By Rahil Nora Chopra
There is a chance of a massive rejig in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet after January 14, when the ongoing Kharmas period, which is believed and considered to be inauspicious as per the Hindu calendar concludes . According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may expand his Cabinet and add leaders of the Shinde Shiv Sena faction, an ally gained by the NDA and some new faces from the states which are scheduled to go to the polls this year such as Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Telangana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and 2024 general elections. Some ministers may be removed from the Cabinet based on their respective performance. It is being said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his cohort of top ministers, have prepared the report card of how each Cabinet minister has performed in the portfolio allocated to them.
BHARAT JODO YATRA RELEASES A SPECIAL SONG FOCUSING LIVE ISSUES OF PEOPLE
“Ab nahin to kab…” the new tagline to the Bharat Jodo Yatra theme song was released on January 2, 2023. With this the issues such as inflation, unemployment have been discussed as these have always been mentioned by Rahul Gandhi during the ongoing yatra. As the song lyrics tell about that the wind of change is blowing and it has been asked that if not now then when? Bandh ho nafrat ki rajneeti – ab nahin to kab? Mahengai ka ghada foote – ab nahin to kab? Berozgari ka chakkar chhute – ab nahin to kab?…” and the song continues. The Congress commented that the Yatra’s purposed had been served to a great extent. K.C. Venugopal, said: “This is a significant milestone in the Congress tradition of giving voice to the people’s concerns. The Yatra has greatly succeeded in sending out the message of unity across the country.”
CONGRESS PLENARY SESSION IN RAIPUR IN FEBRUARY TO DISCUSS ABOUT POLL BODY
The plenary session of the All India Congress Committee under the leadership of party president Mallikarjun Kharge will be held from 24 to 26 February in Raipur, and it will be inclusive of discussion on the major issues related to varied fields comprising politics, economics, international affairs, agriculture, education and employment. The session will also lead to some important decisions regarding the key party bodies such as the Congress Working Committee, the highest executive body of the Congress, and the Central Election Commission, the top poll body that decides on candidates for Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Discussion is on whether the central poll body, should be set up either through elections or nomination by the party president. Currently, the party’s top decision making body is a transitional steering committee that was formulated after new party President Mallikarjun Kharge took over.
NITISH KUMAR HOLDS MEETINGS WITH MUSLIMS WARNING THEM AGAINST AIMIM
Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has followed a new strategy with the aim to prevent the division of the Muslim vote bank in Bihar. He had held a closed-door meeting with Muslim intellectuals belonging to different sects. With due effect Nitish Kumar appealed to the Muslim intellectuals to remain on high alert mode against divisive forces and warned the Muslim community to be cautious of AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s party, which according to him was the B team of BJP. Nitish has been on a mission to unite the opposition parties against the BJP and hence he met various leaders in September including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal Secular leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D. Raja, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. He will make fresh moves in his mission again.
RLD AND OTHER SMALL PARTIES PARTICIPATE IN RAHUL GANDHI’S BHARAT JODO YATRA
The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and farmer organisations extended their full support to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and participated in his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Western Uttar Pradesh The yatra in western Uttar Pradesh also pointed to the clues as well as at the possibilities of new alliances, with the Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) local leadership mobilising numbers for the march. The flags of the Peace Party, and workers of the Bhim Army, were also seen. Rahul appealed to the youth, farmers and workers not to fear, and said he had drawn and acquired the motivation for this don’t fear attitude from the philosophy of Lord Shiva. Over its three days in the state, the Rahul Yatra is confined to west UP, which is the RLD’s stronghold. (IPA Service)
