The CM candidate of the Congress in UP needs advice from an astrologer — that is the general feeling among State leaders of the party. There is a story behind this and it goes thus: After becoming the face of the party, when Sheila Dikshit reached lucknow, the Congress had organised a show of strength. But when she went on stage, it collapsed and she got injured.
After that, she was shifted to a closed car from an open one. At that time, president of UP Congress, Raj Babbar, led the show of strength. Recently, when Dikshit left for a bus yatra to lead the election campaign in UP, she became ill at Ghaziabad. She was suffering from fever and had to return to Delhi. This bus yatra was flagged off by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi from the party headquarters in Delhi.
This series of unfortunate events have led some Congress leaders to believe that Dikshit must consult an astrologer. A senior leader says she also needs good political advisors and workers.
People are saying that there is a dearth of leaders in UP Congress who can extend full cooperation to Dikshit. Most UP Brahmin leaders will not rally behind any other leader. Teams of young leaders are also restricted to their own areas. Probably Rahul will take an initiative to make them active and will accommodate some of them in his own team.
NITISH’S ‘INTEllECTUAl’ MEET
To realise his dream for 2019, Nitish Kumar is trying to connect with Hindi intellectuals. He has already joined hands with those who returned their awards in the name of ‘intolerance’ just before Bihar elections.
Recently, Nitish had a meeting with renowned Hindi poet and former IPS officer, Ashok Vajpeyi. Some other intellectuals with left ideology were also present in the meeting. Since they are Hindi-speaking intellectuals, they don’t get much space in left politics. So, they are seeing their messiah in Nitish. Apoorvanand Jha, who teaches at DU; Purushottam Agrawal, former UPSC member; Om Thanvi, former editor and supporter of AAP; Manglesh Dabral, journalist and poet; and Priyadarshan, a TV journalist, were also present at the meeting.
Some say Nitish wants similar intellectuals’ meet in other parts of the country too. He knows the power of this clan well. This group had created a suffocating scenario just before the Bihar elections. So, the advisors of Nitish feel that in the next three years, an anti-BJP wave can be created with the help of these intellectuals and Nitish can ride that very wave.
In 2015, the award-returning movement was spearheaded by Hindi intellectuals, and at that time, the English-speaking group lagged behind in the scene. That is why it is being said that Nitish will connect with more and more intellectuals from the Hindi heartland.
BJP BACK IN MAIN FIGHT
The recent controversies in UP and Punjab seem to have worked in the BJP’s favour. Sources say that the controversy over Mayawati and Dayashankar Singh has catapulted the BJP into the main fight, along with the SP, BSP and Congress.
Now, the prime focus is on the BJP and BSP. The two parties have become the talking point in UP politics. Though the Congress has put up a Brahmin face, it is a common feeling that if the forward vote bank polarises against the BSP’s Dalit and SP’s Yadav vote bank, then the BJP will benefit immensely.
In Punjab, the BJP and Akali Dal have raised the issue of Bhagwant Mann’s video, and now it is being said that the fight will be between AAP and the BJP-Akali alliance. Not only this, if Navjot Singh Sidhu joins AAP, then the BJP and Akali would be the main focus of his attacks. In that case also, a perception of fight between AAP and the BJP-Akali combine will be created. In this scenario, the Congress can be at the receiving end.
RAHUl’S TEAM TROUBlES
Vice-president of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, is selecting and rejecting leaders for his team. But before his team takes final shape, leaders selected by him have landed in problems. In many States, party presidents who were selected by Rahul, have been pushed to the margin. People are saying that Rahul is somehow trying to save them and bring them into the mainstream. Next year, Assembly Elections are to be held in UP and before that two of his most trusted lieutenants, RPN Singh and Jitin Prasada, have been sidelined.
In Kerala, VM Sudheeran has been appointed as State president because Rahul likes him. But two big leaders of the State — Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala — are openly taking a stand against him. Both leaders also lobbied in Delhi for his removal, arguing that Sudheeran was responsible for the party’s defeat in the State.
Sanjay Nirupam, who has been selected by Rahul as Mumbai president, is facing many challenges. Gurudas Kamat openly opposed him, and many other leaders are also not comfortable with the new party chief.
