Fly on the Wall
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out AAP's rising star Bhagwant Mann
With the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal going behind bars, all eyes are set on the party's Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. Though no instability is likely to be witnessed in the near future, informed sources say that it won't be an easy ride for Kejriwal's wife to take the reins of Chief Ministerial post or becoming a working Convener of the party. Since Manish Sisodia or Sanjay Singh have been granted any relief in the Liquor policy scam, one will have to watch out if Kejriwal will be lucky one to get out soon. The party is also facing a huge financial crisis making its day-to-day functioning crippled. The fear factor has gripped sympathizers and donors to help the party as probe agencies are keeping a close watch.In the given situation, all eyes are set on Punjab's Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to arrange funds to its candidates. He is the senior-most leader and figures at number 7 in the Order of Precedence compared to Kejriwal at number 14. Secondly, he has good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Being the Chief Minister of a border state, the Centre is careful and doesn't rub him on the wrong side. Mann is also careful is choosing his words while criticizing the BJP's top leadership. It is rumoured that the BJP leadership wanted AAP-Congress to not align for the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab. Political analysts may blame the Congress for break up. But it must be noted that Mann had taken a very strident stand on the issue and his writ prevailed.
VP, PM to shift to new residences
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be shifting to new residential complexes soon. If Dhankhar is likely to shift to a new house in the first week of April, the PM may do it after June 4. The new Vice-President’s Enclave is spread over 15 acres of land and has a build-up area of 20,000 sq. feet. It will have a single-story (ground plus one with a basement) residence, a secretariat building, guest house, sports facility, staff quarters and ancillary buildings. The VP House is part of the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project and will have a new Prime Ministerial residence in the vicinity. The new residential complexes are fitted with state-of-the-art-technology and have all security features.
The construction work, which started in January 2022, has been delayed for over a year after it was awarded to Jharkhand-based Kamladityya Construction Pvt. Ltd. (KCPL) was awarded the project in November 2021. The Rs 214-crore enclave is the third project to be completed as part of the approximately Rs 13,500 crore Central Vista plan. Under the Central Vista redevelopment project, 10 Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings are also to be constructed on either side of the Kartavya Path (Rajpath) during Modi's third term.
The Gandhis won't vote for Congress
It may be perhaps for the first time that the three members of the Gandhi family- Sonia, Rahul & Priyanka- won't be able to cast their votes for the party they belong to. Since the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency has been given to the AAP under the seat-sharing formula, the Gandhis will not be able to cast their votes for the Congress candidate. If they are in town on the day of the voting, they will be voting for their electoral partner candidate belonging to the AAP. The AAP has fielded Somnath Bharti as its candidate for the Lok Sabha polls while the BJP has fielded Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Sushma Swaraj.
Baffling silence over Priyanka Gandhi
If the Congress is keeping its cards close to the chest with regard to Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies, the BJP has also not named its candidate for the Rae Bareli seat either. It has chosen Smriti Irani as its candidate so far among the 64 candidates announced from UP. The BJP will contest 76 seats out of 80 in the Lok Sabha polls. It is fairly clear that Rahul Gandhi won't contest from Amethi. But there is complete silence over Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's name as well.
The Congress has announced candidates for the nine Lok Sabha seats out of the 17 it will contest in alliance with the Samajwadi Party in UP. But both the seats do not figure in the party's list. It is learnt that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is reluctant to enter the electoral fray from Rae Bareli. If reports emanating from 10 JanPath are an indication, she is extremely unhappy with what's happening in the party. Her services are not being utilized for the past few months and she is cooling her heels at her Sujan Singh Park residence. Efforts are on to persuade her to contest from Rae Bareli. If the BJP targeted Amethi seat in 2019 Lok Sabha, it has kept its powder dry for the Rae Bareli seat this time.
