After the decision on Telangana, the situation has turned worse. In many parts of the country, especially West Bengal and Assam, the movement for separate States has become intense. The Government is, therefore, looking for a way out. It is being said that the second State restructuring committee will soon be formed. The BJP, too, is not averse to the idea
Mulayam Singh Yadav is uncomfortable these days. He is afraid that he might lose his Muslim vote-bank in Uttar Pradesh to the Congress. That is the reason why he has made such a hue and cry over Sonia Gandhi’s letter to the Prime Minister, seeking ‘justice’ for the suspended IAS officer, Durga Shakti Nagpal. This is, however, not the only case in which the Samajwadi Party leader has put the Congress in the dock. He is even going to write a letter revealing that during the Babri Masjid episode the then President, Shankar Dayal Sharma, was well aware of the fact that the disputed site would be demolished.
Many find the charge objectionable, saying it’s not right to target a dead leader. This, however, does not concern Yadav, as he believes that the move will succeed in conveying the message to the Muslim community: That if the President of India was aware of the Babri Masjid demolition, then the Congress leaders couldn’t pretend to be unaware of it. In this context, it needs to be mentioned that Yadav had reminded a few days ago that it was he who had ordered the firing on karsevakas in his attempt to save the mosque!
TElANGANA AND THE CONGRESS
The decision to divide Andhra Pradesh and carve out Telangana has not gone down well within the Congress. So much so that when a Congress leader met his BJP counterpart in Parliament on the first day of the Monsoon session, he conceded that the decision was taken in haste. To this, the BJP leader reacted: “But you had been considering it for the last 60 years!”
It is believed that even the general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh was not in favour of the division. He had expressed his apprehensions in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. Sources say that Ambika Soni and Gurudas Kamat — two other general secretaries — had also raised questions on the decision of separate Telangana. Sushil Kumar Shinde and Kamal Nath, too, had opposed the move, saying it would ignite similar demands in other parts of the country. However, with the Congress Core Committee going ahead with the decision, the CWC had no option but to endorse it.
After the decision on Telangana, the situation has turned worse. In many parts of the country, especially West Bengal and Assam, the movement for separate States has become intense. The Government is, therefore, looking for a way out. It is being said that the second State restructuring committee will soon be formed. The BJP is not averse to the idea.
BJP’s ‘prime’ dilemma
The BJP has almost taken the decision that Narendra Modi would be its prime ministerial candidate. Both Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari have given sufficient indications in this respect. But the question is: When will his name be officially announcedIJ There is much dilemma in the BJP over this question. There seems to be two viewpoints at the moment in the party. One view is that Modi’s name should be announced in December. Supporters of this line say that if Modi’s name is announced before the notification of Assembly elections in the five States, then the BJP would be highly benefited.
The other view is in favour of announcing his name after the Assembly elections. Supporters of this view include Modi’s well-wishers as well as opponents. The well-wishers say that if the BJP doesn’t fare well in the Assembly elections then Brand Modi will weaken. His opponents are spreading the news that the Chief Ministers Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are among the five States that are going to the polls in November, don’t want Modi’s name to be announced beforehand. Modi’s opponents also feel that if Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Raman Singh make a comeback for the third time, then Modi’s prime ministerial claim could be challenged, if not curbed.
RSS FINE WITH MODI ElEVATION
The RSS has given its consent to the name of Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. The RSS is said to have given its green signal during the last meeting between the organisation and the BJP. There are, however, speculations that the decision has not been made public due to reservations of a few senior leaders in the party. One of them has used the argument of the Congress to stop the Modi bandwagon. It needs to be noted that the Congress has not yet announced its prime ministerial candidate. It is arguing that at present Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister and if the party announces some other name at the moment then Singh would be in an embarrassing position; the next general election, after all, is almost eight months away.
The contention of the senior BJP leader is that traditionally the leader of the Opposition is considered the prime ministerial candidate by the Opposition. In 2009, lK Advani was the leader of the Opposition and was the prime ministerial candidate as well. The argument, thus, is: If the BJP announces Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, then it would be a slight for the leader of Opposition.
The KEJRIWAl NIGHTMARE
This is a million-dollar question: Whose votes will Arvind Kejriwal cutIJ Or, who is going to be benefited by the Aam Aadmi Party’s presence in the electionsIJ A close aid of Nitin Gadkari, who is looking after the poll campaign in Delhi, has said that Kejriwal is cutting into the BJP’s vote-bank and helping the Congress. He divulges that the Congress, especially Sheila Dikshit, has given a lot of money to Kejriwal. He claims that Kejriwal is doing everything possible to stop the BJP from grabbing the anti-Congress votes.
Kejriwal and Dikshit, on the other hand, are challenging each other. Dikshit’s political secretary, Pawan Khera, has already filed a case against Kejriwal. Incidentally, Khera is believed to have played a key role in creating fissures between Anna Hazare and Kejriwal. As for the Congress, it believes that Kejriwal is going to cut into its votes among slum-dwellers, auto/taxi-wallahs and migrants. It must be noted that these are not traditional BJP vote-banks.
Ramesh’s JHARKHAND links
The Congress wants to keep the Jharkhand Government under control. While announcing the common minimum programme, then Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had said that the party would not interfere with the Hemant Soren Government’s affairs; the scenario, however, is different today. Ramesh and BK Hariprasad (the party’s general secretary in charge of Jharkhand) keep a close watch over the Government and its functioning.
Ramesh has been active in Jharkhand for a long time. He had once said that he would love to be named ‘Jairam Ramesh Munda’. Being instrumental in the making of the common minimum programme, Ramesh is today leaving no stone unturned to ensure its implementation. A coordination committee has been formed, with Hariprasad as its chairman, to look after the functioning of the Government. This is probably the first time that the committee made to oversee the State Government is in the hands of persons hailing from other States. Hariprasad is from Karnataka, while Ramesh comes from Andhra Pradesh. Many Congress bigwigs are not happy with this experiment, but are keeping mum. They know the committee has the blessing of the high command.