A number of power centres have come up within the Congress. Earlier, there was only 10, Janpath. Now, even 7m Race Course Road has emerged as a power centre. On many issues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made his preference clear, especially on the appointment of his Ministers.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s residence at 12, Tughlaq lane has become another focal point. Political decisions taken in the last two or three weeks have emphasised the strength of this power centre. Many political ambitions are now hovering around this point.
Yet another power point is the Congress’ office at Gurdwara Rakabganj Road. In all probability, Team Rahul will sit here and many Ministers, leaving their posts will, work out of this office for the 2014 General Election.
Meanwhile, some Congress leaders want to bring Priyanka Vadra into focus as well. They believe that this time, Priyanka will become an MP and emerge an important power centre.
Homeward boundIJ
The left parties are trying to rectify the blunders made in the past. The CPM has chalked out a plan to woo its veterans back into the party fold. Due attention is being paid to the fact that no wrong message should be conveyed to party workers.
Therefore, senior leaders took an initiative to patch things up between VS Achutananadan and P Vijayan.
Attempts are also being made to bring back leaders who had said their goodbyes to one another. MV Raghavan, State secretary, is being wooed. Efforts to bring back KR Gouri, who was once a strong contender for the Chief Minister’s post, are being made. like Kerala, the West Bengal CPM unit is creating pressure to take former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee back into the party. Chatterjee has been invited to many party functions and given lectures. But due to CPM leader Prakash Karat’s tough stance, Chatterjee’s return has not happened till date.
But the party is hopeful that Chatterjee will come to its rescue just before the 2014 elections. The party is also trying to persuade former Central Committee member Saifuddin Chowdhury to make a comeback.
Mid-term talk
Though there is a full year to go to the General Election, the nation seems to be all set for the polls. Almost all political parties are convinced that there will be mid-term polls. Party leaders say that the upcoming second phase of the Budget session on April 22, 2013 will be the last session of this Parliament.
leaders expecting the General Election in November-December this year say that the Monsoon Session will not be held. That is the reason why the Government is in a hurry to get all pending Bills passed in the second half of the Budget session.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP’s Mayawati have been talking of mid-term polls though both have said they will continue to support the UPA-II Government.
Why the talk of early pollsIJ Sources say that the scenario is likely to change rapidly after the Karnataka Assembly elections early next month. The Congress is confident of a big win in the State. The counting is on May 8, 2013 and that’s when the Budget Session ends.
Talk is that the lok Sabha may be dissolved after the session and election dates announced. Parties like the BJP, the SP and the BSP are not buying the tall claims being made by the Congress that the lok Sabha elections will be held as scheduled. This is because the Congress has already set up an Election Campaign Committee.
Reddy & star-struck
YSR Congress party, headed by Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy, is in Chanchalguda jail. The CBI has filed a new chargesheet against him. But his popularity has not gone down. With the 2014 lok Sabha elections round the corner, the number of leaders wishing to join his party is increasing.
Recently, Rampur MP Jayaprada expressed her wish to join his party and contest from the Rajahmundry seat. When a no-confidence motion against the UPA-II took place, nine Congress MlAs voted in favour of Jagan’s party and all are set to join him now.
Meanwhile, Telugu star Allari Naresh has expressed his wish to join the YSR Congress. Naresh, at present, is associated with the BJP.
Even Srihari had gone to the Chanchalguda jail to meet Jagan Mohan. Rumour has it that he, too, wants to join the YSR Congress. Four films stars — Roja, Giri Babu, Vijay Chandran and Raja have already joined the party.
The TDP leader and film producer K Siva Prasad also wishes to join Jagan’s party. Popular actor Krishna’s brother G Adishesha Giri Rao is warming up to YSR Congress.
Gen-x leaders
Almost all senior Congress leaders are following the path shown by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit — they are doing the ground work to launch their sons into politics. Around a dozen Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) leaders have forwarded the names of their sons as probable contenders in the Assembly election scheduled at the end of this year.
Senior leader Sajjan Kumar, whose brother Ramesh Kumar is already an MP, now wants to see his son as an MlA. He is eying four seats — Palam or Shakurbasti being the favoured seats.
likewise, former Delhi Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Prem Singh also wants to field his son in the Assembly elections. However, his son had lost the local elections.
Mahabal Mishra, a strong contender for the post of DPCC president, wants a ticket for his son Vinay Mishra. last time, his relative had contested from the Nasirpur seat, a seat that he had vacated, but she was defeated.
Other leaders like Mukesh Sharma, Raj Kumar Chauhan, Mangat Ram Singhal and Yoganand Shastri also want tickets for their sons. Even Woman and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath wants a ticket for her daughter.
In poll mode
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is in full poll mode after parting ways with the UPA-II. last year, when the Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the UPA-II, there was no talk of mid-term polls. But with DMK’s withdrawal, there is buzz about UPA-II’s fall and early elections.
The DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin is already in talks with his partymen. He is making a list of probable candidates and talking to alliance partners.
Interestingly, while he has taken charge of Tamil Nadu, Madurai — a stronghold of his elder brother MK Alagiri — has been left untouched.
Even the ruling AIADMK is preparing for mid-term polls. Recently, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa sent four of her Cabinet Ministers on an extensive tour of the entire State. These Ministers went to all the districts and prepared a list of probable candidates. They also have sorted out pending issues and grievances in these areas. But the Congress is yet to start its work. Sources say that the party is still looking for alliance partners. Since the DMK and the AIADMK will fight it alone, the Congress is eying smaller regional parties.
TAlE OF 3 STATES & a SEAT
The question doing the rounds in political circles is — from how many places will Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi fight the 2014 lok Sabha electionIJ First, there was speculation that he would fight from UP. So, a survey was done for the lucknow and Varanasi seats. Huge posters of Modi were put in the State capital.
Political analysts said that the BJP would benefit from 80 seats in UP, if Modi fought from lucknow — the seat from where former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to contest.
There then was talk that Modi will contest from the Ahmedabad seat as well because he wants the BJP to get all seats in Gujarat. Now, speculation has it that Modi will contest from Bihar too!
Meanwhile, BJP national president Rajnath Singh has included around a dozen leaders from Bihar in his team. The State has been given priority due to the controversy between Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Many BJP leaders feel that if the party parts ways with the JD(U) and Modi fights from Bihar, it will give a major boost to the party’s State unit.
Sources say that Shatrughan Sinha was all for Modi but suddenly did an about-turn when he came to know that the Gujarat Chief Minister may contest from the Patna seat, which at present belongs to Sinha.