By Rahil Nora Chopra
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has yet to decide the new president of the party, the fight between the workers and leaders has started in many states. In Delhi, after the death of the three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit, the party has unable to choose a new state president in Delhi. The names which are under discussion are Ajay Maken, Sandeep Dikshit, Jai Prakash Aggarwal, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Haroon Yusuf, Devender Yadav and Subhash Chopra. But it seems that infighting is so huge that the party is unable to choose the consensus candidate among them. According to political observers the high command has now decided to bring the state president from outside of Delhi. The names of Shatrughan Sinha and Navjot Singh Sidhu are the front-runners for the post. In the same way, infighting in the Jharkhand Congress has become a major source of consternation for the party high command, as the state president Dr Ajoy Kumar and the General Secretary in-charge of Jharkhand RPN Singh are not in good terms, and the party is now divided into two groups in Jharkhand. In many states, the leaders are waiting for a new Congress Party President.
RAJYA SABHA IN DISARRAY AS OPPOSITION MEMBERS SUPPORT GOVT
The absence of so many opposition MPs during the passing of the Triple Talaq Bill in Rajya Sabha was because of a secret understanding between the BJP and the party bosses of AIADMK and JD(U) that made their respective MPs walk out of the House. While the BJP had promised to BJD that they would help in the formation of the upper house in Odisha and central government would sanction money for drought and flood affected areas in Odisha, the BJD came out in support of Bill. But the parties such as BSP, TDP and TRS did a no-show because it is claimed that some arm-twisting was evident in the exercise by the Central government agencies. But the absence of 6 of the 12 Samajwadi Party MPs and 2 TDP MPs was understood as evidence of BJP’s direct outreach to individual MPs. In fact, except BJP, Congress and the Trinamool Congress, no other party did issue whips. Yet, Sanjay Singh of Congress came out on the voting day and the absence of four Congress MPs was puzzling. It is being said that many more MPs may follow Sanjay Singh during the season.
DIDI SET TO ‘MODERNISE’ TMC, IMPROVE VILLAGE-LEVEL PRESENCE
After the Lok Sabha elections, Mamata Banerjee is now preparing for the next assembly polls in 2020 in her home turf West Bengal. For this Mamata, has launched a website and helpline number to address people’s woes, so that she can establish a direct link with the common man and woman of her eastern state. She has also been taking help from political strategist Prashant Kishor, who has advised her to ‘modernise’ her party. She has now ordered 1,000 leaders and workers to visit the villages, to stay put there and solve their problems, as well as take feedback on the development work the party has carried out over the past eight years. People can also contact her on the helpline and the website. As per sources, this exercise will be held in as many as 10000 villages of West Bengal. Looks like Didi is all set to mend the dent that her party suffered during Lok Sabha 2019 polls, but how successful she’ll be in her endeavor remains to be seen still.
BJP SOON TO PICK RSS-FRIENDLY RAJASTHAN STATE PRESIDENT
After the death of Former BJP Rajasthan state president Madan Lal Saini, the seat is vacant till today. There are many BJP leaders in the race for the post, but due to RSS pressure, the high command has been unable to choose a suitable candidate for the State President. Meanwhile, former Chie Minister Vasundhra Raje Scindia is out of the country at present and in her absence Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore seems to be a natural choice. Rathore has not been made a minister at the Centre in Madi Cabinet 2.0.However, the RSS has also floated names of Satish Poonia, Madan Dilawar and Vasudev Devnani — they all are MLAs with RSS backgrounds and experience in organizational work from bottoms-up. According to party sources, the BJP high command wants either a Jat or a Brahmin to be the state president of the party. For this, MP Chandra Prakash Joshi from Chittorgarh, who is a Brahmin, and Satish Punnia, a Jat, are the names which are in discussion. However, another leader, Arun Chaturvedi, is also lobbying for the post and the high command will soon decide after due consultation with RSS leaders.
POETIC HINDI CAUSES HEARTBURN IN HRD MINISTRY
The new HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’s appointment has come as a surprise, but his career in poetry might be the reason behind the unusual decision. Yet, sources in the ministry say that his poetic tendencies might be in the way because the Minister insists on being communicated only in Hindi, whether in written or oral forms, that is proving to be the tough call for the ministry regulars. Even though most bureaucrats have now attained a certain fluency in spoken Hindi, not many can figure out the writing bit yet. It would seem Shastri Bhavan is reeling under the language imposition, but not much can be helped. (IPA)
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