The Congress leadership, on the other hand, feels that the party is not in a strong position and this would not change even if some smaller partners join in. That is the reason why talks have not started with the probable partners enumerated by the AK Antony Committee report
Reportedly, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest the lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh. Modi is likely to fight from either lucknow or Varanasi. At the same time, he may also contest from Vadodara in Gujarat.
The speculation of Modi shifting his base is important keeping in mind the 139 lok Sabha seats the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand have. The BJP desperately wants to do well in these States, and the party believes that it can use Modi’s poor background along with the Congress-led UPA’s minority appeasement policy to do well in this region. In fact, the Gujarat Chief Minister, in a recent rally in Kerala, reminded the people about his ordinary origin and how he was still considered an untouchable. He seems to be playing his ‘poor background’ card very well. He has also made much noise over Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s ‘poison’ statement and said that it was the Ranganath Misra Commission which was constituted to sow poison. The BJP is expecting a win-win scenario from these two issues.
No one wants an AllIANCE
The Congress and the BJP are not quite enthusiastic about pre-poll alliances. The BJP had, of course, finalised its alliance with Vaiko’s party in Tamil Nadu, but soon several controversies crept in. In Andhra Pradesh, its talks with the TDP are stuck. In Bihar too, it has made no progress with the Rashtriya lok Samata Party. Om Prakash Chautala is still waiting in Haryana and the party has not moved an inch towards the AGP in Assam. Though Raju Shetty has come into the NDA fold in Maharashtra, only two seats have been left for his party. Many BJP leaders, however, feel that there is a strong current in favour of the party and so there is no need to get into the complexities of alliances.
The Congress leadership, on the other hand, feels that the party is not in a strong position and this would not change even if some smaller partners join in. That is the reason why talks have not started with the probable partners enumerated by the AK Antony Committee report. Though Digvijay Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Ghulam Nabi Azad are talking with the old alliance partners of the UPA, the Congress has put in harsh conditions regarding the same.
Turmoil in CONGRESS
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has put many party veterans in a tizzy. He wants elections for all posts in the party, including the Congress Working Committee (the apex decision-making body), to encourage democratic practices within the organisation. Interestingly, most CWC members happen to be honorary. State in-charges and general secretaries are appointed in this body. So, several leaders are apprehensive that they might have to face elections to get a party post. They also wonder what would happen to the special and permanent invited members.
Many not-so-active leaders oppose this idea, fearing that they might be removed or sidelined forever. One may recall the case of Jitendra Prasad who had fought against Sonia Gandhi in 2000 and got only 94 votes as compared to 9,000 in favour of his opponent. After that he was put on the margins and he died within a year.
REAl AND FAKE FRONTS
The Third Front has not been formed yet, but a debate over the real and fake fronts has already started. Sources say that the left leaders are considering Mamata Banerjee’s probable front as a fake one. Reportedly Mamata is still considering her federal front. Recently, Anna Hazare has praised her, saying the West Bengal Chief Minister deserves to become the Prime Minister; this has motivated her to form her own front. Probably, she is in touch with Chandrababu Naidu, Sharad Pawar, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, among others.
Chaos in Andhra
It is being speculated that after the creation of Telangana, the MPs and MlAs of the Andhra Congress would change their party. The parties led by YS Jaganmohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu are likely to be benefited by this development.
On Monday, three MlAs —T Vijay Kumar, Dharmana Prasad and J Jagan Naikulu — left the Congress and joined Jaganmohan’s party. likewise, G Aruna Kumari, one of the State ministers whose son is likely to fight on a TDP ticket, has been seen in a function organised by the TDP. It is being speculated that one of the MPs of the Congress, M Srinivasulu, may also join the party. Sources say that all the 16 MlAs, who had joined the Congress with Chiranjeevi, are also planning to leave the party now.
lOBBYING FOR KARNATAKA
Amid apprehensions of the Congress’s meltdown, the party is hopeful of doing well in Karnataka. Its leaders in the State are not just claiming tickets for themselves, but also for their sons and daughters. Reportedly, Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily wants a ticket for his son, Harsha Moily, from the Dakshina Kannada seat. N Dharam Singh, former Chief Minister, wants to pit his son from the Bidar seat which is already considered by Moradabad MP Mohammed Azharuddin. RV Deshpande’s son, Parasnath Pande, is staking claim on the Uttari Kannada seat. This pits him against Margaret Alva’s son. At the same time, the BJP is set to get cricketer Anil Kumble from the same seat.
CONGRESS and DAlIT VOTES
In Haryana, the Congress is pursuing Dalit vote-bank politics. This is evident from the party’s two recent moves: Kumari Selja has been sent to the Rajya Sabha and Ashok Tanwar has been made the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president. Interestingly, those replaced were Dalits themselves. Selja and Tanwar, however, are more popular Dalit faces than their predecessors — Ishwar Singh and Phool Chand Moolana respectively.
Sources say that this time the Congress high command doesn’t see a good prospect in Haryana. Om Prakash Chautala had got many Jat votes the last time as well. This time they will be divided. An alliance between the BJP and Kuldeep Bishnoi is making inroad into non-Jat voters. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda wanted a Brahmin as the State Congress president. But this time it is expected that the Brahmin votes will swing towards the BJP-HJC alliance, while the Congress is expecting a large chunk Dalit votes. Recent incidents of tension between Jats and Dalits may be another reason why Selja and Tanwar have been put forth.