In Delhi, Ajay Maken is Rahul’s most trusted leader, but he has to do all the party work alone. Most of the leaders, who were once ministers in Dikshit’s Cabinet, are sitting at home. In Punjab, of course, Rahul gave a Parliamentary berth to Pratap Singh Bajwa, but Captain Amarinder Singh has kept him away from party dealings.
WITH AN EYE ON UP POllS
Rahul’s new team will probably be announced in August. Seemingly, after the Parliament Session, Rahul will be promoted as the party president, and with that his team will start functioning. Rahul has talked to his close aides in almost all States in this regard. He has also decided to take advice from leaders of remaining States. Recently, he also met several leaders.
It is being said that the UP effect will be clearly visible on Rahul’s team. He can accommodate some UP leaders in the party’s national organisation. Prasada is not happy as the party has not projected him as the CM candidate, and now he can be taken into the national committee.
Earlier, the name of RPN Singh was doing the rounds for the post of media in-charge of the Congress, but now he would probably be made media in-charge of UP. The term of Pl Punia, Dalit leader of the Congress, as chairman of SC Commission will be over soon, and he might also be given an important responsibility in the national team.
Two former Central Ministers, Salman Khurshid and Pradeep Jain Aditya, can also be accommodated in the national team. If RPN Singh doesn’t come into the national team, some other OBC face will be given a place.
BIGGER ROlE FOR SISODIA
Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM of Delhi, is being promoted by the party. CM Arvind Kejriwal is grooming him to take on bigger responsibilities. There is speculation that if AAP wins Punjab elections, then Kejriwal will become the CM there and Delhi will come into the hands of Sisodia.
leaders of AAP are, however, rejecting this idea. They say that the Congress and Akali have already started pointing out that Kejriwal is from Haryana, which has so many disputes with Punjab. In this scenario, it would be fatal if AAP either declares Kejriwal as the CM candidate or gives the post to someone from Haryana. That is why people are saying that a shrewd leader like Kejriwal will not commit such a mistake.
But this is also true that for the next five to six months, Kejriwal has to camp in Punjab. His is the only face the party can project. In this scenario, how can he cope with the administrative responsibilities of DelhiIJ It is true that he doesn’t have any portfolio, but at the same time, all files from all departments are routed through him.
Probably, he is ready to give this responsibility to Sisodia. Sources in AAP say that the charge of the Urban Development Ministry has been taken away from Sisodia and given to Satyendra Kumar Jain. Kejriwal wants Sisodia to be relatively free so that he can keep an eye on the overall performance of the Government.
For the past few months, Sisodia is being independently promoted in Delhi. In the advertisements of the Delhi Government, only his photos are being used now. Earlier his photos were being used along with Kejriwal’s.
REVAMP OF CRICKET BODIES
In the next six months, the face of Indian cricket management will change. At least many top faces will change and new ones can be seen in their place. Sharad Pawar has already started this process. Two recommendations of the lodha Committee accepted by the Supreme Court are to be noted. One recommendation is related to the removal of cricket managers above 70 years of age, and the second pertains to ‘one person, one post’. It’s true that many things will change just by following these two recommendations.
Pawar is over 70 years old, so he has decided to leave the president’s post of the Mumbai Cricket Association. But the question is: Who will take his placeIJ Will the new incumbent be from Pawar’s family or someone from his partyIJ
N Srinivasan will also have to leave the president’s post of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. There are two cricket boards in J&K; Farooq Abdullah is president of one board, and BK Nehru is of the other one. Both are more than 70 years old. They also will have to leave their post. Saurashtra’s Niranjan Shah, Andhra Pradesh’s G Ganga Raju, and Odisha’s Ashirbad Behera will also have to quit their posts.
Following the policy of ‘one person, one post’, Anurag Thakur will have to relinquish the president’s post of Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. It will be interesting to see who takes his place. Amitabh Choudhary will either have to leave the BCCI post or the post in Jharkhand Cricket Association. He might transfer his powers to someone close to him and continue to call the shots. Sourav Ganguly is the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, so it will be difficult to give him any post in the BCCI.
