Friday, July 29, 2022

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group


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.