A lokmat Exclusive report Ex-Ministers & MPs told to vacate houses

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

A lokmat Exclusive report

Ex-Ministers & MPs told to vacate houses

265 Newly elected MPs waiting for Houses

Shartughan, Kharge, Kalraj, Anant Geete to vacate after decades

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, June 16

More than 265 former parliamentarians including some of the leading lights like Shatrughan Sinha, Kalraj Mishra, Anant Geete, Mallikarjun Kharge, Upendra Kushwaha, Sharad Yadav have to vacate their palatial Lutyen’s Zone Bungalow within the next two weeks. Ex-ministers, former MPs get 2-3 weeks to vacate houses.

The Directorate of Estate and House Committee of the Lok Sabha have already notified former MPs to vacate these houses without delay. At least four dozen of these were occupying bungalows in Lutyen's Delhi for decades as they have been winning elections term after term. But the 17^th Lok Sabha brought 265 new Lok Sabha MPs and a large number of veterans had to eat the humble pie. For example, BJP veteran Shatrughan Sinha had been an occupant of 10 Talkatora Road for almost three decades. After his humiliating defeat, he is left with no option but to look for alternative private house. Similarly, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia is vacating the Safdarjung Road bungalow after almost four decades within the next 15 days. It’s the same story with former JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav  who has been occupant of 7 Tughlaq Road. Though the case is still in courts, now that he contested on the RJD symbol, his disqualification as Rajya Sabha MP has become certainty. Same goes for Mallikarjun Kharge who lost his Lok Sabha polls. Almost all members of Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s shouting brigade in Lok Sabha have lost LS polls and have to vacate houses. Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been staying at Pandit Pant Marg for several decades. Butnow his son has also lost the LS polls and they will have to bid adieu to the bungalow.

Some of the leading BJP lights like Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti and Kalraj Mishra didn’t contest polls. They were not given any government post so far. Now they are also looking for alternative accommodation unless given gubernatorial assignment.

According to the information available from official sources, there are 133 new Lok Sabha MPs elected on the BJP ticket out of 303 while Congress has a batch of 30 newly elected MPs out of 52. This is followed by YSR Congress which has 18 new MPs while DMK has 17. Incidentally, Shiv Sena has 4 new MPs. In all 265 are elected first time. 

Shatrughan Sinha considered from Varanasi

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report

Shatrughan Sinha considered from Varanasi  

Joint Opposition candidates against Modi planned 

Priyanka in the reckoning too 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 4

The Opposition parties are seriously considering fielding a strong joint candidate from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. The poll in Varanasi will be held on May 19 and last date for nominations is April 29. Except for the BJP no party has announced its candidate from the Varanasi seat. Even the Samajwadi Party which had made some announcement, has withdrawn its candidate. The BSP has opted out of the race and gave the seat to the Samajwadi Party as part of the seat sharing arrangement.

Highly placed sources in the Congress told Lokmat today that parleys have been going on to find a common ground to corner the BJP in Varanasi and not to allow a cakewalk to Modi who had won the seat by a margin of more than 3.50 lakh votes in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. This was largely because there was a 4-corner contest. This time, a common candidate be pitted against Modi to avoid splitting of anti-BJP votes.

If these sources are to be believed two names are under serious consideration for the Varanasi seat-- Priyanka Gandhi and Shatrughan Sinha. Though Shatrughan Sinha has already declared his intentions to contest from Patna Sahib which he represents in the Lok Sabha as BJP MP. But there is a suggestion that he shifts to Varanasi instead of Patna Sahib and become a joint Opposition candidate. He has personal rapport with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav who had earlier offered that his wife Poonam Sinha contest from Lucknow against the BJP stalwart Rajnath Singh on the SP ticket. Shatrughan Sinha is reported to have discussed this issue with Rahul Gandhi. However, details on this issue are not immediately known.

In addition to Shatrughan Sinha, a proposal is also afoot to field Priyanka Gandhi from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. Though she is campaigning in UP East but she can galvanize not only the party cadre but the entire area if she is fielded from Varanasi. Priyanka Gandhi had said in a lighter vein the other day in response to a question, “Do you want me to contest from Varanasi.”

Even Shatrughan Sinha was coy when asked by Lokmat today at his residence.He said, “A lot of people want me to contest from Varanasi. But it is not for me to comment. It is for the party to decide.”

A final decision in this respect will be taken sometime next week.

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BJP welcomes Celebrities, But with a rider

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special report

BJP welcomes Celebrities, But with a rider

Film Stars, Cricketers seeking tickets

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, March 13

BJP high command is not very enthused towards the idea of fielding a large number of celebrities from cricket, cinema, art etc in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Contrary to reports appearing in a section of the media that BJP is contemplating to field former cricketers Virendrer Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sunny Deol and others, the BJP won't like to field a celebrity merely because of a name.

A member of BJP parliamentary board said on the condition of anonymity, “We are not averse to induct talent from these fields. We are talking to couple of them who have shown interest. But our experience has been that these celebrities become a more of a liability than asset.”

