By Rahil Nora Chopra
After poll routs in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi and poor performance in the assembly elections of Bihar, the voices for organisational reforms within the Indian National Congress have grown far stronger. The latest in the long line of such voices is senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh. He has triggered the discussion in Congress by making a comparison between its lack of organisational strength with that of the RSS-BJP. Singh has created a flutter in the party, ahead of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting recently, when he praised the RSS-BJP for its organisational capabilities and a decentralised power structure. He magnified his argument with an old picture where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen sitting on the floor in front of LK Advani, who is sitting on a chair. He described the bar of an ordinary party worker like Modi raised to Chief Minister and then as a Prime Minister due to the result of great organisational strength. Singh repeated his remarks about the better organisational strength of the RSS-BJP than the Congress in the CWC meeting as well. Singh’s remarks were supported by another party veteran and MP, Shashi Tharoor. Reacting to Singh’s remarks, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that an organisation “known for Nathuram Godse” cannot teach anything to an organisation founded by Gandhi. Addressing the gathering on the Congress Foundation Day, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge indirectly addressed leaders like Digvijay Singh, saying, “Today, on Foundation Day, I want to make one thing clear: those who say, ‘Congress is finished,’ I want to tell them… we may have less power, but our backbone is still straight. We have not compromised… neither on Constitution, nor on secularism, nor on the rights of the poor. We may not be in power, but we will not compromise”. With the Assembly elections scheduled in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal later this year, the Congress must get its act together and reinvent itself to take on the BJP. The Congress has claimed that history, values, and ideology remain its core assets.
AHEAD OF WEST BENGAL STATE POLLS, CM BANERJEE, HM SHAH TRADE BARBS
Ahead of the scheduled assembly elections of West Bengal, the political temperature has risen sharply as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union home minister Amit Shah traded barbs at one another, setting the tone for an intensifying political battle. Amit Shah, who was on a three-day visit to the state to kickstart the BJP’s poll campaign, accused Mamata Banerjee of being responsible for an atmosphere of fear, corruption and misgovernance in her state. Shah also berated CM Banerjee’s government for not allotting land to establish border fence along neighbouring Bangladesh, as well as for enabling infiltration through the state’s eastern borders. Amit Shah said: “Dil pe likh lo, is baar hamari sarkar (Write it on your hearts, this time it’s our government).” On the other hand, West Bengal CM Banerjee struck back invoking figures from the epic Mahabharat to mount a sharp counterattack on the BJP leadership. She likened BJP leaders to Duryodhana and Dushasana, rejecting sharply Shah’s allegations on border fencing and governance.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM LOCAL BODY POLLS: BJP WRESTS TURF FROM LDF
A major political shift has occurred in Thiruvananthapuram, where the BJP-led NDA wrested control of the corporation, ending the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front’s 45-year-long rule. BJP State Secretary and Kodunganoor ward councillor VV Rajesh was elected as the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, securing 51 votes. BJP state secretary Rajesh’s colleague and councillor G.S. Asha Nath has been elected deputy mayor. Although R. Sreelekha, former Director General of Police who won from the Sasthamangalam ward, was earlier tipped to be the Mayor, a section of the BJP leadership stood firm for VV Rajesh, considering his long years of experience in building the party at the grass-root level in the district. The party leadership is learnt to have promised bigger roles for R. Sreelekha in the future.
AJIT PAWAR, SHARAD PAWAR UNITE TO CONTEST PUNE CIVIC POLLS TOGETHER
More than two years after they went their separate ways, the NCP and NCP (SP), headed by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his uncle Sharad Pawar, respectively, have decided to contest the Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune civic polls unitedly. While the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, and the Congress will contest the Pune and both the PMC and Pimpri-Chinchwad elections. The BJP, on the other hand, has refused to share the space to other parties and decided to contest on its own. After failing to strike a seat-sharing pact with the saffron party, the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is also seems to join hands with the Pawar factions for the Pune municipal corporation elections. (IPA Service)
