by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Gujarat elections: BJP's Plan to drop 30% MLAs runs into rough weather    

The BJP's experiment in Gujarat to replace at least one third of its MLAs with new faces has run into rough weather. The party has been implementing its strategy to put up new faces, at least in 30-40% new faces in Assembly elections and it paid rich dividends. But it is facing a huge problem in Himachal where 11 rebels are in the fray who were denied the ticket and refused to withdraw.

Three internal surveys conducted by the BJP recommended that at least one third of sitting MLAs be replaced in Gujarat. The party sacked all ministers along with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani last year. It brought in Bhupendra Patel as new CM who belongs to the Patidar community which did not vote for the party in large numbers. The state BJP Chief C R Paatil is pitching to field at least 30 new faces where the margin of victory in 2017 Assembly polls was less than 5000 votes.

A senior party functionary said that the rebels may spoil the show as the AAP may provide a new platform to them. Many of the BJP rebels do not want to join the Congress and may prefer AAP. The BJP is wary of Arvind Kejriwal who has caught the imagination in pockets due to his freebies and success of “Delhi model.” Kejriwal's demand to print images of Hindu Gods - Lakshmi and Ganesh - on currency notes is part of one up manship. 

The BJP touched its lowest tally of 99 seats in 2017 with polling 49% votes. Therefore, it doesn't want AAP to gain a foothold in Gujarat and is reconsidering its plan to replace one-third MLAs. The Morbi bridge collapse has added to the BJP's difficulties.

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Fly on the Wall

Harish Gupta

Testing time for Priyanka 

After burning her boats in UP Assembly polls badly, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AICC General Secretary, has taken a plunge in Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections being held on November 12. Perhaps, she thinks that the ground is fertile due to price rise and huge anti-incumbency against Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. The Congress has promised to revive the old pension scheme to lure the government employees who play a decisive role. The BJP high command took a cautious decision not to replace Thakur. It must be remembered that the BJP had changed CM three times within six month in Uttarakhand and its strategy paid rich dividends and Congress licked the dust. For Himachal Pradesh, the BJP virtually declared that elections will be fought under the leadership of Modi. The Congress campaign has not picked up so far as Rahul Gandhi is busy with his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in southern states. Sonia Gandhi has decided to play cool after handing over the reins to Mallikarjune Kharge. With Priyanka Gandhi throwing her hat in the Himachal ring, political analysts feel it's a risky decision. No Congress central leader worth a salt is seen campaigning in Himachal. The BJP, on the other hand, has pumped in its entire machinery, right from PM to Amit Shah, J P Nadda and others. It conducted three major internal poll surveys in the last two months to short-list candidates to ward off anti-incumbency.  

Priyanka's experiments in Punjab by throwing her weight behind Navjot Singh Sidhu or promising chief ministerial chair to Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, failed miserably. Her only connection with Himachal is that she owns a piece of land there. Will the gamble pay-off? No one is sure.

EC's Gujarat riddle

PM Modi has been advocating simultaneous elections for LoK Sabha, Assemblies and other elected bodies once in five years. It's different that no formal step was taken by the government or the Election Commission or any other institution. Lately, Modi has also stopped talking about it. The ruling BJP may have realized that simultaneous polls may not enhance its own electoral prospects. But the EC has done something unthinkable when it announced Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh to be held on November 12 and did not declare poll dates for Gujarat. The EC, in the past, has been declaring poll dates simultaneously in these two states and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect the same day. The EC has the power to club election dates if two or more states go to polls within a span of six months. In the case of Himachal and Gujarat, the difference was less than a month and the EC was expected to follow precedents and norms. The BJP is reaping the harvest as no MCC is in force in Gujarat and plenty of freebies are being announced to lure the electorates. Modi distributed 50 lakh PMJAY-MA Yojana Ayushman cards on October 17 saying, “ for the 50 lakh families an Ayushman card is a 5 lakh rupee ATM. This is an ATM card that will keep giving benefits of free treatment every year.”

Ever since AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal declared free water and power and all adult women will be given Rs 1000 each per month in Gujarat, the BJP needed time to counter Kejriwal by its own freebies. The Gujarat government announced that every household will get two gas cylinders free every year. In addition, CNG and PNG rates were slashed by Rs 6 and Rs 7 per unit. The PM has traveled to Gujarat three times in October alone to launch projects worth nearly Rs one lakh crore. Amul dairy made an unusual announcement, unheard before, saying Rs two per liter hike in rates will not be applicable in Gujarat.

