Fly on the Wall
PM-Dhankhar rare bonhomie
The Vice Presidents are selected by the Prime Ministers of the day on the basis of their abilities and trust earned by them. At times, the selections are not necessarily due to close personal relations. In recent years, it is well known that Krishan Kant and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat were picked up by I K Gujral and Atal Behari Vajpayee respectively due to their personal friendship. Dr Hamid Ansari was not personally close to the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi and yet he made the cut for ten long years as VP. Similarly, M Venkaiah Naidu was not close to Narendra Modi either and that's why he was neither promoted as the President and nor repeated like Dr Hamid Ansari as the VP. However, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's case is different. Modi personally picked him up due to his old association when he was a practicing Supreme Court lawyer and interacted with him on numerous occasions. When Dhankhar was appointed as Governor of West Bengal there was surprise in political circles. But Dhankhar earned Modi's confidence by his functioning as Governor. His extremely proactive approach in handling the mayhem after Mamata Banerjee's win in Assembly polls in 2021 gladdened Modi's heart. Dhankhar's promotion as VP was well-earned. Dhankhar continues to be extremely proactive in his role as VP over his numerous visits to Rajasthan and had a verbal duel with state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the issue.
Insiders say that Dhankhar and PM Modi have developed an extremely close relationship and both of them meet more frequently than reported in the media and share their thoughts on issues of importance. Modi is extremely happy with Dhankhar the way he has handled the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha as Chairman. Dhankhar's selection as VP may have been attributed to placating the Jat community in Rajasthan and elsewhere. But insiders say that it had more to do with personal chemistry rather than vote bank politics.
How the Presidents are chosen
The selection of the President is based on different parameters as per the prevailing political situation. Normally, the selections are done in consultation with allies if it's a coalition government and the top leadership of the ruling party is also consulted. History tells us that Presidents were not close confidants of the Prime Minister since Independence beginning with Dr Rajendra Prasad. The Prime Ministers always wanted to pick up their trusted loyalists for the top post for the smooth functioning of the government and preferred a “rubber stamp” person. Barring Giani Zail Singh or to some extent Pranab Mukherjee, none of the occupants of the chair chose their own path to the embarrassment of the party leadership.
At times, the Presidents were selected due to setting an example too such as in the case of picking Dr APJ Abdul Kalam by Atal Behari Vajpayee. Even PM Modi picked up Ramnath Kovind and Droupadi Murmu for the President's post purely due to political considerations. Both of them were no Modi loyalists per se or his close confidants. They were picked to enhance the party's outreach in communities they belonged to.
BJP buckles under pressure
After a long time, the BJP high command has shown signs of buckling under pressure due to ground realities. If the rule of not giving tickets to leaders over and above 75 years old was broken, the high command also retracted from its hardened position against powerful regional satraps. It is no secret that the BJP high command and Vasundhara Raje Scindia (Rajasthan), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh) were not on the same page. On the contrary, Ms Scindia and Raman Singh were completely sidelined for the past several years. Though Chouhan was inducted as Chief Minister, he was left to fend for himself. Even senior party MPs felt that they have been sidelined and a sword always hangs over their heads over tickets in 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Lately, the high command showed signs of change and succumbed to the ground reality that without three regional Satraps, the party would be a divided house. Not only their tickets were cleared but their supporters were also accommodated. Political analysts were also surprised that the Maharashtra Governor, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were in the same frame at the Sai Temple pooja ceremony with the Prime Minister, Modi. Normally, the PM is not seen on such occasions in the company of other leaders. In Karnataka also, the BJP leadership has decided to go along with BS Yedyurappa.
Congress losing grip in MP
Till about two months ago, the Congress was perceived to be racing ahead in the coming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. But the Bharatiya Janata Party is said to have narrowed the gap with most political pundits now saying that the election promises to be a close fight between the two parties. There is all-round agreement, endorsed privately by many Congress leaders, that state party chief Kamal Nath’s over-confidence could prove to be their undoing. There is a growing perception in the state that Kamal Nath and his immediate coterie is acting as if they are already in power. On the other hand, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is going out of his way to beat anti-incumbency though the BJP is hoping that its decision to field a record number of MPs in the high-stakes contest will help counter the fatigue factor against Mr Chouhan. This is evident from the memes and social media posts doing the rounds with one titled "Mama ka bidai nimantaran" showing Mr Chouhan being carried in a palanquin, giving December 3 as the date of the occasion and the chief minister’s residence as the venue.
