leaders who are a part of Rahul Gandhi’s team are gearing up for the modifications. There are speculations that most of the old veterans or General Secretaries won’t find a place in his team. Sources in the Congress say that the appointment of officials and restructuring of CWC will be done afresh
There has been a long-standing debate in the Congress that Rahul Gandhi should be given the command of the party and the organisation should be restructured according to the Kamaraj Plan. The plan suggests that senior Congress leaders should resign from their posts and devote all their energy to the revitalisation of the party.
leaders who are a part of Rahul’s team are gearing up for the modifications. There are speculations that
most of the old veterans and General Secretaries won’t find a place in Rahul’s team. Sources in the Congress say that the appointment of officials and restructuring of CWC will be done afresh. It won’t be done like it was in the past — keep some old faces and include some new ones. This time, all General Secretaries will be removed and not more than one or two will return.
In the same manner, CWC will be divided into two parts and will be made more effective. Probably, a small team will be set up and a meeting will be called soon. There will be 10 leaders close to Rahul in that small team. There are rumours that a Margdarshak Mandal will be set up on the lines of the BJP body. If it doesn’t happen then the old veterans of the party will find place in CWC as special invitees, and meeting of those leaders will be held seldom.
Sources say in the new set-up, a coterie can be formed with leaders like Ajay Maken, Randeep Surjewala, Jitendra Singh, Milind Deora and K Raju, and they will undoubtedly have the most effective role in the organisation. Rest of the leaders of Rahul’s youth brigade will play politics in States.
TIME FOR ANOTHER SPlITIJ
Gurudas Kamat has left the Congress, Ajit Jogi is going to launch a new party, in Tripura, six MlAs of the party have joined TMC, and Meghalaya’s CM Mukul Sangma has written to Sonia and Rahul that the party can face revolt in the State any time. But despite all these upheavals, changes will happen in the Congress according to the plan. Soon, Rahul will take command of the party and will start working after forming his team. The party will not maintain status quo under any pressure.
Sources in the Congress say that the top leadership has discussed the crises the party is facing in various States. Top leaders have decided that there is no question of buckling under pressure. A senior leader said whenever a new party President has taken over, the party has seen a split. The Congress has a history of facing defection more than the Janata Parivar has faced rebellion.
When Sonia took charge of the party, Sharad Pawar left and formed his own party; later Mamata Banerjee also formed her own party. later, YS Jaganmohan Reddy also followed suit. When PV Narasimha Rao had become President of the Congress, Tiwari Congress had been formed. GK Moopanar and K Karunakaran had also formed their own party. When Indira Gandhi had taken command, the party had split into two. That is why this phenomenon is not new for the Congress.
NO TAKERS FOR CONGRESS
Many leaders of the Congress, including Digvijaya Singh, are trying to bring back leaders who were once a part of the party. But probably nobody will return except Jaganmohan Reddy. Sources say that the party leaders have tried their best but no kshatrapa is ready to rejoin the Congress. Jagan might return under compulsion, but that too when the Congress gives him full command of Andhra Pradesh like it was during the YSR regime. In fact, more than one dozen of his MlAs have joined TDP, and that is the reason why he is trying to stick to a strong pillar.
Apart from that, Digvijaya Singh had talked about Sharad Pawar and Mamata, but neither is ready. Pawar has some reservations about the UPA also, but he wants to continue with the alliance as long as Sonia is in command. He doesn’t want any political talk with Rahul. So, as long as he is the President of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the merger of his party and the Congress will not be possible.
As far as Mamata is concerned, she is also angry with Rahul. He had made some personal attacks on her and had ensured that no Congress leader attended her oath-taking ceremony. Ambika Soni was supposed to go, but Rahul cancelled that plan.
BJP’S CAMPAIGN FOR UP
The BJP has started its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kickstarted it with his rallies. But more importantly, Amit Shah has started the ground preparations. He has started meeting leaders and party workers and is also focusing on the preparation of candidates’ list. It is said that all sitting MlAs will get tickets. The party is also seriously thinking about the candidates who were on the second position in the last elections. Sources say the party is almost decided on candidates for nearly 100 seats.
In the past two years, in-charge General Secretary of UP, Om Mathur, has identified almost all the candidates. The local RSS leaders have also given their feedback. Now, Shah has to take the final decision. Probably, Mathur will be election in-charge and head of campaign committee, but the real command will be in Shah’s hands.
The party has divided the State into six parts and has assigned responsibility of each part to a senior leader. All these leaders will directly report to Shah. It is also being said that he will not campaign like he did in Bihar, but will nevertheless be active like he was during the lok Sabha Elections.
NATIONAl EXECUTIVE agenda
The agenda for BJP’s National Executive meeting scheduled in Allahabad is extensive. Right from election preparation to changes in the organisation will be discussed. In all probability, the Presidential and UP CM candidates will also be discussed. In July 2017, Presidential elections will be held but the process will start much before that. That is why it is being said that the BJP will discuss the names of probable candidates in this National Executive. Pranab Mukherjee is not keen on a second term, so there is no discussion on his name.
Sources say this is the first time when a Swayamsevak might get a chance to become the First Citizen of the country, so the party might not think about any other candidate. That is why names such as Amitabh Bachchan and NR Narayana Murthy have been rejected. lK Advani is the most probable candidate for the post. Apart from Advani, MM Joshi and Sumitra Mahajan will also be considered. As far as Sharad Pawar, Parkash Singh Badal, Thawar Chand Gehlot and Najma Heptulla are concerned, they can be considered for the post of Vice-President. The issue of CM candidate of UP is more complicated. So the party might not declare any name right away and could wait till August.
khadse resignation drama
Many BJP leaders were of the view that there was no need for Eknath Khadse’s resignation. Their claim was based on the experience of the past two years. They believed that despite serious allegations, there was no action against Nihal Chand. Same was the case with Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh were facing allegations in Vyapam and rice scams but no action was taken against them. Even in Maharashtra, Vinod Tawde and Pankaja Munde were embroiled in controversies.
But the speculations fell flat when BJP President Amit Shah summoned Devendra Fadnavis and sought a report on Khadse, after which Shah directed the Maharashtra CM to take the resignation of his minister. Sources say there were mainly two reasons behind this move — UP elections being the first and foremost. The BJP is going to fight UP elections on the issues of corruption and law and order, and could not have found a better opportunity than this to show its uprighteousness. The other main reason is that Khadse was at loggerheads with Fadnavis. He was the strongest candidate for the CM post. That may be why Fadnavis didn’t try to save him.