Apart from the National Herald case — in which the problems of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are mounting — party leaders are getting caught up in one or the other legal issue. This fury of the Congress is bound to affect the legislative works in Parliament, which is why Modi’s parliamentary managers are worried
It’s not unusual for Congress leaders to be miffed with the BJP and the Central Government. Apart from the National Herald case — in which the problems of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are mounting — party leaders are getting caught up in one or the other legal issue. This fury of the Congress is bound to affect the legislative works in Parliament, which is why parliamentary managers of Narendra Modi’s Government are worried.
A senior Congress leader is believed to have told one parliamentary manager that if Modi had needed the Congress’ help in legislative matters, then he would have compelled Subramanian Swamy to keep aside the National Herald issue. Another senior leader said that on one hand the Government needs the support of the Congress and on the other, raids are conducted on the companies of friends of P Chidambaram’s son Karti.
The matter involving Robert Vadra has also infuriated Congress leaders. First, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar vowed that Vadra will be sent to jail within six months, and then Haryana Government extended the tenure of Justice SN Dhingra Committee for six months. Probably Justice Dhingra will summon Vadra for investigation.
The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, and Preneet Kaur, wife of Captain Amarinder Singh, are also in trouble.
MINISTERS TO MEET lEADERS
The effect of Bihar elections is still being seen on the working of the BJP. It is being said that the party is gearing up to fix the rough edges. In Bihar, workers and local leaders of the party had raised the issue of “ego” of Central leaders and ministers. They had complained that senior leaders didn’t meet them and that they were not heard.
So, it is now being said that Central ministers would give more importance to party MPs, leaders and workers. The time for a meeting is also being fixed; the ministers will meet the leaders at fixed time. And apart from that if any MP or leader wants to meet a minister, they can do so. The old decision to make ministers sit at party headquarters is being implemented again.
After the results of Bihar, many statements came from local party leaders and this step is being taken to stop that. Senior leaders feel that if Central ministers meet the MPs and other leaders on a regular basis, they would get an outlet and would not make such public statements, which send a wrong message to party workers. In fact, the BJP wants to be extra careful in Uttar Pradesh. So, many more changes are likely to be made in the near future.
lAlU ClARIFICATION ON MISA
Recently, former CM of Bihar, Rabri Devi, and Deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav clarified that no decision has been taken to give the command of Bihar RJD to Misa Bharti. Iliyas Hussain, a close associate of lalu Prasad Yadav, had demanded that Misa should be made the State President. Now the question is whether this is only a rumour or is the Yadav family really thinking about thisIJ Reliable sources say that when the new Government was being formed in Bihar, there was discussion that Misa should be included in that. But that didn’t happen. Now it is being said that Rabri will go to Rajya Sabha next year. That means there is no chance that Misa will become an MP. In this scenario, she has only one option: She can become an MlC, and she would surely not be happy about that.
On the other hand, there is a bigger problem. If Misa is made the State President of RJD, then all posts of the party will be occupied by family members only. lalu is the National President of the party and Rabri is the leader of legislative Council. Tejaswi is the RJD legislature Party leader in Assembly and also the Deputy CM of Bihar. The other son of lalu, Tej Pratap, is also a minister.
At present, Ramchandra Purve — who had lost the Assembly Elections in a close fight — is the State President of RJD. He can be accommodated in the Government and can be given a ministerial berth. In this situation, the post of RJD State President will be vacant. That is why there are speculations that Misa could be the next party chief. lalu could also give the charge to an OBC leader.
DRAMA OVER DOCUMENTS
There can be a tussle between the Ministry of Culture and the Congress over some private documents of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Almost all documents related to them are currently with the Nehru Memorial Museum and library. For some time now, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust has been demanding the documents related to Indira, but the managers of Nehru museum are not sending them back. Similarly, there are many private documents related to Nehru, which could cause a controversy.
The management of Nehru museum has recently changed. Mahesh Rangarajan, who had been appointed the Nehru memorial chief during the UPA Government tenure, has been removed. An executive committee has been set up, which includes many pro-BJP members. That is why it is being said that it would not be easy to bring the documents out of the museum. It is also being claimed that the documents are the property of the museum. Though it is true that no researcher can see the documents without the permission of the Gandhi family.
So, the management argues that the Congress or the Gandhi family need not worry about the documents because no one can see them without their permission. However, the Congress is apprehensive that some documents could be leaked.
For years, many researchers and scholars have wanted to see some documents related to Nehru. While writing his autobiography, journalist Kuldip Nayar wanted to see the letters which were exchanged between Nehru and lady Edwina Mountbatten, and had sought permission from Sonia through Natwar Singh, but didn’t succeed. He wrote that after becoming the PM, Nehru daily wrote a letter to lady Mountbatten, and these were sent by an Air India flight to london. Some of the private and political letters of Indira are also with the museum.
ON THE RIGHT TRACKIJ
Not long ago Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had promised several key reforms. However, rail journey is only getting costlier, and questions are being raised on the Modi Government. Both Prabhu and the Modi Government are on the radar of social media.
It’s true that Prabhu is not increasing the fares directly, but he is taking other measures. Concession for children aged between 5 and 12 is now over. This means there will be full ticket for children in this age group. Earlier, children got full berth on 50 per cent discount. People are angry with this decision and are reacting on social media.
Before this, ticket cancellation was made costlier. According to the new rules, if you cancel a confirmed ticket of sleeper class 48 hours before the departure of the train, you will be charged `60; earlier the charge was `30.
In the same manner, for AC three, cancellation charges have been increased from `90 to `180. If confirmed tickets are not cancelled four hours before the departure of train, there will be no refund. Earlier, tickets could be cancelled four hours before the train departure.
All EYES ON SIDHU
All eyes are on cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu now that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has invited him to join AAP. Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur have not taken any decision on the offer yet. Navjot is a BJP MlA in Punjab, whereas Sidhu is a three-time MP from Amritsar. last time, Arun Jaitley fought on his seat but didn’t win.
It is being said that the BJP had promised Sidhu that the Amritsar seat would be vacated, but till now no space has been made for him. He is working as a guest in various commentary and comedy shows. Though he had campaigned for the BJP after the lok Sabha Elections, he didn’t get any post in the party. Reliable sources say he was promised the post of State President in Punjab, but now the party is not ready for this.
Now, speculations are that he will be made a member of the Minority Commission. But probably he is not happy with that. His supporters feel that this will be a small post for him.
Navjot has expressed unhappiness with the party several times. In this scenario, AAP feels that if Sidhu and his wife join the party, they will benefit from it. AAP may project Sidhu as its CM candidate, and he could be made the State President as soon as he joins the party. That is why BJP leaders are apprehensive. They feel that Sidhu can change his mind, but his close sources say he is not in the mood to leave the party. He is still hopeful that Modi and Jaitley will do something for him.