By Rahil Nora Chopra
The game of check and mate has started in Congress, with speculations abound, rife and the assembly polls due next year in Rajasthan, looming large. The AICC has had to step in to manage and control the party’s image, which is once again in tatters due to the ongoing tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the deputy Sachin Pilot. The AICC wants it resolved so as to strengthen the party’s united stand. According to sources, the Congress high command has given assurance to Sachin Pilot that he will be the face for the party in the next assembly polls. After the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party will take the final decision on this matter. Gehlot and Pilot are now unitedly organising the Bharat Jodo Yatra which will proceed from Jhalawar border in Rajasthan on December 4.
ARE FEW DISGRUNTLED CONGRESS LEADERSTHINKING OF JOINING TMC?
Rumour mills are once again doing rounds in political circles about few veteran Congress leaders and two sitting MPs, who are reportedly hobnobbing with TMC leaders, seeking to join the party. Apparently, negotiations are ongoing. However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seems to be not too keen on giving the MPs the green signal to cross over to her turf. It remains to be seen if these disgruntled Congress leaders will continue to be with their own party, or manage to shift base to the TMC.
KARNATAKA CONGRESS SEES FRESH TUSSLE BETWEEN SIDDA, DK FACTIONS
Karnataka Congress is witnessing yet another tussle between the two rival factions led by DK Shivakumar and PC Siddaramaiah respectively. The two camps are once again entangled in a war of words. A supporter of Siddaramaiah declared him as the next CM candidate, while Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar hinted at his own candidacy for the top job at a Vokkaliga community meeting, despite orders from the party high command to refrain from an open discussion on chief ministerial candidates. However, the local unit of Congress has plans to carry out a bus rally across the state in an attempt to gather and attain more support. The move was announced on the heels of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The plan of the KPCC was to divide the constituencies in the state between the KPCC president and former chief minister, with one covering the northern regions and the other the southern districts.
TAKING A DIG AT KEJRIWAL, NITISH WANTS ONE NATION, ONE POWER TARIFF
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has called for a “one nation, one power tariff” policy, stating that some states have to purchase power at a higher rate than others. While making an veiled warning towards his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal’s over the Aam Aadmi Party’s agenda of providing free electricity, Bihar CM Kumar indicated that such promises have little basis in reality. CM Kumar said that recommending such parties and their offers to provide free electricity to consumers is misleading. Without taking the name of any state, Nitish also said: “Kuchh jagahon par toh ‘bahut hi galat kaam’ kiya gaya hai (A very wrong decision (about free electricity) has been taken in some places (states).”
WINTER SESSION OF PARLIAMENT: KHARGE TO CHAIR CONGRESS STRATEGY MEET
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will chair a party meeting on December 4 regarding the formulation of the strategy for the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament and to finalise the dates for its Plenary Session and organisational issues. The meeting will be organized in Delhi at the party’s headquarters. The Winter Session of Parliament will commence on December 7 and end on December 29. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi set to skip the winter session of Parliament due to the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Sonia Gandhi who will seems to be getting involved in day-to-day floor management. While Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will continue as the leader of the opposition in the upcoming winter session. P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are in the race to succeed Kharge as the LoP. But the buzz is that the post could go to Digvijaya Singh because he belongs to the Hindi heartland, so as to give equal weightage to both the north and south of India. (IPA Service)