Who will be LoP in Rajya Sabha

With the new Congress president taking over the reins, all eyes are set on who will be the new Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha in place of Mallikarjun Kharge. In Lok Sabha also, the Congress has to appoint a Deputy Leader. It is argued that LoP in Rajya Sabha should be from North India considering the fact that the region remains unrepresented in terms of key positions. The Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha is from West Bengal (Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) and party president is from Karnataka. P Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu) and Jairam Ramesh (Karnataka) are from southern states. Therefore, LoP in Rajya Sabha should be from the Hindi heartland, it is being argued. There are reports that Priyanka Gandhi wants her protege Pramod Tiwari to be appointed while Rahul Gandhi is keen on Digvijay Singh who is incharge of Bharat Jodo Yatra. Similarly, in Lok Sabha too, the tie is between Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tiwari for the Deputy Leader's post. Interestingly, Sonia Gandhi in her capacity as Chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Party, will be making these nominations and not Kharge.

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Within two months Subrahmanyam out, Kharola in as ITPO Chief 

 

 In a major upheaval, the Central Government removed Former Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam as Chairman & MD of the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO). Within two months of his appointment, Subrahmanyam  was removed and Pradeep Singh Kharola appointed CMD of the ITPO.

This is something unusual as no reasons for the removal of the 1988 batch IAS officer were given.  Interestingly, after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, Subrahmanyam was appointed Chief Secretary of the J&K  and he cracked the whip in the Valley. The state saw a communication blockade and the arrest of thousands of people including three former chief ministers, Subrahmanyam was seen as the most powerful person in J&K.

However, he fell out with the J&K Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu who was also PM Modi’s most trusted bureaucrat. Subrahmanyam was recalled from J&K and appointed Commerce Secretary and upon his retirement, he was given the ITPO prestigious post.  Murmu was also recalled and made CAG.

The Cabinet Committee of Appointment approved the appointment of retired IAS officer Pradeep Singh Kharola as CMD of ITPO for a period of two years. The order was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on Wednesday night. Kharola was Civil Aviation Secretary and CMD of AIR INDIA which was privatized.

Kharola will continue to hold the charge of the post of Chairman, National Recruitment Agency till appointment of a regular incumbent in his place, it added. Kharola was appointed Chairman of the NRA in March this year. But within a span of six months, he has been appointed as CMD of ITPO. No new posting has been announced for Subrahmanyam who was appointed there in June, 2022.

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Dwindling role of CBI

The CBI may be the country's premier investigation agency having all

India jurisdictions to fight corruption and crime. But over the years

its sheen has gone as it faced one onslaught or the other. The parties

in power used the agency to achieve their political ends at the cost

of its credibility. It was largely because of this very reason that

the Supreme Court called the CBI a “caged parrot” in 2013. In an

unprecedented move more than nine states disallowed the CBI to operate

without prior permission. This curtailed the CBI to operate across the

country freely. The situation perhaps did not improve in 2022 either

as Chief Justice N V Ramana, who retired recently, raised the issue of

the agency's credibility. He warned the CBI saying “With the passage

of time, like every other institution of repute, the CBI had also come

under deep public scrutiny. Its actions and inactions had raised

questions regarding its credibility, in some cases.”  Ramana said

there was an immediate need for the creation of an independent

umbrella institution, so as to bring various agencies like the CBI, ED

and Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under one roof.

However, the Modi government is in no mood to create such an umbrella

organization. It has adopted a different approach. The CBI’s role is

dwindling with each passing day and largely confined to corruption by

public servants.  The government is relying more and more on the ED,

the National Investigation Agency (NIA), SFIO and Directorate of

Investigation (Income Tax). Data shows that if the CBI has registered

747 cases in 2021, the ED registered the highest number of money

laundering and foreign exchange violation cases (1,180 and 5,313

complaints respectively) during 2021-22 financial year.  The NIA,

carved out of the CBI to fight terrorism, has an all India

jurisdiction like the ED. These agencies do not require permission of

individual states either. The same goes for SFIO and Income-Tax too.

The IT opened more than 9000 assessment cases and conducts almost four

raids a day on an average. The CBI rarely hogs the limelight these

days and ED is the new weapon.

