by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
BJP-JD (U) tussle for Araria LS seat
The new alliance partners, BJP and Janata Dal (U) are engaged in a bitter battle as to who will contest the Araria Lok Sabha seat which fell vacant after the demise of Shahabuddin (RJD). Since the BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh had secured 40,000 more votes than JD (U)'s Vijay Kumar Mandal during 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP wants the seat. But Nitish Kumar wants the BJP to decide the seat-sharing formula between the two parties for 2019 polls. The BJP is in no mood to open this kind of a dialogue as it had won 32 Lok Sabha seats on its own in 2014 polls out of 40. It thinks a joint candidate of BJP-JD (U) will defeat the RJD in Araria and Nitish Kumar should make a sacrifice. Nitish Kumar is in no mood to do so without a price.
Baffling Defiance by BJP Mps in Lok Sabha
The failure of the Triple Talaq Bill to clear the Rajya Sabha muster hogged the limelight. But what was lost in the din was disaster in the Lok Sabha at the fag end of the Winter session where the BJP Mps defied the party whip. They failed to be present in the House to pass the Backward Classes bill. The NDA has 340 Mps in the Lok Sabha and the presence of only 270 Mps with two third voting in its favour was required. To the shock and disbelief of the ruling BJP, the Mps failed to turn up to complete the quorum when the bill was about to be put to vote. It had to be deferred twice. The Prime Minister was furious and BJP chief Amit Shah was losing his cool in the chamber. But nothing worked. Even the BJP's allies, TDP, Shiv Sena, etc had signaled that they won't be in a position to support the bill. Any lessons learnt ? Not really ! A top BJP manager said that the party had decided to defer its passage due to its own political reasons.
Rahul, Amit Shah face-to-face again
Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Amit Shah will be face-to-face again. If they entered into bitter power struggle in Gujrat, they will be face-to-face again in Karnataka. BJP chief Shah believes that Karnataka will be the real test of Rahul Gandhi as his challenge will be to retain the most crucial and only major state with the party. “I faced the same challenge in Gujrat,” Amit Shah quipped in an informal chat and added, “Gujrat was not Rahul Gandhi's test, it was our test to retain the state.” Obviously, Karnataka will be the first battle ground between the two party chiefs where both parties are strong. The battle becomes interesting as Rahul Gandhi has transformed into a "Janaudhari" Brahmin. Shah is extremely happy with it as Rahul Gandhi has come to play into BJP's Hindu turf. The battle in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland is essentially not between the Congress and the BJP as north eastern states go with the wind at the centre.
Team Rahul to decide AICC session date, venue
The Team Rahul is unable to make up it mind whether to hold the AICC session before the Karnataka Assembly polls in February or in May. The new dispensation is also unable to make it mind whether to hold the AICC session in Delhi, Bengaluru or somewhere else. Since Parliament will go into recess for a month from February 10, there was a suggestion that one-day AICC session be held to ratify the election of Rahul Gandhi during this period. Another view is that Rahul Gandhi has already been elected unanimously by the Congress Working Committee and there is no hurry to hold AICC. The session can be held whenever possible. The party has to work hard to retain Karnataka which will go to polls before May 5. The Election Commission will most likely declare poll dates in mid-March. The Assembly polls are already underway in three states. Then the biennial elections for 60-odd Rajya Sabha seats will come up in states in March. The venue of the AICC is also a matter of serious consideration. The Gujrat unit is insisting that the AICC be held there to send the right signal to the Modi-Shah team. The BJP is vulnerable in the state and its time to give more attention.
BJP National Executive in February
Even as the Congress continues to in a dilemma over holding of the AICC session, the BJP is likely to hold its National Executive meeting in early February. The reason is that BJP's new 5-storied headquarter will be ready by February and party president Amit Shah is wants to show-case it to the world. The building will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi. Amit Shah is also setting up party's top secret War Room on the 5th floor which be a restricted area. If all goes as per plans, the National Executive may be held around the same time.
Major bureaucratic reshuffle in offing
PM Modi will have to undertake another reshuffle in top bureaucracy as two senior secretaries are retiring this month end and another four in a couple of months. Panchayati Raj Secretary Jitendra Shankar Mathur, and Parliament Affairs Secretary Rajiv Yadav will retire in the next 15 days while Kewal Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Dept of Higher Education, Ajay Mittal, Secretary, DOPT, Dr. P Parameshwaran Iyer, Secretary Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation. Iyer and Mines Secretary Arun Kumar will demit office as well. Interestingly, Modi had brought Dr P Parameshwaran Aiyer from retirement and made him secretary again for two years raising eyebrows in the bureaucracy. He has already served his tenure of two years in the ministry and there is resentment in the bureaucracy as new trend has been set by Modi. Normally, serving secretaries are given extensions. But this first time that a retired secretary who had gone home was brought back into the post while serving additional secretaries waiting in the wings for promotion. It is learnt that Modi continues to be upset with the bureaucracy for not taking forward his development agenda. Therefore, he has decided to send senior bureaucrats to district headquarters to be part of his development model.
