A leader said though party veterans hold Rahul responsible for the defeat in lok Sabha Elections, the fact is that he was never allowed to work as he wanted. His experiments were tried in limited ways and even stopped sometimes. Even for ticket distribution, Rahul’s formula was ignored and at many places, old candidates were repeated
Rahul Gandhi, the vice-president of the Congress, is not taking much interest in the day-to-day affairs of the party organisation. Sources in the party say that right from ticket distribution to campaigning, Rahul had always taken part in the routine affairs. leaders close to him say he doesn’t want to work in the current setup. He wants a free hand for his experiments but Sonia wants to maintain a balance between the old and new.
A leader said though the party’s veterans are holding Rahul responsible for the defeat in lok Sabha Elections, the fact is that he was never allowed to work as he wanted. His experiments were tried in limited ways and were even stopped sometimes. Even for ticket distribution, his formula was ignored and at many places, old candidates were repeated.
Rahul didn’t want to either give tickets to tainted people nor have any alliance with tainted parties. Even now, he wants that his democratic experiments must be preferred and new faces should be roped in. The meeting of general secretaries of the party is scheduled on November 20 and possibly, there will be discussion on this issue.
AllIANCE SCENARIO IN BIHAR
All is not well with the grand alliance of the RJD, JDU and Congress in Bihar. Some days ago, there was a controversy regarding which party — JDU or RJD — was larger and which would get more seats in the next election. The issue was raised by senior leader of RJD and former central minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Now, he has raised the issue of leadership and has said that Nitish Kumar is not the leader of the grand alliance. RJD leaders are not sure whether Raghuvansh Babu is saying this or lalu Prasad Yadav has given any indication to him.
Some of the RJD leaders say Raghuvansh Babu wants to become the leader of the grand alliance and that is why he has given this statement. Others say a campaign in favour of Nitish has started in the JDU and that is the reason why lalu is following the strategy to target him.
Recently, Jitan Ram Manjhi said Nitish is a natural leader and will become Chief Minister again. Seeing the situation in Bihar, there is speculation that Nitish will take the command again. On the other hand, he has also become active in national politics. So, the leaders of RJD have started creating pressure. They think if Nitish becomes the CM again and aims to enter national politics after improving the situation, then the people will automatically vote for him.
BIG BROTHER role for BJPIJ
New leadership of the BJP is trying to put the party in the big brother’s role and party leaders feel this will be a reality soon. Though the BJP is following this strategy after forming the Government at the Centre, the process had started much earlier. In Bihar, the party had played a big brother’s role after breaking away from the JDU. Interestingly, the BJP had been active there as JDU’s team B for the past 17 years. But just before the lok Sabha Elections, Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha became the team B of the BJP and thus the JDU and RJD were decimated in the State.
The strategy was taken forward in Maharashtra and Haryana. In Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena wanted to play big brother’s role and in Haryana, HJC wanted the same. The BJP broke ties with both parties and fought alone in the two States. Party leaders feel that the Shiv Sena and HJC would be finished in this election and then the BJP will automatically come to rule; the number of seats will not matter. The BJP will follow the same politics in Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir. It is said that even in Telangana and Tamil Nadu, the party wants to assume the same role.
lAST bid ON BlACK MONEY
PM Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitely are said to be worried about the ongoing campaign against black money. The Opposition has only one issue left against the Modi Government and that is of black money. The Government claims that inflation is under control now and the growth rate will soon see an upward trend. It is also claiming that the economy is back on track and the PM has started many schemes which are being appreciated by the people. But the Opposition is still raking up the black money issue.
So, the Government has decided to take some firm decisions on the issue. Of course, the SIT has been formed for this but the Government can’t boast of that all the time, so it is planning something more. The Modi Government is planning to send a high-level delegation to Switzerland. The officials of the team will seek information on the accounts of Indians in Swiss banks. It is said that there are around 700 accounts where black money of Indians are deposited. Though Indian officials are not sure whether the Swiss Government will provide information, the team is going to Switzerland as a last effort. If the team gets even little success, it will be a big boost for the Modi Government.
CONG AND MEMBERS OF NAC
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi followed the advice of the members of erstwhile National Advisory Council (NAC) and campaigned in Haryana and Maharashtra. Though this time, they didn’t use the slogan ‘Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath’, the campaigning tone was the same.
When Aruna Roy, who was a member of Sonia’s NAC, alleged that the Modi Government was weakening the schemes, especially MNREGA, which was meant for the poor, both Rahul and Sonia made it an issue during the election campaign. likewise, when one of the members of erstwhile NAC gave a report on the land acquisition of tribes, Sonia and Rahul opposed the agenda of the Modi Government to ease the land acquisition rules. In their rallies, Sonia and Rahul raised the issue of price hike of medicines and weakening of food security Bill; interestingly all these were taken from the advice of old members of NAC. Following the same agenda, the Congress claimed that it was a pro-poor party.
MINISTERIAl BeRTH claimS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously attacking favouritism and nepotism. This issue was raised by Modi during the election campaign. That is why it was being claimed that a descendant of any BJP leader will not get any berth in the Modi Government. But at the same time, reportedly, sons of some of veterans are in the race. There is speculation that before the winter session, Modi will make changes in his Cabinet, and the names of the sons of three big leaders are doing the rounds.
It is said that Jayant Sinha, son of former minister Yashwant Sinha, can be given a ministerial berth. This will be done keeping an eye on the Jharkhand elections and Jayant’s expertise on economic and financial matters. It is also being said that since Yashwant is going to retire, there is no problem in paving way for his son.
likewise, Anurag Thakur, son of Himachal’s former CM PK Dhumal, can be made a minister. He is very active as the young face of the BJP. Dushyant, son of Vasundhara Raje, is also said to be a candidate for a ministerial berth. But the party is not sure about any of them as the decision has to be taken by Modi.
THAROOR’s fate uncertain
A formal complaint for action has been filed against Congress MP and former minister Shashi Tharoor. Kerala Congress Committee has sent the formal complaint and Congress leadership has forwarded it to the disciplinary committee for consideration. Motilal Vora and AK Antony are members of this committee. But it is said that the advice of Antony will be followed in Tharoor’s case. Sources say Sonia is not in favour of any action against Tharoor. She has even talked to Antony about this as this is related to his State.
It is said that Antony too has advised not to take any action against Tharoor, who had praised Modi and accepted his invitation to join Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The issue will be discussed and then a warning can be issued to Tharoor. It is said that he can be instructed not to overindulge in Modi’s cleanliness campaign. Tharoor also knows this so till date he has not disclosed the names of the nine persons he wants to add. There is a possibility that he will not go forward and the party will spare him after a warning.