Fly on the Wall
BJP Flogging A Tested Horse
The BJP's core committee comprising its top leadership decided to continue their tirade against the Muslims who are being given reservations and would have a stake in the wealth of others during the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP's poll strategists have given the feedback to the leadership that the issue of Muslims enjoying the fruits of reservation and wealth has gained traction among the people. The PM was first to raise the issue at his rally in Banswara in Rajasthan in the third week of April where he had said that their wealth would be distributed to the Muslims and infiltrators if the Congress came to power. He also said that Muslims are being given the fruits of reservations as enjoyed by the Scs, Sts and OBCs in some of the states.
The PM chose to raise the issue as Banswara comprised 70% tribal Bhil community. Later, other top BJP leaders including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, J P Nadda, Giriraj Singh picked up the thread and raised the Muslims quota enjoyed in several states. In Karnataka, for example, Muslims had a 4% sub-quota within the 32% OBC quota. Kerala has an 8% Muslim quota within the 30% OBC quota and Tamil Nadu and Bihar, have Muslim caste groups in their OBC quota.
It is said that the Muslim quota issue was raised after low polling in the first phase on April 19 and it paid rich dividends. In the second phase, the polling picked up and an enthused Prime Minister said in Telangana on May 1, “As long as Modi is alive, won't let Dalit, Adivasi, OBC reservations go to Muslims.”
Insiders in the party say that poll pitch is being changed as BJP's vote bank is enthused. This was contrary to his initial hesitancy in a couple of TV interviews given between April 20-30. He told the interviewers that he had used the word “infiltrators”. But in the Telangana rally, he named them not once but several times. The BJP leadership has been worried after it received feedback from Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra and UP that its vote bank is unenthusiastic. Thus, the BJP went back to flogging a tested horse to reap the harvest.
Yogi's Rajput worry
The low polling in many states including UP is not merely because of unhappiness among the BJP-RSS workers but due to a variety of other reasons. The Rajput community was also up in arms as fever number of tickets were given to the community. The Rajputs were denied tickets not only in UP but in Rajasthan as well. Many saw this as a design to cut the growing clout of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and want his wings to be clipped as he is the second most sought after leader during the campaign after Modi. The Centre is virtually running the show in Lucknow as key appointments in the bureaucracy are made by it. A majority of ministers in the UP Cabinet are picked up by the high command and given key ministries. Yet, Yogi's clout continues to grow as he works 24X7 without a family and believes in delivery. When Rajput got angry and decided to vote against the BJP, Yogi tried hard to mollify them saying any adverse outcome of Lok Sabha results in UP will weaken his position. Yogi belongs to the Rajput community. In the meanwhile, Yogi's visit to Nagpur to campaign for BJP's stalwart and Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari last month has raised many eyebrows. Gadkari is reported to have conveyed to the Prime Minister well in advance that he should concentrate on those constituencies in Maharashtra where extra efforts are needed as his position is comfortable in Nagpur. But Yogi's rally was held and later he visited Gadkari's residence as well.
Rising graph of J&K Governor
It is almost clear that Lieutenant Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha will be back in Delhi sooner than expected. After he lost his Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 polls, Sinha missed a berth in the Union Cabinet. Instead, he was sent as LG, J&K where he showed his mettle in handling a highly sensitive state to restore peace. The J&K under the Modi dispensation has been fighting fit to find a competent person since 2014 as no experiment succeeded. Finally, after abrogation of Article 370, bureaucrat G C Murmu was sent as LG in 2019 who failed to deliver and replaced by Manoj Sinha in less than a year in 2020. It is said that after the Lok Sabha polls, efforts will be made to hold the Assembly polls soon. Sinha may make a comeback either as a Lok Sabha candidate or brought to the Rajya Sabha sooner than expected. This stems from the fact that Paras Nath Rai, a 70 year-old school teacher and a die-hard supporter of Sinha has been given a Lok Sabha ticket by the BJP high command. It is said that Rai will quit his seat once Sinha is brought back to the Centre. Manoj Sinha's graph has risen many fold as he has been extremely successful during his nearly four year stay in office. It may also be mentioned here that Sinha had missed the bus as UP Chief Minister in 2017 narrowly to Yogi. It may be a windfall gain for Sinha this time.
