Fly on the
Wall
Selective amnesia
An
impression has gained ground that Governors appointed by the Modi government
are on a warpath with the non-BJP governments in states. The Governors are
making the lives of elected governments in states miserable. For example,
Jagdeep Dhankhar as Governor of West Bengal was constantly involved in a bitter
battle with TMC's Mamata Banerjee which gladdened the hearts of the Prime
Minister which finally led him to the coveted post of Vice President. It is no
secret that Kerala Governor Arif
Mohammad Khan was in the race for the top post and crossed swords with the Left
Front government led by Pinarayi Vijayan on one issue or the other. Tamil Nadu
Governor R N Ravi has also been involved in a bitter battle with the M K Stalin
government. The Supreme Court finally stepped in when the matter came to head
over Governors sitting over files relating to bills sent by respective state
governments for approval. Lately,
Banwarilal Purohit who was sent to Punjab, also did the same to Bhagwant Singh
Mann government. But not all the governors crossed swords with Opposition-ruled
states and many of them enjoy cordial
relations with them. For example, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Governor of Karnataka
and Congress Chief Minister Siddharamiah have extremely cordial relations so far.
Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra is a good host to Congress Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot though PM Modi bitterly accuses him of many scams and ED is also
after his family members.
Similarly,
Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan is having a harmonious
relationship with the Bhupesh Baghel government. The Telangana Governor,
Tamilsai Soundararajan is another example of cordiality with the Chief
Minister, K Chandrashekhar Rao. Even her Andhra Pradesh counter-part Justice S.
Abdul Nazeer has been maintaining extremely cordial relations with Jaganmohan
Redy government. The same goes for the Odisha Governor, Raghubar Das. Even his
predecessor Ganeshi Lal enjoyed good relations with Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik. There is no explanation as to why some states are witnessing this
selective amnesia.
Tit For Tat
The Congress
may be flexing its muscles in the expectation of winning Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh Assembly polls and claiming to have an edge in Telangana as well
over BRS' K Chandrashekhar Rao. The Congress refused to share any seat with any
of its INDIA allies in the Assembly polls. The Congress’ argument was that the INDIA alliance is for the Lok Sabha polls
only. The allies are now waiting to give the Congress back in the same coin in
the Lok Sabha polls. Be it JMM in Jharkhand, Samajwadi Party in UP or even RJD
in Bihar, all are upset with the Congress and in no mood to allocate more Lok
Sabha seats to Congress than it actually deserves in 2024. Of the 134 Lok Sabha
seats in UP, Bihar & Jharkhand, the Congress could barely win three in the
2019 General Elections. Even these three seats were won by the Congress in
alliance & adjustment with these parties. If the Samajwadi Party lent it’s
helping hand in UP, the RJD was an ally in Bihar and the JMM was with the
Congress in Jharkhand. The Congress contested nine seats in Jharkhand in
alliance with RJD & JMM leaving only five for them but could win one seat. In UP, the SP-BSP-RLD
were in alliance and showed magnanimity by leaving two seats- RaeBareli and
Amethi – for Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi respectively. Yet, Rahul Gandhi lost
the seat while Sonia Gandhi retained with a slander margin. In Bihar too, the
Congress contested 11 seats out of 40 and could win one only. Therefore, angry
allies may not share seats with the Congress liberally in 2024. The RJD has
made it clear that it will share only 8 Lok Sabha seats and not 11 as was the
case in 2019. It intends to give three seats to other smaller allies like the
Vikasheel Insan Party, etc. In Jharkhand, the JMM is unwilling to give more
than 7 seats. In UP, the SP may concede 5 seats only. A tit for tat indeed.
The BJP may
have found going tough in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. But pollsters are
predicting an easy win for the BJP in Rajasthan as the faction-ridden party
finally closed ranks. The front-runner Vasundhararaje Scindia was in all smiles
as the high command accommodated in giving Assembly tickets to her supporters.
However, the BJP fielded many Lok Sabha MPs in the Assembly polls including
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Diya Kumari. But the most surprising pick was
Mahant Balak Nath who brands himself as ‘Rajasthan ka Yogi’. The Alwar MP Balak
Nath is testing his electoral fortunes from the Tijara Assembly seat which the
BJP won only once in five decades. The constituency is dominated by Yadavs,
Muslims, and Dalits. The Mahant belongs to the Nath sect of Hinduism and was
born into a Yadav family. If the BJP insiders are to be believed, Balak Nath
could be a surprise pick for the top job. No one has a clue as to why he was
picked as he hails from Haryana and fielded in the Lok Sabha from Rajasthan in
2019. Balak Nath was seen even touching the feet of Yogi Adityanath when he
came to campaign for him. But many in the BJP say that Balak Nath is being
groomed as a rival to Yogi Adityanath. The rise of Balak Nath has given jitters
to many in the state as well. It transpires that the RSS was also in favour of
grooming him as he is an OBC while Yogi Adityanath is a Rajput.
