Mulayam is worried about the Assembly Elections in UP and the next lok Sabha Elections. He is of the view that if the grand alliance defeats the BJP, then in the next elections Nitish will emerge as the messiah of secularism and be leader of third or federal front. In that case, there will be no place for Mulayam
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav doesn’t want to see the victory of the grand alliance, which includes Nitish Kumar and lalu Prasad Yadav, and is trying his best to ensure this. Firstly, he didn’t allow the merger of parties in the Janata family, and then broke away from grand alliance to form a third front. After that, he started campaigning in Bihar against the grand alliance and is now praising the BJP. Mulayam has called Nitish a deceiver and raised questions on his secularism.
Now, the question is why is Mulayam really doing thisIJ The common thought is that he is worried about the CBI and that is why he is compelled to support the BJP. It is being said that Mulayam’s entire family could face problems in engineer Yadav Singh corruption case. This might be one of the causes, but this can’t be the decisive cause of politics of leaders like Mulayam.
It is being said that Mulayam is worried about the Assembly Elections in UP and the next lok Sabha Elections. He is of the view that if the grand alliance defeats the BJP, then in the next elections Nitish will emerge as the messiah of secularism and be leader of third or federal front. In that case, there will be no place for Mulayam. What is also bothering him is that if the BJP doesn’t win in Bihar then its agenda will change in UP. In that case, the BJP will make all efforts for polarisation from Muzaffarnagar to Varanasi, and might revive the Ram temple issue, which will certainly pose problems for the Samajwadi Party.
CONG lEADERS UNDER lENS
These days, the Congress high command is worried about the future of its leaders. Many leaders are under the scanner of Central agencies, and some might even land up in jail. Central agencies are digging out issues of corruption which had tarnished the image of the party, and it will have to issue clarification on the same issues once again.
The most recent is the inquiry of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament. PAC criticised the UPA Government for its role in the CWG scam. Its sub-committee is also preparing a report, which could implicate former Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi and former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit.
There is also news that recently the CBI raided a renowned company and seized some documents. These documents show that transaction of money was done during the UPA Government’s tenure to grant permission for environmental clearance. Now, the CBI will investigate all environmental permissions granted by the UPA Government. The only relief for the Congress is that Jayanthi Natarajan, who was in controversy for environmental clearance, is not with the party. This must be noted that during the lok Sabha campaign, Narendra Modi had rhetorically used the term ‘Jayanthi tax’ for her. Several such issues can come to the front again.
NEW ROlES FOR RAHUl
Rahul Gandhi is being promoted in his party in a gradual manner. He is not being given responsibilities of the party president, rather his responsibilities are being increased gradually. When he became the Congress general secretary, he was also given the charge of the Youth Congress and NSUI. As general secretary, his father, late Rajiv Gandhi, held responsibilities of the Congress Seva Dal.
However, after the Youth Congress and student wing, Rahul has been given the responsibility of the Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congress as well, for which officials have been recently appointed. Their appointment letters were issued by Rahul’s office. Normally, letters for appointment to any committee of AICC are issued from Sonia Gandhi’s office. This is the first time when officials of Mahila Congress have been appointed by Rahul’s office. likewise, the SC and ST Morcha of the party is working directly under Rahul.
Sources in the Congress say that the next step is the post of party president, and Rahul might assume that role after Bihar elections. It is being said that the veterans are making a comeback and their relations with Rahul are back on track. Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi has probably become active again. Rahul has also started maintaining a balance between new and old leaders.
CONGRESS’s PUNJAB MESS
Congress Vice-President Rahul has devised an amicable solution for the Punjab crisis. Though it is also true that he had tried earlier but without any luck. He had met Captain Amarinder and State president Pratap Singh Bajwa and tried to settle the infighting, but could not succeed. Only after a week of peace, the two sides took their swords out again. Despite several attempts by Rahul, groupism in the State unit of the party has not stopped. As a compromise candidate, the name of Ambika Soni was put forward, but to no avail. Amarinder outrightly rejected her name.
Meanwhile, Amarinder became angrier when the party let Bajwa continue as State president. Amarinder tried to garner the support of MlAs and other leaders. He also planted the news that he might float a new party. He invited Manpreet Singh Badal, the rebel nephew of Parkash Singh Badal, to one of his programmes. After that, there was speculation was that Manpreet’s party People’s Party of Punjab could be merged with the Captain’s new party. This made the Congress worried and then it started fresh attempts to placate him.
Rahul met almost a dozen MlAs of Punjab and sought their opinion on the new State president. Probably, most of the MlAs said that Amarinder should be given the responsibility. Now it is being said that Rahul can compromise with his previous stand. He might be ready to give the command of the State to someone close to the Captain, whose first choice would be lal Singh. But sources say that many leaders of the State could raise an objection on lal Singh’s name. So, the Captain might be told to put forward a new name.
REGIONAl PARTIES VS BJP
Top leaders of the BJP — Narendra Modi and Amit Shah — are taking lessons from Bihar elections. These lessons will be very useful in the elections to come in the next two years. Sources in the BJP say party leaders are having a tough fight with regional stalwarts in almost all States. The party doesn’t have any problems where it is fighting directly with the Congress. But the BJP is facing problems where the fight is with regional parties, and its strategies are not working. Case in point is Bihar where the BJP is facing a tough fight against JDU and RJD.
Modi can justifiably question the Congress on the basis of 60 years’ regime and allegations of corruption. But regional stalwarts are more attached to the people due to caste and local credentials. There is a need for a separate strategy for them. That is why Nitish and lalu are giving a tough fight to the BJP in Bihar.
Next year, the BJP has to fight the regional kshatrapas in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. The Congress is in power in Kerala, but is leading an alliance of many parties. An alliance of left parties is in the Opposition there. In 2017, the BJP has to face SP and BSP in UP. So, BJP leaders are of the view that the lesson of Bihar will be useful for UP elections.
WORRY OVER MODI’S RAllIES
The BJP’s opponents are making an issue out of the number of rallies Modi is addressing. Nitish has said, “Modi is coming to Bihar as if he is going to be the CM of the State.” Other leaders of JDU and RJD are saying that the PM will also come for campaigning in local bodies elections.
Firstly, Nitish and lalu have succeeded in turning the whole fight into Bihari vs bahari (outsider). They are reiterating that only a Bihari will be the CM of the State. So, many leaders think that the more Amit Shah and Modi will be active, the more damage will be done to the party.
The second worry is of overexposure of PM Modi. He was successful during lok Sabha Elections because people were curious about him. People wanted to know him and they were impressed with his Gujarat model. But if he goes to every district in Bihar to address a rally, then his magic could diminish. After a certain limit, people’s curiosity could be over. In comparison, lalu and Nitish are holding small rallies and addressing the local issues as well.