Fly
on the Wall
The Maratha warrior rising again
The
Maratha warrior has decided to fight another battle with the mighty BJP. Though
he is aging he refuses to give up. Unruffled by the fall of the MVA
government, 81-year-old Sharad Pawar is gearing up to fight another
battle with the ruling BJP. He has told his party cadre that mega rallies will
be held across Maharashtra against the BJP which has been pulling down elected
governments in states after states by misuse of central agencies and
horse-trading. In a series of meetings here and in Maharashtra, Pawar has said
he will extensively tour the state and can’t be cowed down by the CBI, ED and
Income-Tax who have unleashed a raid-raj in the country. Sharad Pawar is also
talking to the Congress leadership and Uddhav Thackery to join this struggle to
counter the BJP. “It’s time to give a united fight to the BJP,” Pawar told
senior Congress leaders. The Congress, as usual, will take its sweet time.
Uddhav Thackeray who has been fighting with the Shinde faction with his
back-to-the-wall, is ready for this battle too. Final touches are being given
to the plan.
Margret’s
Rs 15000 offer
Margret
Alva, Opposition’s Vice Presidential candidate, had moments of laughter even on
the face of a defeat at the hands of the NDA nominee Jagdeep Dhankhar. While
filing nomination, one of the Opposition leaders suggested that a security
deposit of Rs 15000 be better paid in cash. Alva quipped, “I have brought Rs
15000 cash” showing her purse. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge
responded, “No worries… we will deposit.” Praful Patel jokingly said, “Allow
Kharge ji to deposit the money….otherwise you will have to travel to Delhi once
again to reclaim the deposit after the polls.” There was big laughter
in the room. A candidate gets back the deposit if he/she secures more than 15%
of polled votes.
No
FIR is a Concession
When
an upset UP PWD Minister Jitin Prasada rushed to Delhi to complain to the party
high command over the removal of his OSD by Chief Minister Yogi, someone at the
top gave him a pep talk. “You are new to the BJP, learn to live with leaders
like Yogi. You were given a plum department like PWD in the first shot. But it
seems your OSD forgot that there is Zero tolerance towards corruption under the
Yogi regime.” Poor Jitin Prasada returned to Lucknow as there was no one to
talk to him at his bidding. When a senior leader contacted the CM on the
phone about it, Yogi is reported to have said, “I have already given him one
concession…. No FIR registered against the OSD.” The matter was closed. This
was in contrast to the treatment given to junior UP Minister Dinesh Khatik who
had sent his resignation letter to Amit Shah, not the Chief Minister. This was
a signal that something is amiss between Lucknow and Delhi. However, Khatik was
given an audience by BJP Chief J P Nadda and not by Shah. Khatik met Yogi later
in the presence of his senior Minister Swatradev Singh with whom he had a
running battle. The matter was sorted out. Prasada should better watch out why
he was not given an audience! Loyalty counts.
Winds
of Change blowing in MP
The
BJP may be on a high horse after it dislodged the Kamal Nath government in
Madhya Pradesh. But its electoral arithmetic is not working. Warning bells are
ringing in BJP headquarters after the party suffered a humiliating defeat in
local bodies’ elections in MP. The outcome may not have made national
headlines due to a variety of reasons. But it has shaken Chief Minister Shivraj
Singh Chouhan to the core and he is on a shaky wicket as Assembly polls are 15
month away. The shocker came as the BJP lost the Morena Municipal
Corporation election for the first time since its creation. Similarly,
the BJP also lost the Gwalior Mayoral poll for the first time in 57
years. Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and several senior state leaders
belong to the region. Incidentally, 15 of the Congress MLAs who quit the
Congress to join the BJP and pulled down the Kamal Nath government, belong to
this region. When Scindia joined BJP in 2020, the party had claimed that
Gwalior-Chambal would be “Congress-Mukt”. But the results came as a huge
setback to Chouhan, Scindia and other BJP leaders. These are also
worrying for Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar who is
Lok Sabha MP from Morena.
Calmer
comfort
The
out-going Vice President, M Venkaiah Naidu has decided to shift to 1
Tyagraja Marg instead of 5 Safdarjung Road as his new abode. The change
came as Safdarjung Road turned out to be too noisy for him while
Tyagraj Marg is slightly calmer.