Except for Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha hardly anyone stayed and worked sincerely for the party. Lately, even Sinha chose to become a rebel after serving the party for 28 long years.

Secondly, after the exit of celebrities, Kirti Azad, Sinha and Navjot Singh Sidhu, the BJP leadership is cautious in picking such faces on a large scale. Instead of inducting such celebrities from party's strong states, the BJP would like to these celebrities belonging to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and North Eastern states. The BJP wants to expand in these states and inducted Suresh Babu, Mary Kom into Rajya Sabha. The leadership is not very enthused in bringing in such stars in states where it has a formidable presence like Delhi, Bihar, UP, Gujrat, etc. Of course, the party brought in Paresh Rawal (Gujrat) and Rajya Vardhan Rathore (Rajasthan) in 2014.

Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have been keen to contest but they didn't get involved in the political or social work. The BJP wanted film star Akshay Kumar to join. But he will take his own time. Akshay Khanna wants to contest Gurdaspur seat which was represented by his late father. , Mohanlal and Sunney Deol are keen. But last word on them is yet to written. The names of Madhuri Dixit and Mohan Lal are being mentioned from Mumbai/Pune and Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituencies respectively.

In June last year, BJP chief Amit Shah had met the actor at her residence in Mumbai and Kapil Dev during his party's 'Sampark for Samarthan' (Contact for Support) program and briefed them on the achievements of the Narendra Modi government.

Therefore, a fine balance is required. But Gambhir won't be fielded from New Delhi, a seat held by Meenakshi Lekhi who is groomed to play more important role.

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Is It Modi VS Shatru in Varanasi ?

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Is It Modi VS Shatru in Varanasi ?

Opposition parties pitching a Joint candidate in 2019 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan. 22

The Opposition parties are contemplating pitching a joint candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency this time.

If sources in the top echelon of the Opposition are to be believed, rebel BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha has been sounded to take on the mighty Modi in May 2019 Lok Sabha polls.  

It transpires that Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav is the brain behind this move and a primary round of discussion had already taken place in Kolkata when these leaders met on Sunday last.

These sources told Lokmat today that Shatrughan Sinha is the most sought-after leader by Opposition parties today; if Mamata Banerjee wants him to contest from any seat in West Bengal, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal asked him to contest against BJP leader Manoj Tiwari in Delhi.  RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav wants him to be the joint Opposition candidate from Patna Sahib in Bihar, a constituency he currently holds in Lok Sabha as BJP MP.Sinha had met Lalu in Ranchi jail last month.  The Congress leadership is also very soft on him and willing to take him on board.

However, the Opposition leaders are looking for a formidable candidate against PM Modi from Varanasi and it is felt that  Shatrughan Sinha foots the bill given the situation. He is a BJP insider, a party veteran, popular, seasoned and commands a lot of goodwill.

The BJP leadership is also moving with caution to proceed against Sinha even after issuing him a public warning on Sunday itself when Shatrughan Sinha addressed an Opposition rally. Last ditch efforts may be on for some sort of a patch up though the die seems to have been cast.

The Opposition had failed in 2014 to put up a joint candidate against Modi from Varanasi due to variety of reasons with Congress and BSP candidates losing their deposits and Arvind Kejriwal getting more than two lakh votes and Modi touching almost 6 lakh vote figure. The opposition parties are keen to give BJP run for its money Varanasi this time and if Shatrughan Sinha is agreeable, it will be a stellar. Sinha will have nothing to lose even if he loses from Varanasi as he will be brought to the Rajya Sabha.

Ends 

After Maharashtra, Congress seals Bihar deal with RJD others

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

A Lokmat exclusive report

After Maharashtra, Congress seals Bihar deal with RJD others 

Kirti Azad, Shatrughan Sinha to quit BJP soon ?

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan. 10

After Maharashtra, its the turn of Bihar where Lok Sabha seat sharing arrangement by the Congress with its major allies has virtually been frozen.

Highly placed sources in the Congress say that Mahagathbandhan parties have come to an understanding that 40 Lok Sabha seats will be shared amongst the allies with the sole objective of defeating the BJP-JD(U)-LJP alliance.

Highly placed sources told Lokmat that the final announcement about seat sharing deal is likely to be made only after January 15-16.

The contours of alliances have been finalised after several parleys among the leaders in Delhi, Patna and Ranchi jail where Lalu is presently lodged. It transpires that it was Congress Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh who was a catalyst in the Opposition unity operation in Bihar. He was instrumental in bringing Upendra Kushwaha to the Opposition fold and made him quit the Modi government. It was Akhilesh who took Kushwaha to senior Congress leader Ahmad Patel and later Rahul Gandhi. He also arranged his meeting with Lalu in Ranchi jail. Sources say that the deal with Kushwaha was clinched assuring him of six seats. He had got five seats in the NDA though could win three only. He wanted six seats and Lalu agreed to give him the same. The Congress wants to contest 12 seats but at present, 11 seats have been committed to it.

