In Uttar Pradesh, action has started from both sides ie the Samajwadi Party and Congress. Both parties are maneuvering to strengthen their claim for seats. On one hand, the Samajwadi Party has announced candidates for 23 seats, and on the other hand, the Congress has said that its first list of candidates will be out this month. Sources in the Congress say the party is ready for an alliance with the SP, and that is why Raj Babbar is being sympathetic towards it. That is another matter that his soft stand is not yielding any result.
A senior Congress leader says that right now the SP has an upper hand. The party and its Government in the State have tilted things in their favour, while the Congress is on the back foot. In fact, the Congress is so weak that it has agreed to compromise. But the problem is that the Congress has kept Prashant Kishor aside. He would have talked to Mulayam Singh Yadav as well as Akhilesh Yadav, and in case of no alliance, the Congress would not have any problem in parting ways.
But due to Ghulam Nabi Azad and some other leaders of the Congress, PK has detached himself from UP and is restricting himself only to Punjab. So, it is a compulsion that only Congress leaders will go for the talks of alliance. This can be a negotiation loss for the Congress. Despite all these hiccups, the party leaders are saying that if the SP leaves only 100 seats, then their party, the RlD, and JDU can come together. If this alliance takes shape, there will be a strong triangular fight in the State.
THE GOA GAME PlAN
In his last tour to Goa, PM Narendra Modi had praised Manohar Parrikar. After that there were speculations that there may be some big changes before the Assembly Elections scheduled for early next year. laxmikant Parsekar, who had taken charge from Parrikar, has not performed up to the mark, and the BJP has suffered a big loss due to him.
A big team of the workers of RSS had left the organisation opposing the policies of Parsekar. The people who had left the BJP under the leadership of Subhash Welingkar have launched their own party and will be fighting the next election.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s alliance partner MGP has also shown its displeasure against Parsekar, demanding his removal. It has imposed a condition that if Parsekar is not removed, it will not go into an alliance with the BJP.
The BJP and RSS leaders also feel that they can’t win Goa elections under the leadership of Parsekar. Though, by giving grants to English medium schools he has taken an initiative to take the Christian community along with him. This was the issue where a tussle between Parsekar and veterans of the RSS had started. Despite that, many leaders feel that if Parrikar’s name is announced, only then the BJP can win the elections.
Then there is the increasing influence of the AAP. The BJP leaders feel that Parrikar will be more effective against Arvind Kejriwal. Some days ago, there was speculation that Parrikar would return to Goa, but nothing more has been heard about it.
MAYAWATI AND THE MEDIA
A change can be seen in Mayawati’s behaviour; she has started talking to mediapersons and can be regularly seen in the Rajya Sabha during Parliament Session. Probably she is hopeful of benefitting after backing the Opposition on the demonetisation issue. So, she speaks in the House and outside it as well.
This is a big change that Mayawati is now talking to the media. Earlier, she used to come to press conferences with a ready speech; nobody could ask her questions. Even when there were questions, she never answered. But now she regularly allows questions in her press conferences.
Probably, two factors have compelled her to rethink her relationship with the media — UP elections, and Akhilesh’s rapport with journalists. Akhilesh is always available for the media, and even participates in the events of almost all media houses. To counter this image of Akhilesh, Mayawati is changing her attitude towards the press.
DEMONETISATION WOES
Though leaders of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh are enumerating the benefits of demonetisation in public, they are said to be unhappy about the problems faced by common people. The State leaders have raised this issue at many forums. They feel that at the beginning, people were enthusiastic but now they are under stress.
Sources say many MPs have raised this issue before the party leadership, seeking a solution to the problem. This is also being said that the BJP is not taking any decision on its final strategy only due to demonetisation. The party leaders feel that for the past 35 days, the people in the State have either been exchanging notes or depositing old currency or queuing up at the banks to withdraw money — not finding the time to engage in political activities.
That is the reason why State leaders are not able to comprehend as to what issues should be raised for elections. People are saying that leaders of the RSS and BJP are debating over the issues to be raised with prominence. If the problems of the people don’t lessen, the BJP will not go big on demonetisation. The party leaders feel that even the issue of cashless economy will not work. So, the BJP will focus on development and anti-incumbency.
REAlIGNMENT AWAITED
The national organisation of the Congress is shattered. The leaders of party State committees are active in politics, but the members of the central team are dormant. The general secretary in-charges are doing nothing. They have not been to the State Capitals for long. Sources in the Congress say that all arrangements have become ad-hoc. Not even a single general secretary is sure whether he will continue on his post or not. All of them are waiting for Rahul Gandhi’s promotion and realignment of the new team.
In Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh is looking after all the work related to elections. Asha Kumar, the State in-charge, has no role. The Haryana Congress witnessed many controversies, but State in-charge Kamal Nath did nothing. Also, Jharkhand’s in-charge BK Hariprasad is active only when there is some controversy in the State. In the same manner, general secretaries like Gurudas Kamat, Mohan Prakash, and CP Joshi have become almost inactive.
The Congress is witnessing a bizarre situation; deputy leader of the party in lok Sabha, Capt Amarinder, has already resigned but no other leader has been deputed in his place. The session of Parliament is going on and the party is without its deputy leader. Almost all new and old leaders of the Congress are awaiting their new roles.
NOTE-WORTHY CRISIS
The RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy has said that the Government will demonetise Rs2,000 notes within five to seven years. After this statement, the Congress has officially asked the Government whether it is going to take this step. In fact, Rs2,000 notes are in question from the very first day. The Government had announced the decision of demonetisation on November 8, and on that very day there was a rumour on social media that the Government is going to use chips in the Rs2,000 notes. It was widely debated that wherever these notes would be hoarded in large amount, they would be tracked with the help of the chip. The RBI and Government had, however, rejected this news.
Now, when there is large scale seizure of Rs2,000 notes, people on social media have started saying that there is something in these notes that point the authorities to their location. So, the people have become apprehensive about these notes. When Rs2,000 notes came before the public, there was brouhaha over the colour and design.
Former CM of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, has also asked the Government whether it is thinking about demonetising these notes. On the other hand, Gurumurthy has said that the Rs2,000 notes were launched only to fulfill the need of currency. Now, after the whole episode, there is another currency crisis. People were not taking the notes of Rs2,000 as there was no change in the market, and now this crisis has only aggravated the problem.
PROBlEMS OF BJP AND CONG
The upcoming Assembly Elections in five States have made the BJP and Congress worried. Both national parties are facing challenges from their kshatrapas. The biggest problem is in UP as the two parties don’t have any big leader who can pose a challenge to Mayawati and Akhilesh. Akhilesh is the face of the SP, and former CM Mayawati is the face of the BSP. The Congress had announced Sheila Dikshit as its candidate, but she is nowhere in the scenario.
The BJP has another problem; almost all its big leaders have left State politics. Among the present leadership, no one has a hold over the entire State. That is the reason why the party is not projecting any face. In Uttarakhand, the BJP has a similar problem. Harish Rawat, the kshatrapa of the Congress, is there and the BJP is not able to find anyone who can pose a challenge for him.
In Manipur, the BJP is expecting a good performance this time. But even there, the party is not able to find any solid face. Okram Ibobi Singh of the Congress and Irom Sharmila have made the fight interesting. In Punjab and Goa, Kejriwal is the greatest challenge for both the Congress and BJP.