Labour Codes may go for a Toss

It is clearly emerging now that the four labour codes may also go for

a toss after the withdrawal of three farm laws under pressure from the

farming community. The Modi government has been trying hard to bring

in much awaited labour reforms and passed three bills in Parliament in

September 2020. The bills were aimed at providing greater flexibility

to employers to hire and fire while ensuring social security for

workers. But the Labour ministry has not been able to finalize four

labour codes during the past two years  due to stiff opposition by the

10 trade unions. Interestingly, even the RSS controlled Bhartiya

Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) made it clear to Labour Minister Bhupendra Yadav

that it is opposed to at least two of the four codes. The BMS

supported the Code on Social Security and the Code on Wages but

opposed the Industrial Relations Code and the Occupational Safety,

Health and Working Conditions Code.

The BMS asked Yadav to call a meeting of the Indian Labour Conference

(ILC) immediately which had not been convened for years together. The

ILC is an effective tripartite mechanism. Politically speaking, the

ruling party can ill afford a confrontation with the 10 major labour

unions on the issue. At least 11 states will go to polls during

2022-23 before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. These trade unions have

given clause-by-clause objections to these four codes and sent a

letter to the Prime Minister as well. The strident posture by the BMS

on these codes has surprised political observers. It is a huge setback

to the Modi government after its failure to implement the Land

Acquisition Act and farm Laws.

AAP’s tactical retreat

If reports emanating from Shimla are any indication, the Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP) has slowed down its campaign in Himachal Pradesh going to

polls on November 12. With many of AAP’s many senior leaders crossing

over to the BJP in Himachal,  Arvind Kejriwal has been left high &

dry. Therefore, Kejriwal opted to focus on the Gujarat Assembly polls

where the AAP is getting traction. Kejriwal is traveling to the state

every alternate day. The Congress campaign has not even taken off in

Gujarat as many of its leaders have quit the party while senior

leadership is busy making Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra a grand

success. Kejriwal is taking full advantage of the vacuum created by

the Congress leadership and addressing one rally after the other. Many

opinion polls have indicated the rising graph of AAP forcing the BJP

to up the ante. The Prime Minister and Home Minister have been

traveling extensively in the state and even camping there for days

together. The slipping graph of Congress has started worrying the BJP

in Gujarat.

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

 

 

CCI and Prasar Bharti to get new Chiefs soon

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Prasar Bharati may get new Chiefs soon as the government has fast-tracked the procedures. If reports emanating from North Block are any indication, both will get new heads this month end.

It is learnt that nearly five dozen candidates were short-listed for interviews for CCI Chairman's post. The process will be completed within the next ten days.
The term of the incumbent Chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta, a retired IAS officer of the 1981 batch, ending on October 25, 2022. The government decided to advertise the post in July and sought applications from eligible candidates which included senior bureaucrats (retired & retiring), economists, judges from the higher judiciary and a few members currently working with the competition watchdog. The CCI was set up in 2003 under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. It keeps a tab on anti-competitive practices across sectors in the marketplace and also works towards promoting fair trade practices. It also approves combinations under the act so that two merging entities do not overtake the market. In recent times, CCI has been looking at various cases of alleged unfair business practices, especially in the fast-growing digital space. Many international companies are under the scanner of the CCI.

Prasar Bharati may also get a regular CEO as Shashi Shekhar Vempati retired in June. Later, Mayank Kumar Agrawal was given the additional charge of the CEO. The selection committee meeting was held this week and an IAS officer may be inducted soon as CEO. Vempati was the youngest and the first non-bureaucrat CEO who was appointed for five years in June 2017.

 

 

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Fly on the Wall

 

RSS dousing fire

Days after RSS’s number two Dattatreya Hosabale caused a flutter by painting a grim picture of the Indian economy; RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat heaped praises on the Modi government. If Hosabale said that “poverty stands like a demon before us” and 20 crores people in India are below poverty line, Mohan Bhagwat doused the fire claiming that the economy was returning to pre-Covid levels. Those tracking the RSS-BJP relationship closely were shocked as Hosabale is considered close to Prime Minister Modi. In fact, Hosabale’s induction as number two in the RSS hierarchy was delayed as Bhayyaji Joshi continued to hold the post despite poor health. Therefore, Hosabale’s comments that 23 crore India earns Rs.375/- a day” only; that unemployment is at a high of 7.6% and that 1% Indians own a fifth of national income while 50% Indians own just 13.5%” national income, caused  ripples in the Parivar. Hosabale’s comments were not off-the-cuff remarks either as he was speaking as chief guest at a function hosted by Swadesh Jagran Manch. However, four days later, Bhagwat sought to give a clean chit to the government on the job crisis at a Dussehra rally in Nagpur. He said the Centre alone can’t solve the problem and the society must come forward to create opportunities and become self-reliant. As if this was not enough, he heaped praises on the Modi government citing India’s aid to crisis-hit Sri Lanka and the stand taken on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He went on to add that it’s a sign of the strength of the country that its voice is being heard at the global level. Bhagwat’s statement makes it clear that at the top, the RSS remains firmly behind Modi.

