The Samajwadi Party seems to be moving ahead from the Muslim and Yadav equation. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav are seemingly changed men, and are trying to woo the majority Hindu voters. Mulayam and other SP leaders are confident that in Uttar Pradesh, Muslims don’t have any other option than SP to stop the BJP. In Delhi, recently an audio tape surfaced in which Arvind Kejriwal was heard saying that Muslims would come to AAP to stop the BJP, so there was no need to give more tickets to them.
That is the reason why Mulayam expressed regret on a 25 year old incident. last Monday, on the occasion of Ram Manohar lohia’s birth anniversary, Mulayam said that it was not a good decision to give the order of firing on kar sevaks in 1990. At that time, 16 kar sevaks were shot during police firing. Expressing regret over that decision is an indication of a change in Mulayam’s politics.
The Akhilesh Government in UP is also taking a pro-Hindu approach. On the lines of Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s scheme of pilgrimage for senior citizens, Akhilesh has started a Samajwadi Shravan Yatra. Under this scheme, senior citizens would be sent for pilgrimage. Akhilesh has also started a scheme in which Rs10,000 will be given for Sindhu Darshan and Rs50,000 for Mansarovar Darshan. To develop Mathura and Vrindavan, Akhilesh Government has constituted a Braj Planning and Development Board.
CONG PlANS FARMER RAllY
The Congress is planning a big farmer rally in Delhi to be led by Rahul Gandhi. It will be held at the Ramlila Maidan on April 12, just before the start of the second spell of the Budget Session. Sources in the Congress say that Rahul will return in the end of this month. Congress leaders say the issue of land acquisition is dear to Rahul. The land Acquisition Bill of the UPA, which is being changed by the present Government, was prepared under his supervision.
Recently, former Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, who was instrumental in formulating the Bill, did padyatra from Bhatta Parsaul to Delhi, and then Congress leaders staged a massive protest at Jantar Mantar. This protest was held with the help of the Youth Congress. The new president of Youth Congress, Amrinder Singh Raja Brar, managed the crowd for the padyatra and protest.
For the rally in Delhi too, leaders of the Youth Congress are working hard. Apart from them, leaders of Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab Congress are also working for the rally. leaders of Rahul’s team — Ajay Maken, Deepender Hooda, Sachin Pilot and Raja Amrinder — have been assigned special responsibilities. In fact, through this rally, the Congress wants to show the strength of the party as well that of Rahul.
SUSPENSE ON ORDINANCE
The Ordinance, which was put in place to make changes in the land Acquisition Act, will come to an end on April 5. There is a big suspense on what the Government would do after that. The Bill has been passed by the lok Sabha but is stuck in Rajya Sabha, and it seems difficult that it would get passed there. The Government could manage to get it passed in the first leg of the Budget Session. Even in the second leg of the session, the Government is not sure about getting it passed. After seeing the unity of the Opposition on this issue, the Government has to think about various options. The Joint Session of Parliament is one option. But that too will be opted when the session of Parliament comes to an end. But in this situation, what would happen to the land Acquisition Reform ActIJ
Will the Government put the Ordinance againIJ Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, advised the Government for the same. He said the Congress had done the same thing when it was in power at the Centre. Azad also said the Government mustn’t hurry on the issue and the Ordinance cannot be put in place the second time. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu has said the Government will certainly pay heed to the suggestion.
But to issue an Ordinance it is necessary that Parliament must not be in session. That is why there is the question: Is the Government going to end the session and then start it afreshIJ There are various speculations on this. Some experts say the Government would allow the Ordinance to lapse. The Ordinance has a special quality — decisions taken would be valid in the period when it was in force. So the Government would allow it to lapse. And if the Government can’t manage to get the Bill passed in the second leg, a fresh ordinance will be issued and then the Joint Session will be called.
UP, BIHAR WORRY BJP
Elections in Bihar are scheduled at the end of this year, while UP will see elections in 2017. Before that, the BJP has to strengthen its organisation in both States. There was a serious discussion on the two States in the recently held meeting between the RSS and BJP. leaders of the party feel that though the membership in UP has crossed one crore but its organisation is not very strong. There is hardly any leader in the districts who can start a big movement against the Akhilesh Government. All veterans have either retired or have taken place at a Raj Bhawan.
In Bihar also, the organisation of the BJP is not very strong. The reason is that the party broke its 17-year-old alliance with the JDU. Though party leaders have tried to resurrect the organisation in the past two years, the leadership is so split that no concrete work has been done. leaders of the State have tried to strengthen the organisation in their own areas, but there is no strong leader to counter Nitish Kumar and lalu Prasad Yadav. The party has not been able to create a leadership like Jitan Ram Manjhi. In Bihar, the membership drive is derailed too, and a lot of efforts will be needed to bring things back on track.
OBC POlITICS OF BJP
It seems that BJP President Amit Shah has understood the political fabric of Bihar. That is why he has started a politics on the same lines of social engineering the party had followed in UP. Though this is also true that the party had not benefitted much from that. This time, the BJP is thinking about working on a mix of social engineering and Hindutva. Since, Narendra Modi is an MP from Uttar Pradesh, this scheme can be successful. However, last week Shah participated in a rally at Varanasi which was organised by former SP leader Anil Rajbhar. From that stage, Shah tried to polarise Yadav vs other backward castes.
In the rally, without taking the name of Yadavs, Shah said the benefit of reservation has gone to only one caste. BJP leaders feel that barring Yadavs, they can woo the other backward castes. The party has two big leaders, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti, from the lodha community. Since the BJP has an alliance with Apna Dal, it is expected that Patel voters of Purvanchal will support the BJP. The other backward castes have also got a message from Shah in Varanasi.
But will the BJP change its strategy in BiharIJ In Bihar, it is giving preference to Yadav leaders. Bhupendra Yadav has been made in-charge of the State. Nand Kishore Yadav is the leader of the Opposition in Assembly, and Ram Kripal Yadav has been made minister at the Centre. In fact, the BJP feels that in UP, Yadav voters will not ditch Samajwadi Party, but in Bihar, Yadavs can move away from the RJD. So, the BJP is working on separate strategies for both States.
MAHARASHTRA BROTHERHOOD
There is a strange brotherhood among the politicians of Maharashtra. Before the lok Sabha Elections, Anjali Damania had made certain revelations about Nitin Gadkari. She had said that when Gadkari was the BJP president, she had gone to him with some news against Sharad Pawar. According to her, Gadkari outrightly refused to take up the issue since Pawar was his friend. Damania claimed this caused a controversy but Gadkari stuck to what he said.
The same brotherhood is being seen in the byelections held at Bandra East. Congress leader Narayan Rane met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and requested not to field any candidate, to which Pawar instantly agreed. In fact, Rane has lost from his traditional seat and wants to reach the Assembly at any cost. He was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and is a Maratha leader, so Pawar supported him. Though this is also true that Pawar’s party has broken its alliance with the Congress and is hobnobbing with the BJP.
On the other hand, the BJP has shown same brotherhood for the Shiv Sena. A seat fell vacant after the death of Shiv Sena MlA Bala Sawant and the party fielded his wife from there. So, the BJP decided not to field any candidate from there. Similarly, BJP’s alliance partner RPI has also decided not to field any candidate from the seat.