of State presidents. But even two months after the results, things are stuck. The decision to change CMs was deferred, and a Congress leader said the public would change them. However, the decision to make changes in the State organisation is also being deferred.
In-charge of Punjab and Haryana Shakil Ahmed has made it clear that the presidents of these two States will not be changed. In the present scenario, there is no chance to change the party president of Delhi too. In J&K, the Congress wants to fight elections under the leadership of Ghulam Nabi Azad. But since he is from Jammu, and it is said that it is necessary to project a face from the Valley, Saifuddin Soz will continue to act as president.
Elections are also scheduled in Jharkhand and Maharashtra after two months. If the presidents are changed now, they would hardly get time to restructure the organisation. Despite that, there is a possibility that the Congress president of Maharashtra will be changed.
Congress president in Jharkhand will not be changed. There might be changes in AICC and in-charge general secretary of Jharkhand could be changed. Changes are also likely in Tamil Nadu, Orissa, and Karnataka, but now the decision might be taken after the Parliamentary Session.
lESS STRENGTH BUT MORE FORCE
The Congress has got little chance to sit in the Opposition, but this time it is playing the role like never before. This time, the party is fiercer in its attacks, even on insignificant issues. It wants to show that its strength of 44 MPs doesn’t matter. This is also a part of Congress strategy to keep the Government under pressure.
On the first day of the Budget Session, the Congress created ruckus on rail fare hike and inflation, and it was supported by other parties as well. But after that, its support base decreased. Only one or two parties extended support to the Congress on its stand on the Bill related to appointment of PM’s Principal Secretary Nripendra Mishra.
The party could not garner much backing on the issue of Ved Pratap Vaidik meeting Hafiz Saeed, and the Israel-Palestine issue. But the Congress managed to rake up the three issues enough to adjourn Parliament several times — only to show its strength. Despite all this, the Government doesn’t seem to be under any pressure, and the Congress has been isolated in the Parliament.
GOVT WORKING ON BJP’s CORE AGENDA
The Central Government is working on the decades-old core issues of the BJP. When it got only two seats in 1984, it formulated a three-core agenda — Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uniform Civil Code in the country and abolition of Article 370, which grants special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. Now, the Modi Government is working on these issues.
State minister at PMO Jitendra Singh had said the Government will have a debate on Article 370 to gauge how much has J&K benefitted from it. He said if it is worthless, there is no need to continue it. During election campaign, when Modi went to J&K for the first time, he had raised this issue and emphasised the need to have a debate on it.
In Parliament, law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the Government will not force the Common Civil Code, but have a debate on it. The case of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is pending in the Supreme Court. The Government wants a speedy decision on it so that the issue can be resolved.
YOUNG CONGRESSMEN TAKE CHARGE
A third generation leadership is being readied in the Congress. Jyotiraditya Scindia has been made the chief whip in the lok Sabha. Behind him is a team of third generation leaders, which is playing the role of the Opposition in the House. In the first two weeks of the session, MPs created unruly scenes. These young leaders are said to be close to Rahul Gandhi.
Ravneet Singh Bittu, son of Punjab’s former CM Beant Singh, had won from two seats and is the most active Congress leader in Parliament. Apart from him, Gaurav Gogoi, son of Tarun Gogoi, and Rajiv Satav from Youth Congress are also participating actively. Satav is said to be close to Rahul. In fact, Rahul had instructed changing the seat with NCP for his ticket.
Though Mallikarjun Kharge is the leader of the Congress in lok Sabha and Amarinder Singh is the deputy leader, these young turks are leading the attack brigade. Most of the young leaders of Congress such as Jitin Prasada, Sachin Pilot, Milind Deora, RPN Singh and Sandeep Dikshit are not present in the House, so even younger leaders are getting a chance to carve out their niche.