Early Assembly Polls in Odisha

India’s longest serving Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik is toying with the idea of de-linking Assembly polls along with the Lok Sabha elections. Though Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim was CM for 24 years and Patnaik has completed 22 years and two more years to go. But the 75 year old Patnaik is going strong in Odisha while Chamling has retired. Reports emanating from Odisha indicate that Patnaik is toying with the idea of advancing Assembly polls early and de-link from Lok Sabha polls in May, 2024. Though he remains the unquestioned leader of the state, the BJP has emerged as a big challenger virtually decimating the Congress.  In 2019 when polls were held simultaneously for Lok Sabha and Assembly, BJP came very close to Biju Janata Dal in terms of vote share. The BJP polled 32.49% of popular votes and won 23 Assembly seats in the 147-member House. The BJD polled 44.71% votes with 112 seats in its kitty. But the outcome of LS polls gave shock to political strategists. The BJD obtained 12 Lok Sabha seats with 42.80% votes while the BJP’s vote share jumped to 38.40%. The Odisha voter gave BJP 6% more votes in Lok Sabha polls compared to vote share in Assembly. Patnaik has sensed the danger of an aggressive BJP and keen to de-link Assembly with the LS polls. He would like to win the state first, sometime in 2023 and then enter the LS poll fray in May 2024.

 

BJP gunning for Kejri not Congress!

The Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party leader, Arvind Kejriwal, recently dined with an auto driver at the latter’s home in Ahmedabad after receiving an invitation during an election rally. Kejriwal had done the same in Ludhiana while campaigning for the Punjab assembly elections and successfully sold the "Delhi Model".  Kejeriwal is doing the same in Gujarat where Assembly polls are due later this year. The Congress has reasons to be worried as Kejriwal walked away with its vote bank in Delhi and Punjab and dealt a body blow to the BJP too. The Congress continues to be dormant in Gujarat as the party's entire machinery is busy either with Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra or organizational elections.  

 But the BJP is not taking any chances neither in Gujarat nor in Himachal Pradesh. It has realized that AAP is a greater danger compared to the Congress. The BJP is wooing AAP workers and leaders in every district and town to dump Kejriwal and has an "open door policy." It is applying every weapon in its armory to weaken AAP and even disrupt Kejriwal's rallies. The PM camped in Gujarat for three-days in a row and took potshots at AAP and avoided critical references for Congress. The BJP wants Congress to be its principal challenger and not AAP. If reports are to be believed, the BJP leadership declined to admit nearly two dozen Congress MLAs in Gujarat who were ready to dump the Congress. Even Modi wondered at his rallies as to why the Congress has stopped abusing him and "working silently" to capture rural votes. He termed AAP as “Urban Naxal” without naming. Obviously, the BJP has reasons to be worried as Kejriwal has been able to create a buzz among the youths and down-trodden in urban areas.

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Massive recruitment drive in ED

Will ED Chief Sanjay Mishra another extension

 

All eyes are set on the Enforcement Directorate whether its Director  Sanjay Mishra gets further extension in tenure.

He is due to retire in November this year and has served four years. Though the government’s decision was challenged in the Supreme Court which is pending.

In the meanwhile, the government amended the law  enabling it to extend the tenure of Directors of ED and CBI chiefs up to five years. There are reports that Mishra’s  tenure may be extended for another year under the amended law. The government had amended the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act and Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act to empower itself to extend the tenure of Directors of the CBI and ED for five years.

Reports emanating from North Block housing the Finance ministry indicate that the ED is being strengthened further in the wake of its massive workload.

It transpires that more than two dozen top level posts in the ED will be filled shortly. It has been decided that eight new Joint Directors, four Additional Directors and three Special Directors may be added to the battery of senior officials of ED in the next couple of weeks.  The ED has been facing a huge man-power crunch as it is conducting raids and searches almost on a daily basis across the country.

