The victory of the NDA candidate for the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, is almost certain. But it seems that the UPA candidate, Meira Kumar, is not going to surrender easily. The Congress, CPM, and other Opposition parties are putting in all efforts to ensure her victory. It is likely that Meira will go to every State to try and coax MPs and MlAs to back her. The Congress leaders who are devising the strategy are saying that there is a chance of cross-voting in many States, with Bihar and UP being the most vulnerable. Meira is from Bihar and Kovind is from UP, hence there is pressure on MPs and MlAs to vote for the candidate belonging to their State.
The two Opposition parties of UP — the SP and BSP — have announced that they will support Meira, but some SP leaders might vote in favour of Kovind. In fact, Mulayam Singh Yadav has taken a separate line from his son, Akhilesh, Shivpal Yadav and his supporters will toe the line. When Meira goes to UP, she will meet MlAs and MPs of the SP and BSP separately. She will assess the mood of leaders and gauge whether or not she will get their support. This might be the first time when India will get a UP-born President, which explains the pressure on all State leaders to extend their support to Kovind. Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who was once with the SP, has announced his support for Kovind.
The same mood is prevalent in Bihar in favour of Meira. Slogans like “Bihar ki beti” and “Dalit ki beti” are being raised. The Congress has said that Nitish Kumar has taken an initiative to ensure the defeat of “Bihar ki beti”. The JDU MPs and MlAs have pressure to support Meira. leaders of three parties of the NDA — lJP, RlSP, and HAM — have accepted that they are under pressure. There is strain on the leaders of the BJP as well. Possibly some leaders might vote under pressure.
THE SHIV SENA’S DIlEMMA
The Shiv Sena has supported the BJP’s Presidential candidate, Kovind. Though it is being said that the Sena has raised the price for its support but many of its leaders are regretting that they could not find an opportunity to oppose, and that is only due to the NCP and Congress. If the Congress had accepted the NCP’s suggestion, then a Marathimanush would have got a chance to fight, and in that case, the Shiv Sena would have gone with them.
Many leaders of the Congress had already proposed the name of Sushilkumar Shinde. When the BJP proposed the name of Kovind, the name of Dalit leader Shinde was proposed to counter that. With the same intention, the CPM had proposed the name of Prakash Ambedkar. If any of these candidates had been given a chance, the Shiv Sena would have supported them. But that did not happen and the Sena was left with no other option than to support the BJP’s candidate.
This is a decision made under compulsion and it is evident from the tension between both parties. In Maharashtra, both parties are partners in the Government but the tension is palpable. The Shiv Sena had earlier said that the Dalit card has been played only for vote. In the same manner, the Sena is not able to decide what will be its stand on loan waiver. Earlier, it was demanding loan waiver. When the Maharashtra Government announced it, the Shiv Sena leaders started criticising it. Now, there is a demand to waive off the electricity bills of farmers.
ASSUAGING TRIBAl lEADERS
After the rejection of Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu’s name from the President race, tribal politics has started taking a different shape. The Governor has returned the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Bill and Chotanagpur Tenancy Bill to the Government. These Bills have been pending for the past few months and the Governor has not given her assent yet. She has asked the Government as to how these Bills will benefit the tribal population. The main point of these Bills is that the tribal people can sell their land to non-tribal people. Till date, non-tribal people can’t buy tribal land in Jharkhand.
That is why tribal organisations protested when Raghubar Das changed these two laws. Tribal MPs of the BJP also oppose them. Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Arjun Munda, wrote a letter to Raghubar Das and pointed out the flaws in the Bills.
Now, the Bill has again come to the Government. It will be interesting to see whether the State Government makes an amendment to the Bills or keeps them aside. To assuage tribals, it is being said that the party organisation and form of Government can also be discussed in the State. Some tribal leaders could be promoted and given important posts. After all, this a matter of tribal vote bank of three States — Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
WHO WIll BE THE NEW AGIJ
Who will be the highest ranking law officer of the country — the Attorney General (AG)IJ Mukul Rohatgi has turned down an extension and now speculations are rife over his successor. Till date, there were three names in the race but now a fourth has been added. A well-know advocate of the Supreme Court, KK Venugopal, is the latest candidate in the race. Four decades ago, in the Morarji Desai Government, he had become the Additional Solicitor General. Now, some say he is set to become the biggest law officer in India.
Before Venugopal, the name of senior advocate Harish Salve was being discussed. There is a wave in his favour right now as he had fought India’s case at the ICJ and got huge relief for Kulbhushan Jadhav, who had been given capital punishment by Pakistan. Salve fights more cases in different courts of the world than in the courts of India. Probably this is the reason why he has not accepted the AG’s post.
Apart from Salve, names of Mahesh Jethmalani and Tushar Mehta are also doing the rounds. Mehta was the Advocate General of Gujarat and right now he is the Additional Solicitor General of India, while Mahesh is the son of Ram Jethmalani.
WHO WIll AAP VOTE FORIJ
Nobody is bothered about the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the ruling party in Delhi, when it comes to the Presidential Election. The BJP’s National President, Amit Shah, has formed a committee of three ministers to reach consensus with the Opposition, but not a single member of the committee has spoken to the AAP. Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, and Venkaiah Naidu have met leaders of several parties and spoke to some over phone, but nobody has got in touch with Arvind Kejriwal.
In the same manner, the Congress ensured consensus with 17 Opposition parties, but no Congress leader or anyone from the left tried to talk to the AAP. Now, on one hand, there is an alliance of more than 30 parties whose candidate is Ram Nath Kovind, and on the other hand, there is an alliance of more than 17 parties whose candidate is Meira Kumar.
That means more than 50 parties have formed an alliance but nobody could be bothered about the AAP.
Now the logical question is who will the AAP MlAs and MPs vote forIJ Kejriwal is yet to take a decision on this. An AAP leader said there is still time for voting and hence the party is not revealing its stand. The party is waiting for either of the alliances to approach them. They firmly believe that even though neither of the alliances have approached them yet, the two Presidential candidates will certainly reach out to them. And it will be at that time the party will decide whom to support.
Sources in the AAP say there is a possibility that the party will support the Opposition’s candidate. This is also being said that the CPM’s general secretary Sitaram Yechury and the TMC’s Mamata Banerjee might talk to Kejriwal. The two leaders have a rapport with Kejriwal. Yechury wanted to include Kejriwal in the alliance, but the Congress and NCP had their reservations, it is being said.