Has constant defeat silenced Congress CMs?

Constant defeat has snatched away the confidence of the Congress leaders. Right from the national leaders to the State chief ministers in the party are feeling low. CMs of regional parties are showing more might than the CMs of the Congress, and putting their agenda more forcefully before the Centre. Whereas CMs of the Congress are blindly accepting things put forth by the Centre. 

This must be noted that at the time of the UPA Government, CMs of the BJP ruled States used to target the Centre along with regional Kshatrapas for any policy related matter. CMs of Congress are not able to do that. They participated in the first meeting of NITI Aayog but their questions were not very emphatic. In fact, earlier they had publicly opposed the idea of NITI Aayog but in its first meeting they kept mum.

Of course, Mamata Banerjee showed guts and didn’t participate in the first meeting called by the Prime Minister. She didn’t even send any representative to participate in it. likewise, before the meeting, the Home Minister had called a meeting of CMs to discuss the Maoist issue. In that meeting too, CMs of Telangana and Odisha, K Chandra Shekhar Rao and Naveen Patnaik respectively, didn’t participate. Mamata Banerjee was absent too. So, whether it is an economic issue or a policy related issue or security related one, only regional kshatrapas are raising their voice. CMs of Congress ruled States — Oommen Chandy, Harish Rawat and Virbhadra Singh — are neither raising their voice nor being able to maintain coordination between the regional parties. 

RAHUl’s new team 

Though officially Rahul Gandhi is not the president of the Congress party, ,he has set up his own team. After the lok Sabha elections, it was rumoured that either the senior leaders were leaving the party or they were distancing themselves from active responsibilities. It was also being said that no new team was in place. But, now Congress sources say that Rahul has set up his new team. While working with Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi had set up his own team too but had kept some of the members from Indira’s team also but Rahul is making a team which would be completely his own. Though there are new and old leaders in his team, those who have worked closely either with Rajiv or Sonia are not in it. 

Some of the leaders who have been very active since the last few months like CP Joshi, Ajay Maken and Madhusudan Mistry are included in Rahul’s team. All of them have been working in Sonia’s team in the capacity of a general secretary. They were considered to be very close to Rahul and will be playing the most important role in his team. 

Apart from them, the whole youth brigade is in it too. Rahul has appointed some of his team mates as State presidents. Sachin Pilot, Ashok Tanwar, Arun Yadav and VM Sudheeran are State presidents of the Congress. Other members of the youth brigade — Deepender Hooda, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Milind Deora — are also active with Rahul and if Rahul becomes the party president, they will be certainly getting big responsibilities. Meenakshi Natarajan continues working with Rahul. It is speculated that apart from these leaders, Mohan Gopal and Sachin Rao are the prominent names working from behind the curtains. 

NEW EQUATION OF the BJP 

BJP is working on a new political equation in the country especially for southern and western States. It is said that the BJP leaders are talking with TRS leader K Chandra Shekhar Rao in Telangana. If an agreement is made between the parties, Rao’s party would be part of the NDA. In fact, Rao’s biggest concern is MIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi. Its clout is increasing in Telangana and if the scenario persists, Muslim voters would leave the TRS. And before that happens, Rao is trying to join the BJP brigade in which case, his daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha can become a minister at the Centre. 

likewise, PM Narendra Modi himself is trying for a new equation in Maharashtra. He has shared dais with NCP leader Sharad Pawar and has appreciated it a lot. There is speculation that in the election of the BMC there will be a dispute between the BJP and Shiv Sena over ticket distribution. Shiv Sena might then go alone and leave NDA. In that case, Pawar will help the BJP Government and NCP could become part of the central Government. Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule might become a minister at the Centre. In Tamil Nadu, BJP is setting up a front with the help of Captain Vijayakanth to fight against AIADMK and DMK. 

RSS OUT OF SlUMBERIJ 

Organisations like the RSS have woken up after the results of the Delhi elections. They have told their leaders not to make statements that could prove embarrassing for Modi. In fact, after the lok Sabha elections were over, statements from leaders of hardcore Hindu image had caused biggest harm to the Government. Right from Sakshi Maharaj to Sadhvi Prachi and Praveen Togadia to Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, their statements have put Modi in embarrassing situations. Reportedly, he tried to convey that those statements were inappropriate but persuading the leaders of the RSS was difficult. 

However, now it is being said that the international president of VHP, Raghava Reddy, has told his leaders not to make such statements. He has also said that that the people have given mandate to Narendra Modi for five years so the PM should be given full time to complete his work. But the question is; how much effective would be Reddy’s instructions on Ashok Singhal and Praveen TogadiaIJ VHP leaders will not go back from their agenda of ultra Hinduism. 

There is one other problem from labour and farmers’ organisations of the RSS. They, along with the left organisations, have started opposing the economic policies of the Central Government. It is said that Anna will be on fast on February 24 in Delhi against the land Acquisition Act and the organisations of RSS will extent full support to him. 

Will MANJHI FlOAT HIS PARTYIJ 

Will Jitan Ram Manjhi float his own partyIJ His style of politics indicates that he could float a new party and fight Assembly Elections. Close sources of Manjhi say that he can form a new party with the help of some of the MlAs of JDU and become a Dalit icon. Manjhi is hopeful that if he launches a separate party then BJP can go into alliance with him. 

It is being said that the first intention of the Manjhi style politics was to usurp JDU. He has appointed Rajiv Ranjan as the chief whip and will let him issue the whip to JDU MlAs to vote in support of the confidence motion presented by the CM. Almost 95 per cent of the MlAs will not follow the whip. They will follow the whip of Shravan Kumar who has been appointed by Nitish Kumar. In this situation, both the factions will demand to remove those who don’t follow the whip and claim the status of original the JDU. 

Probably, this claim will not sustain and after resigning from the CM post, Manjhi would float a separate party. This is the reason why he has included Mahadalits into Dalits. He wants to present himself as a Dalit icon. Though, it seems difficult that Ram Vilas Paswan and rest of the Mahadalits would come together but Manjhi is trying to solve every difficult task. He thinks that for 15 per cent of Dalit votes the BJP can go into alliance with him and in case of a triangular fight he can hit the jackpot. Otherwise, it is also being said that he may try to polarise Dalit votes in favour of the BJP and in lieu of this, some BJP leaders have promised him a gubernatorial post. 

INFIGHTING IN AAP 

Infighting has started in Arvind Kejriwal’s party. After winning the election in Delhi, a lot of skirmishing was there for the ministerial berth. Now there is some tension on whether there should be an extension of party in other States or notIJ The controversies which had been sidelined before the elections have now resurfaced. Before the election, Prashant Bhushan had raised questions over the selection of candidates but they were buried at that time. Now, probably this question is being raised in the party; should AAP accept defection like the other parties and let the tainted candidates joinIJ 

The other controversy is related to the question of extension of the party outside Delhi. The think tank of the party, Yogendra Yadav, has been continuously saying that AAP is not a regional party. He is also saying that the motive of AAP is to provide an option to the people at a national level. last time, when AAP performed well in Delhi, it was Yadav who had coaxed the party to go country wide. 

So, this time Kejriwal is not paying attention to his theory. He has warned Yadav right from the dais at Ramlila Maidan. Kejriwal said, “Some people in our party are saying that we will be fighting in five or 10 States; this is pride and not good”. But the very next day in an interview, Yadav said that in the next four or five years AAP would extend itself in four States. There is some apprehension that there will be a serious controversy regarding this issue in the coming days.