During Sanjay Mishra’s four year tenure a large number of high-profile cases surfaced involving politicians and business houses. It included former Yes Bank MD & CEO Rana Kapoor, ICICI Bank former MD-CEO Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak Kochhar, deportation and arrest of British middleman Christian Michel James in AgustaWestland scam, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh among others.

 

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

PM upset as “some ministries” flout directions

Cabinet Secretary sends a terse note

The Prime Minister has taken strong exception to “some ministries and departments” flouting the directions of the Cabinet Secretariat relating to not forwarding a copy of the draft notes when these are sent for inter-ministerial consultations.

The Cabinet Secretariat, in a terse note sent to all ministries said, “in spite of the laid down procedure, it has been observed that some Ministries and departments are not forwarding a copy of the draft notes to the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Secretariat. These draft notes must be shared when these are sent for inter-ministerial consultations.”

The Lokmat has a copy of the letter sent to all secretaries to the ministries & departments. 

Ashutosh Jindal, an additional secretary rank officer in the Cabinet Secretariat, sent a letter saying instructions were issued vide Office Memorandum three times during the past seven years. “These memorandums were sent on 01.09.2015, 06.02.2017 and 11.09.2019 directing  that a copy of the draft Cabinet/Cabinet Committee Note should invariably be forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office as well as Cabinet Secretariat at the time when notes are sent for inter-material consultations.”

But these instructions are not followed by some ministries and departments. The Cabinet Secretariat which is directly under the PMO. A fresh letter was sent a couple of weeks ago asking the ministries to follow the directions.

The fresh letter said, “It may be mentioned that adherence to the prescribed procedure aids careful examination of note at all level and rectification of inconsistencies contained in the proposal before they are placed for consideration of Cabinet/Cabinet Committees." The note urged the ministries to ensure that the notes are finalized in accordance with the aforementioned guidelines and instructions.

It may be mentioned that the PM asked some ministers and secretaries not to ignore background notes or other communications sent by the National Security Council Secretariat and the National Security Adviser and take them seriously. This happened when NSCS made a presentation to all ministers and secretaries last week. 

 

 

 

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Naidu's Pep talk to Modi

The other day, former Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu caused a flutter by giving some peace of his mind to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that too in public. Naidu gave this advice while launching a series of Modi’s speeches condensed in a book titled “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas (May 2019-May 2020)”. Naidu may have been giving some advice to Modi as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha privately during his five year tenure (2017-22). But this was the first time Naidu said that the Prime Minister should engage more often with opposition parties in a bid to clear any “misunderstandings” about his decisions.Naidu asked the PM to increase his frequency of meeting with opposition parties to remove misunderstandings and better coordination. Though Naidu heaped praises on Modi saying that India’s standing in the world has improved drastically due to his leadership. He said despite India’s meteoric rise, the opposition is still untrusting the PM “because of some misunderstandings.... may be out of some political compulsions”. Never before in Modi's more than eight years' tenure as PM has any leader from the 'Sangh Parivar' given this kind of advice in public. In a way, Naidu was saying that the government has not been taking the Opposition into confidence about decisions. The BJP doesn't have a majority in the Rajya Sabha and the government has been facing problems in passing its legislations since 2014 as it lacks majority. It may be mentioned here that the PM was extremely upset with Dr Hamid Ansari, Vice President (2012-2017) also. He even walked into his chamber in Parliament House to ask him why he was not allowing government bills to be passed by firmly checking the Opposition. Taken aback, Ansari said the responsibility of running the House smoothly lies with the ruling party. It is no secret that Modi was also upset with Naidu's style of running the Rajya Sabha as the situation did not improve drastically in terms of smooth functioning of the House. Insiders in the BJP say it was because of this very reason that Naidu was neither re-nominated to the VP’s post nor promoted.

 Modi Ministers on their toes

 Prime Minister Modi has introduced a model to bridge the gulf between the party and the government. All Union Cabinet Ministers, without exception, have to visit the BJP's newly built  headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg as per their turn.  These ministers are expected to spend three hours at the party headquarters in the afternoon without fail. The ministers are expected to listen to the grievances of party workers and resolve their problems. A system has been put in place and a coordinator dedicated to work as a bridge between the Union Ministers and party workers. The past experience has shown that party workers get disenchanted as their own grievances remain unaddressed and the gulf gets widened. J P Nadda, BJP president also keeps track of this interaction and provides feedback to the PM. Though such arrangements did not succeed during the Vajpayee era to the satisfaction of the party workers due to one reason or the other. But Modi ensures that these interactions are implemented in letter and spirit.