As per the deal, the RJD contesting 19 seats, Congress 11, Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP six seats, HAM of Jitan Ram Manjhi two and Sharad Yadav will contest one seat. The 40th seat may go to Mukesh Sahni who joined the Mahagathbandhan. It has also been agreed if some formidable leader quit the JD (U) or the BJP, seats will be to him either by the Congress or the RJD.

It is learnt that some of the dissident BJP leaders Kirti Azad (Darbhanga) and Shatrughan Sinha (Patna) may also be accommodated from the seats of their choice if they finally quit the party. Shatrughan Sinha 's services may be used as a star campaigner by the alliance partners in Bihar and elsewhere and he may contest from Delhi instead of Bihar.

The Congress is keen that alliances are finalised in every state as soon as possible so that candidates' selection process could be initiated. It has sealed the deal in Maharashtra and now clinched in Bihar.

Ends

More Dalit Lok Sabha MPs upset with BJP leadership

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

More Dalit Lok Sabha MPs upset with BJP leadership

Dissidence rising in Haryana, UP, Bihar Rajasthan, Delhi   

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Dec. 9

After Savitri Bai Phule,  a Lok Sabha MP from UP who quit the BJP, a number of other BJP MPs are contemplating to raise a banner of revolt. Encouraged by example set in by the first time MP who was a staunch BJP loyalist,  these MPs are also on course to raise their dissatisfaction against the party. It transpires that majority of these MPs belong to the Scheduled Caste community who feel completely orphaned  as neither the Centre and nor the BJP ruled Chief Ministers listen to their grievances. They feel that Dalits have been the worst sufferers in the BJP dispensation in states and the Centre.

These MPs have started meeting in groups lately and telling their supporters that they would have to chart out their own course in future. While film-star turn politician Shatrughan Sinha and Kirti Azad are known dissidents, Dharamvir of Haryana has also joined the ranks. At least five Dalit MPs belonging to UP have told the high command that they won’t stay in the party if their community’s oppression continued.  A dalit MP from Delhi has already voiced his concern at a party forum recently saying that he would be left with no alternative but to quit the party. No one in the meeting even pacified him.

A Union Minister from Haryana is already holding parleys to float his own party while the other Haryana Minister is peeved that his services were not utilized in the recently held assembly polls. He is being treated as an outcast and politically undermined.

A BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh who is part of this exercise told Lokmat on the condition of anonymity that discontent is simmering in the party in a big way. Irrespective of the outcome of the Assembly polls, a number of MPs will “start talking” and no more be subservient to the high command.

Some of these MPs are aware that they will not get the tickets during the May 2019 Lok Sabha polls as the high command had already indicated that 50 sitting MPs will lose their tickets. Though the 75-year cut off date formula may not be applied strictly, but at least 15 of the oldies will be rested by the party.

These sources say that number of dissidents may swell if the BJP loses all the three major Hindi speaking states on December 11.

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Bhagwat takes Shah to task for Bihar drubbing

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Bhagwat takes Shah to task for Bihar drubbing

BJP douses fire; allies, party MP attack RSS chief too

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov. 9

The BJP high command tried to douse fire today as the knives are out within the 'Sangh Parivar' after drubbing in Bihar. The marathon meeting of the BJP's Parliamentary Board rather became a tame affair as it did not even 'discuss' taking action against erring leaders like Shatrughan Sinha and R K Singh.

On the contrary, the party had to come out in defence of the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat whose statement on reservations has enraged the BJP's allies. Be it Jitan Ram Manjhi (HAM), Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) or BJP's own senior party leader Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, all of them publicly criticized Bhagwat for his statement on reservation.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley put up a stout defence of Bhagwat obliquely by saying that no single statement by any leader could affect the outcome of the Bihar election. He said the die had been cast in Bihar when the three parties - JD(U), RJD and Congress - came together. They had contested in 2014 separately and lost miserably. "This time, they came together and the party lost and this was the biggest reason of the defeat," he asserted.

He also dismissed the suggestions by some that party chief Amit Shah should resign saying, " We have won four state assemblies. We have gained elsewhere in the country." It looked like the BJP leadership is trying hard to buy peace with the party dissidents and hold its horses.

The Parliamentary Board's meeting held at the residence of Amit Shah, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all its 12 members. Though Union minister for water resources Uma Bharti and senior leader Murlidhar Rao wanted swift action against Shatrughan Sinha and party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya who used 'dog' analogy for Shatrughan Singh, creating a ruckus. But it became clear that the party is in no mood to bell the cat when the Prime Minister is busy during the whole month with foreign visits. He leaves for UK and Turkey on November 12 night and goes to Singapore and Malaysia on November 21 and then to Paris on November 30.

In between the Parliament session will begin on November 26. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be any Cabinet reshuffle before the Parliament session or organisational changes either. Mohan Bhagwat camped in Delhi and met Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Amit Shah, Ravi Shankar Prasad and other ministers to take first hand review of the political situation. Party sources say that Bhagwat was angry as to why the BJP leaders failed to clarify his statement on reservations which was misconstrued and exploited by the Opposition parties.