Fly on the wall
No Temple Darshan for Ayodhya BJP MP
The Opposition parties may criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for making Ram Temple's Pran Pratishtha event to promote the BJP. But the historic event on January 22 negates this premise. Rather, it gives a clue to how Modi's mind works and how meticulously he goes into every detail before undertaking a visit to such functions. It is unimaginable that Modi ensured that no Minister of his Union Council of Ministers including seniors such as Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and others should celebrate the mega event. As if this was not enough, even BJP's national president J P Nadda ws told to celebrate the event at a temple in Delhi and he chose Jhandewala Temple for the ceremony. No member of BJP's 300 Mps in Lok Sabha and 93 members in Rajya Sabha attended the event in Ayodhya except a couple of them like Ravi Shankar Prasad. The former Union Minister was invited as he represented Ram Lalla in the Supreme Court and played a key role in winning the case in 2019 right up to the Supreme Court. No Chief Minister of the BJP ruled states other than UP was allowed to visit Ayodhya on January 22. The same rule was applied to Governors or other dignitaries. But this is not all; you will have to hold your breath! Can you imagine that even a veteran party leader Lallu Singh who represents Ayodhya constituency, was not invited to the event either. Lallu is a two term BJP MP from Ayodhya and five term MLA since 1991. Yet he was forced to cool his heels outside and told to celebrate with other constituents elsewhere. For Mps and the Union Council of Ministers, Modi chalked out a plan that they should celebrate the event all over the country to galvanize the people. Their participation will create an unprecedented fervor that their leaders are celebrating the event with them. They should celebrate January 22 as Diwali with them to keep the flag flying.
Modi moves closer to contesting from South
This column had said on January 4 that Modi may enter the electoral race from South India to garner numbers in the Lok Sabha to cover losses in the North and Western parts of the country. With PM traveling to Southern states almost twice a week subsequently and on a pilgrimage to one temple after the temple to create a strong electoral base for the BJP has strengthened this belief. There are clear indications that the Prime Minister may contest either from Kerala's Thrissur or Thiruvantapuram or may opt for any of the five seats that the BJP contested in Tamil Nadu. The BJP candidate from Kanyakumari was a runner's up in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the party polled 1.15 crore votes in TN. This apart, the BJP has already sealed a deal with the JD (S) in Karnataka to ensure that the party wins all 28 seats. It is now clear that the BJP will go with TDP in Andhra Pradesh in the Lok Sabha polls. TDP's Chandrababu Naidu and former Chief Minister H D Deve Gowda were invited to the Ram Temple ceremony and they attended the event as well. In Telangana, the BJP is holding secret talks with the BRS leaders who are also looking for a strategy after the party was routed in the Assembly. K C Chandrashekhar Rao has been maintaining a stony silence after the rout. The BJP is also hoping that its ally in Puducherry may part with the Lok Sabha seat for the BJP. A senior BJP leader handling southern India said if Modi contests from Southern India, it will create a strong wave in favour of the BJP. No doubt, Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had also contested from Southern India in the past. But there is a huge difference as Indira Gandhi contested from Chikmanglur as she was in search of a safe seat. The same goes for Sonia Gandhi and even Rahul Gandhi who opted for Wayanad in Kerala as it became clear to him that he may lose Amethi which eventually happened.
Cabinet expansion Unlikely
PM Modi seems to have signaled to BJP allies and party leadership that no useful purpose will be served by expanding the Union Council of Ministers at the fag end of Lok Sabha's term as it may send a wriong signal. No doubt, Modi is somewhat worried about BJP's prospects in some of the states like Bihar, Punjab, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal etc. But he feels that undertaking an expansion to induct allies- NCP, Sena Shinde faction, Chirag Paswan, JD (S) and his own party colleagues- will be seen as if he is placating them. This has dashed the hopes of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhararaje Scindia and many others in the party.
Flutter over Mahatab's meet with Amit Shah
A meeting between the Biju Janata Dal member of Parliament, Bhartruhari Mahtab with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, at the latter’s residence in New Delhi early this week fueled speculation about the former joining the BJP. Mahatab has an excellent rapport with the BJP leaders, including the PM. The Cuttack MP had earlier earned the wrath of the BJD leadership for criticizing his party in the daily newspaper edited by him. No wonder, then, that Mahtab’s meeting with Shah raised eyebrows in the BJD. But he doused the fire saying he attended the Rajya Bhasha committee meeting chaired by Shah of which he is a member as well.
