Recently, Uddhav Thackeray’s decision to walk out of the NDA and stake claim to the post of chief minister is supposed to be the outcome of the pressure from his wife Rashmi, along with Saamana editor Sanjay Raut. In the beginning, when the assembly election was on, Uddhav Thackeray projected his elder son Aditya Thackeray on campaign poster as a party face for the post of chief ministership. After the election, initially Shiv Sena kept on projecting Aditya for the post of Deputy Chief Minister in a BJP-led government. However, according to sources, once Rashmi Thackeray realised that the BJP was not in a commanding position, she pressed her husband to insist that he be made chief minister for half of the five-year term. In addition, Sanjay Raut declared the name of Uddhav Thackeray as the party candidate for the chief minister’s post. Soon, posters of the Shiv Sena projecting Uddhav Thackeray and not his son Aditya appeared on the streets of Mumbai, while Rashmi Thackeray started attending party meetings at home and occasional public functions. Sanjay Raut was declared as the only spokesperson of the Shiv Sena, and even when Raut underwent an angioplasty procedure, he was forced to address a press conference. The ambition of family members to make Uddhav Thackeray the Maharashtra chief minister forced the Shiv Sena to break up its old ties with the NDA.
MAHARASHTRA WELL WON, BUT CAN CONGRESS SCORE IN KARNATAKA?
While all eyes were on Maharashtra, where government formation became a political theatre par excellence and knocked even the doors of the Supreme Court of India, the Congress, which was a smaller political player in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress gambit, ended up neglecting the bigger challenge ahead. While Congress stalwarts like Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued brilliantly and successfully in the court as the NCP honchos Sharad and Ajit Pawar played a see-saw of alliance games, the Congress almost forgot the Karnataka by-polls. However, it has now woken up to the fact that many of the 15 constituencies to undergo bypolls happen to be the proverbial ‘Congress strongholds’. Yet, with only Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao campaigning, what are the chances? Reportedly, KC Venugopal was sent to Bengaluru to fix things before the big day.
RAJAT SHARMA’S UNPOPULARITY TO COST HIM DDCA PRESIDENTSHIP
India TV owner Rajat Sharma’s last attempt to get back the presidentship of the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) is unlikely to succeed. The Ombudsman, Justice Badar Durrez Ahmed, may have tried to withhold Sharma’s resignation, but it has already been accepted by the apex council with 9 of the 16 members speaking out against Rajat Sharma. Sharma was elected in July last year with the support of the late Arun Jaitley, who at that time was recovering from his kidney transplant operation. Soon Sharma started interfering in the selection of players which made him go against most of the directors. He even tried to prevent holding a general body meeting, but could not succeed, there by proving the scant support he enjoys in the DDCA.
CONGRESS WITHOUT A CHIEF WHIP IN RAJYA SABHA
Bhubaneswar Kalita, who was the Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, quit the party and resigned from the Upper House in August. It has been three months since then the Monsoon Session has ended and the Winter Session has begun, but the Congress is still without a chief whip in the Rajya Sabha. Many of the party MPs are wondering about the reason for the delay in the crucial appointment.
AAP, BJP STEP UP BATTLE OVER WATER, REGULARISATION IN DELHI
As the Delhi assembly election is coming closer, the fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party is becoming vociferous. Clearly, no one wants to lose the opportunity. At present, BJP is claiming that the AAP government is giving free water to Delhiites, but the quality of water is poor and unsafe. The BJP is claiming that the people of Delhi were previously were paying for water, but the water was clean and not unsafe. The BJP is accusing the AAP government of supplying free but dirty water. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that politics overwater should be stopped. Kejriwal’s statement came on the day the AAP-led Delhi government claimed that the water in the state was fit for drinking. On the other hand, AAP has started attacking BJP for not regularising the unauthorised colonies in Delhi. The Union Cabinet has already taken a decision to regularise the unauthorised colonies, but the law about this has not yet been formulated. As a result, AAP is attacking BJP over this, and is set to make it an issue in the coming assembly election. (IPA)
Sangh Parivar Working On ‘Hindu Rashtra’ Though Nrc 