RSS' Delhi Headquarters Ready
The State-of-the art Jhandewalan headquarters of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is ready for occupation. The Delhi headquarters has already been given 24X7 security cover by the CISF. Known as “Keshav Kunj”, the northern India office has been under construction for almost a decade. The project took long because it is situated in a congested locality and that too in a low-lying area and other technical problems. But the building is now awaiting its opening ceremony.
The building will overshadow the RSS' Nagpur-based national headquarters which was built sometime in the 1930s. It is still not clear if the RSS will also be shifting its headquarters from Nagpur to Delhi. The modern infrastructure of Keshav Kunj building has two towers of 12 to 16 floors spread over an area of more than two lakh square feet which is larger than the BJP's newly built national headquarters. Since the RSS has grown leaps and bounds particularly under the current RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat, the building may also accommodate many of its frontal organizations working in various fields.
BJP's Assembly polls Waterloo
After a serious setback in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leadership is moving with utmost caution in formulating its strategy to win Assembly polls to be held in four states during the next five months. The BJP high command is not sure if the Assembly polls in four states will be held simultaneously or in a staggered manner. Union Home Minister Amit Shah. nick-named as BJP's Chanakya, is traveling to these poll bound states and burning midnight oil to avoid another Harakiri. The BJP cannot afford to lose any of these states to re-establish its winning streak. The outcome of these polls will be a turning point as it will also have a bearing in Assembly polls in 2025 and biennial polls in Rajya Sabha as well.
The first challenge will be holding Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir after the abolition of Article 370 in 2019. The Supreme Court recently directed that the Assembly polls be held before September 30, 2024. The Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar is on record to say that the EC is ready to hold the polls. However, the Union Home Ministry has yet to give final security clearance. The terms of the existing legislative assemblies in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand are ending on November 3, November 26 and January 5, 2025 respectively. Though the EC has the power to club polls in three states simultaneously, it may go by past precedents. The EC had held Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana together on October 21, 2019 and Jharkhand on December 7 the same year.
Succession issue grips regional parties
With Rahul Gandhi becoming the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the succession issue has finally been settled in the Congress Party. This development has also put an end to speculation that Rahul Gandhi runs away from shouldering responsibilities. It is a different matter that he has yet to acquire the skills of a parliamentarian par excellence. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may also be in Lok Sabha soon. But the baton of the Gandhi dynasty has formally been passed over to Rahul Gandhi. The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati also reversed her decision to sack her nephew Akash as inheritor of her legacy. Even the TMC's Mamata Banerjee has virtually appointed nephew Abhishek Banerjee as her political successor. The succession issue has also been settled in NCP with Supriya Sule winning the Baramati Lok Sabha seat and trounched rival Ajit Pawar faction with a big margin.
However, uncertainty prevails in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Janata Dal (U), Bhartiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) and others. Earlier, K Chandrashekhar Rao had appointed his son K T Ramarao as his successor in the BRS. But this may not be true as his nephew Harish Rao has thrown his hat in the ring. The big problem is brewing in the AAP as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal continues to languish in Tihar Jail in the liqorgate scam along with many of his ministers. A couple of names have cropped up as his successor including his wife Sunita Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Gopal Rai or even Atishi Merlina. But it is still early days as Kejriwal is not giving up so soon.
The double headache
Rural Development and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh has made a mark in a very short time in the Modi 3.0 government in the shortest possible time. His several initiatives have forced political analysts to turn their heads. He was perhaps the first Cabinet Minister to call on the President Droupadi Murmu to seek her blessings after assuming the charge. He also took another initiative by inviting rural development and agriculture ministers of states at a time and date of their convenience to understand their problem and take steps accordingly. His “Ladli Behna” scheme is also catching the imagination of states with Maharashtra taking the lead. If Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari is the most popular minister in the Modi government, the emergence of Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the scene is like a double yammy.