 

 How Digvijay Singh missed the Bus

 Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh is extremely upset with the Congress high command over the manner in which he had to withdraw from the race of party president. He was incharge of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo yatra as he is an excellent organizer. He rushed to Delhi to file his nomination papers leaving the ‘yatra’ mid-way at the prodding of Rahul Gandhi. He threw his hat in the ring only after Ashok Gehlot declared that he would not contest for party chief’s post. Digvijay Singh also called on Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in the evening to ask him if he would be contesting. Kharge categorically told him, “I am not in the fray.” But within an hour Kharge got a call and he decided to enter the fray. The entire Congress machinery including senior leaders and MPs were told by the “neutral high command” to be present at the time when Kharge goes to file his nomination papers. The cat was out of the bag as Kharge was considered a "safe bet" compared to Digvijay Singh. Now feelers are being sent to an upset Digvijay Singh that he would be adequately rewarded.

 

No winter session in new Parliament House

Prime Minister Modi's most ambitious project of starting the winter session in the new Parliament House building may be delayed. Though the work is going-on round-the-clock, it turns out that the November deadline may not fructify. PM Modi and Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri are monitoring the progress regularly. The new target for completing this state-of-the art building is February, 2023 when the Union Budget is to be presented.

 

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

 

 

KCR throws his hat in national ring

Compounding Confusion in Opposition

 

With K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana throwing his hat in the ring by floating a national party, the battle for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll has become muddier.

His regional party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi,  will now be named as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

Though KCR, as he is popularly known, may have claimed that  he intends to take on the BJP,  his entry will make the task of many Opposition parties more difficult to come together to give a united flight to PM Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Before launching his national party, KCR, traveled across India and met with several political leaders including his counterparts in other states - Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala) and Naveen Patnaik (Odisha). Since Congress has been a principal Opposition party in Telangana, KCR wanted to unite all regional parties. But his game plan did not take off as per his earlier plans. This emerged clear today when only two regional parties, former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy (JD-S) and DMK ally Thol Thirumavalavan attended the launch party.

 

However, KCR wants to propagate his “Telangana model of development” as PM Modi successfully marketed his “Gujarat Model” before the country in 2014. Even AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal obtained a massive majority in Punjab by show-casing his “Delhi Model.”  Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already thrown his hat in the 2024 poll battle by trying to bring Opposition parties together.  KCR’s entry will muddy the 2024 poll battle further.

The Congress has already dubbed KCR’s efforts to enter the national scene only to help the BJP and PM Modi by dividing Opposition votes. Interestingly, the JD (S) is talking to the Congress Party for a pre-poll alliance in Karnataka in the 2023 Assembly poll.

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

How to Win 144 lost LS seats

BJP completes survey of One lakh Polling booths

 

Even as the Congress is struggling to put its own house in order, the BJP's entire machinery has been in a war mode for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. It has completed the first phase of weak polling booths in 144 Lok Sabha seats it had lost in 2019 polls. Of the 1.12 lakh polling booths, the party has covered 84000 booths. Maharashtra is among those states where all booths have been covered. The remaining 38,000 booths will also be covered soon. The task was undertaken in May this year to identify these weak booths.

The first phase was aimed at preparing a database and each voter's profile. The 'Panna Pramukhs” (One page containing the names of voters) were put in place of these 1.12 lakh booths. Prime Minister Modi, desired that the party must focus on winning voters' confidence in these booths.

 This humongous task was taken along with focusing on ensuring retaining the two poll bound states- Himachal and Gujarat, in November-December. The PM had already addressed massive rallies in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in September. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and J P Nadda and other senior leaders are regularly visiting these two poll bound states with the aim of retaining them.

Even External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar who is extremely busy in foreign affairs traveled to Gujarat to interact with the people. As part of winning these 144 Lok Sabha seats, Modi allocated a couple of Lok Sabha constituencies to all Union Ministers. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman camped at Baramati in Maharashtra to ensure the defeat of Supriya Sule (NCP) during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP's special focus will be Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Kerala and North Eastern states. Bihar has a tough task to repeat NDA's performance of winning 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in a changed political scenario.