Fly on the Wall
Harish Gupta
Modi's
Caste googly
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually silenced the Opposition parties including Rahul Gandhi who were demanding holding Caste Census without further delay. Modi bitter;ly attacked the Congress for dividing the Hindu society on the caste lines for political gains. But this was only the beginning. Modi googly came when he asked why the Congress never asked to conduct the Caste Census of the Muslims and other religions too. After all, Muslims are also divided on the Caste lines and there are among the Muslims who are virtually untouchable and out-caste. Political analysts say that Modi is perhaps the first political leader in India who has raised the issue of why the Congress did not hold or raised the issue of holding Caste Census among the Muslims. Why are the Hindus being singled out, he wondered. It is said that the Muslims are divided largely into the Shias, the Sunnis and Pasmandas who are very poor and largely treated as out castes. Rahul Gandhi has not reacted to Modi's statement. But Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the PM is on the path of dividing the country on religious lines. But Modi's statement reveals the government's intentions that it is toying with the idea of holding Caste Census if such a Census is agreeable across other religions too. This will be like opening another Pandora's box and too hot a subject. Even BJP's partners in the NDA have also maintained a silence on the issue. Perhaps, the issue may crop up in the Winter session of Parliament which will be held after the results of Maharashtra & Jharkhand Assembly polls are out on November 23. Modi's googly has gladdened the hearts of the RSS leadership as well.
Why No Rahul-Omar Chemistry !
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi seems to be somewhat cold to National Conference Vice president and now Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. It is unimaginable that Rahul Gandhi did not congratulate Omar Abdullah on his big Assembly win in the Union Territory against heavy odds. He made no personal phone call to him either. Rather, he chose to telephone Dr Farooq Abdullah on the INDIA bloc win in J&K while Omar Abdullah telephoned Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the alliance getting a majority.
Though the Abdullahs have been having extremely cordial relations with the Gandhis. But Omar Abdullah has been very upset with Rahul Gandhi for his style of functioning as an alliance partner in the state. It was decided that the Congress would focus on seats in the Jammu region and take on the BJP head-on while the NC will fight with BJP and its proxies in Naya Kashmir. But Rahul Gandhi chose to campaign in the Naya Kashmir areas particularly on seats where the Congress was having a friendly fight with the NC. Omar had to speak up about it and went on to question the Congress leaders for not campaigning in Jammu on September 26 a week before the final phase of polling on October 1.
Omar Abdullah went on record to say, “I hope after Rahul is done campaigning in one or two seats in Kashmir, he focuses on Jammu. Ultimately what the Congress does in Kashmir is not important. What the Congress does in Jammu is important.” Rahul ended up showing Congress' worst performance not only in Haryana but also in Jammu as well.
Rahul's stony silence on NC Win
Rahul Gandhi's conspicuous silence all through on October 8 when the results of Haryana and J&K were out surprised many. Finally, he put out a post on social media on the Assembly election results the next day promising to analyze the reasons for the Congress’s shock defeat in Haryana but made no mention of the party’s performance in J&K. He skipped any reference to the National Conference, which won 42 of the 49 seats while the Congress could barely win six seats.
Rahul Gandhi not only avoided talking to Omar Abdullah but also made no mention of the National Conference on the “X” one day after the poll results. The poor performance of Congress is attributed to Rahul Gandhi's failure to address any joint rally with Omar Abdullah during the poll campaign though Farooq Abdullah did join the Congress leader at a public meeting on his last trip. Omar Abdullah is miffed that the Congress has not focused enough on the Jammu region where it was in direct contest with the BJP.
Tailpiece: Eyebrows were raised at the BJP's headquarters when party's musket and general secretary Vinod Tawade raised a slogan from the podium welcoming PM Modi, “Modi ji Vikas Karo Hum Tumhare Saath Hein”. The occasion was celebrating the party's historic win in Haryana polls and credit went solely to Modi. Tawade raised the slogan and the crowd roared though a few wondered why the slogan was raised. Perhaps, Tawade was part of a close-door meeting with Modi and others prior to the celebrations.
