Karunanidhi’s other son, MK Alagiri, is not in the race. Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP and daughter of Karunanidhi, was being considered a challenge for Stalin, but she has been sidelined now. Now, the party’s command is unofficially in Stalin’s hands
With new political equations in the offing, 2016 Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu will be quite interesting.
There will be leadership change in the DMK, and partymen want to fight the elections under MK Stalin. Even M Karunanidhi wants Stalin to take charge of the party.
Recently, a survey revealed that Stalin is more popular than Karunanidhi, and most of the DMK supporters want to see Stalin as the Chief Minister. So, there may be an official announcement on Stalin taking charge of the DMK even before any alliance is forged.
Karunanidhi’s other son, MK Alagiri, is not in the race. Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP and daughter of Karunanidhi, was being considered a challenge for Stalin, but she has been sidelined now. Now, the party’s command is unofficially in Stalin’s hands. It is being said that even in Delhi’s politics, he has put Kanimozhi on the margins. He is also busy in pre-election management.
Reliable sources say the DMK and its old ally Congress can come together again. However, DMK leaders are trying to finalise an alliance with DMDK even before going with the Congress. But there is a problem — DMDK leader, Captain Vijayakanth, is himself a CM candidate and his seats are more than that of the DMK. So, the seat-sharing arrangement will be tricky, and if the Congress also comes into the picture, then it will become more difficult.
That is why DMK leaders are in a dilemma. They are not able to decide whether they should go into an alliance with the Dravidian parties or take the Congress along. It is being said that leaders against the BJP and Jayalalithaa are batting for the formation of a mahagathbandhan in the State.
BJP AND its KSHATRAPAS
Parliamentary managers of the BJP have reached out to many regional stalwarts before the beginning of the Winter Session. For this, the party has relinquished its political benefits so that the kshatrapas can be taken onboard on the developmental Bills.
The BJP has taken itself out of the battle in West Bengal and as a result, a working relationship has been restored with the TMC. That is the reason why TMC opposed Mohammed Salim of CPM on the issue of intolerance in lok Sabha. When Salim stood up to attack Rajnath Singh, Saugata Roy objected that there was no prior notice for that. When he stood up again to say something on the same issue, Kalyan Banerjee forced him to sit down.
The BJP has developed cordial relations with the BJD also and that is the reason why Bhartruhari Mahtab supported Rajnath Singh against the allegations made by Salim. BSP chief Mayawati has also boldly supported the GST Bill. Though she targeted the Modi Government on the issue of intolerance, when she supported the GST Bill, BJP MPs welcomed her decision. The Government has already got direct and indirect support from Mulayam Singh, and it is said that the NCP will also support it.
GOVT SERIOUSness ON GST
Congress leaders are doubting the Government’s seriousness over the GST Bill. They feel that the Government itself doesn’t want to get the Bill passed! Sources in the Congress say that when the news came in that an attempt would be made to form consensus and get the Bill passed, the Government was trying to “plant the news in media” that the Bill would not be passed in this Session. Probably that is the reason why Congress leaders are apprehensive and are trying to gauge the Government’s seriousness.
Though BJP leaders are outrightly rejecting the apprehensions of Congress leaders. They say that had the Government not been serious, the PM would not have called Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh for talks. In fact, BJP leaders are worried that Rahul Gandhi might derail the Bill. Sonia is in the US for routine check-up and Rahul has to take decisions on Parliamentary matters.
Probably, there is no consensus over the Bill in CWC. A member had written a letter to Sonia, asking her to oppose the Bill. The Congress also knows that the regional parties are not in favour of the Bill. MPs of AIADMK have opposed the Bill, so the Congress is also making no promises.
REGIONAlISM AND CONGRESS
In the Bihar elections, the Congress and its allies played the politics of regionalism. leaders of the grand alliance turned the battle into ‘Bihari vs bahri’. The campaign of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah was questioned, and opponents projected them in such a way that they were in the race to be the CM. After getting success in Bihar, the Congress wants to apply the same formula in Punjab and Assam.
In Assam, Tarun Gogoi has raised the issue of Hindi-speaking people vs Assamese. He said that the party of Hindi-speaking leaders was trying to make attacks on Assam. His indication was clearly towards the BJP. Afterwards, he also said that he would not allow “Hindigiri”. He said that Hindi-speaking people are “infiltrators”, while keeping mum on the Bangladeshi ‘infiltrators’. Clearly, after 15 years of rule, Gogoi is dependent on the region’s sentimental issues.
The scenario is the same in Punjab. The new State President of Congress, Capt Amarinder Singh, is trying to repeat the Bihar formula. He asked what was Arvind Kejriwal of Haryana doing in PunjabIJ He is projecting himself as the dhartiputra of Punjab and calling Kejriwal an outsider. He feels that in the 2017 elections, the fight will be between the Congress and AAP. He has somehow managed to take charge of Punjab Congress, but now his biggest challenge is to win the elections for the third time.
POWER CENTRES IN PUNJAB
Rahul’s biggest ‘asset’ in his 10-year political career is his stubbornness — he has moulded decisions of the party according to his wishes. The party faced major damages due to his decisions, but Rahul stood his ground. But in Punjab, he has been forced to compromise. Not only this, he has taken the party on the old line and has applied the old formula. He has tried to bring unity among all groups to put an end to factionism before elections.
However, many veterans say that this might lead to greater factionism. Now, there is apprehension that four power centres could be formed in the State. The first is Amarinder Singh, who is considering himself as the CM candidate. Obviously most of the leaders will mark attendance in his court only. But the power centre under Ambika Soni will also not be weak as she has been made the chief of the campaign committee. Apart from this, party workers know that Rahul has little affinity for Amarinder, and Soni was to be appointed as the PCC President as consensus candidate.
Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu is the third power centre. He is the grandson of former CM Beant Singh and had won the lok Sabha Elections from two different seats. It is being said that Rahul wanted to give the command of Punjab Congress to Bittu, but when the Captain didn’t bow down, Bittu was instead made the campaign committee convener. Former PCC President Pratap Singh Bajwa is also close to Rahul, so he will also be a power centre.
AMAR PREM OF MUlAYAM
It seems that Mulayam Singh Yadav is not paying any heed to senior leaders of his party. Azam Khan, who is said to be very close to Mulayam, recently made direct attacks on Amar Singh. When Azam was asked about Amar Singh’s participation in Mulayam’s birthday, he replied: “Usually garbage also comes along with the storm.”
Another senior leader of the party, Ram Gopal Yadav, thinks the same about Amar Singh. But for Mulayam, Amar Singh and Jaya Prada are still close associates. Amar Singh was thrown out of the party several years ago, but he still gets invited for Samajwadi Party programmes and is seated right next to Mulayam.
Amar Singh and Jaya Prada also participated in Mulayam’s birthday party at Saifai, and soon after, Mulayam went to Hyderabad to attend the marriage ceremony of Jaya Prada’s son. Probably it was Amar Singh who coaxed Mulayam to go to Hyderabad. There Amar Singh and Jaya Prada gave a grand welcome to Mulayam, who gave his blessings to Jaya’s son Siddharth and his bride.
leaders of the Samajwadi Party say despite the reservations of Azam Khan and Ram Gopal Yadav, Amar Singh and Jaya Prada will return to the party, only the timing may be an issue. Some people are saying that they will make a comeback by May-June next year. Exactly at that time, elections for 10 seats of Rajya Sabha will be held in Uttar Pradesh and six seats will go to the Samajwadi Party quota. Probably, Mulayam will give one Rajya Sabha seat to Amar Singh also.