BJP struggling to formulate winning strategy

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special Report 

BJP struggling to formulate winning strategy

As Kejriwal Praises Modi, supports Article 370

Javadekar working overtime to turn tide  

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Sep 15

The BJP leadership may be on 7^th Heaven in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand going to polls in October-November. But its plate is full of problems when it comes to Delhi.

Sensing trouble ahead, the party has replaced Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with senior leader and Cabinet Minister Prakash Javadekar, as incharge of Delhi affairs. Though Assembly polls are five months away. But Javadekar is holding district wise meetings seeking suggestions to formulate a winning strategy on a daily basis. The BJP has not won Delhi Assembly for the past 21 years.

The challenge before the party is how to counter the sops and freebies offered by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Javadekar has advised the local leadership not to unnecessarily criticise Kejriwal’s welfare schemes. The level of anti-incumbency against the Kejriwal government is still being assessed. The BJP is also baffled as to why Kejriwal has stopped criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi by name for the past couple of months. The AAP even voted in favour of abrogation of Article 370 in Parliament.

The BJP's another serious problem is whether it should project a chief ministerial candidate during the assembly polls or make it BJP vs Kejriwal. The BJP had burnt its fingers when it projected Kiran Bedi as CM face and lost badly in January 2015.

When a BJP leader, who wanted relief for residents of unauthorised colonies, Javadekar advised them not to talk to the media on the issue. The government was alive of it and responding, he said. Unauthorised colonies are a major vote-bank in Delhi, as they are home to 30-35 per cent of the city’s population.

Javadekar directed the local leadership to launch a full-blown attack on the Congress over corruption and Chidambaram the poster boy of the Congress. The BJP suspects that Congress and AAP will have some tacit understanding and wants to convert it into an opportunity.

Ends

Rajiv Gauba Takes Over as Cabinet Secretary

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rajiv Gauba Takes Over as Cabinet Secretary

PK Sinha Goes to PMO as OSD 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Aug. 30

Rajiv Gauba, OSD in the Cabinet Secretariat today took over as the new Cabinet Secretary. He takes over after the superannuation of P.K. Sinha who served for more than four years, a record of sort in the government. Sinha's tenure was upto September 12. But in a major decision, the government decided to cut short his extended tenure and appointed Gauba as the new Cab. Sec. Gauba is an IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre (1982 batch) and was Home Secretary until brought to the Cabinet Secretariate earlier this month.

It has also been announced that P K Sinha will be new OSD in the PMO. 

He was one of the key officer of the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and the reorganization of Jammu & Kashmir, and is widely credited for flawless and smooth implementation of the decision. With an eye for details, he spearheaded the formulation and execution of these initiatives in MHA. Along with a small core team, he gave final shape to constitutional and legal aspects while working out administrative and security arrangements.

Earlier, during his stint in MHA as Additional Secretary, he prepared a multi- pronged action plan in 2015 to tackle LWE and steered its implementation which has resulted in significantly shrinking the spread of Maoists’ area of influence.

Gauba has also served in the International Monetary Fund representing the country for four years on the Board of IMF.

Rattled Modi Goes soft on regional parties,

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rattled Modi Goes soft on regional parties,

Puts Plan B in Operation, Tells leaders not to attack non-allies

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan. 21

Rattled by state-level alliances and adjustment of seats in states by the Opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opted for Plan-B.

Rather than naming and shaming leaders and parties individually, Modi has decided to play safe and choosing to attack them for forming an “unholy” alliance. Earlier, he was hitting hard at all & sundry calling them name individually at public rallies and interactions. But not any more. He is soft-pedaling with some non-Congress non-BJP parties.

For example, during his visit to Odisha in Bolangir last week,

he did not speak a single word against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik either directly or indirectly. He did not even mention that the BJP will win 15 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state and dislodge Patnaik.The PM indirectly criticized the BJD government only one issue – poor utilisation of District Mineral Fund. This sudden change of heart on the part of Modi, has created speculations over the emergence of a new equation that may take shape up after the general elections. This mood of Modi also left many senior BJP leaders red- faced. This was in sharp contrast to the approach of BJP Chief Amit Shah who vowed to dislodge the Patnaik government. It would be worthwhile to mention here that on earlier two occasions when Modi visited Odisha in December-early January he had bitterly attacked the “Corrupt” Naveen Patnaik government.

Perhaps, things changed after the SP-BSP alliance in UP and later coming together of Opposition parties in Jharkhand and Bihar too.

In fact, none of the senior leaders of the BJP including the PM and BJP Chief have uttered a single word against BSP chief Mayawati. On the contrary, BJP leaders are saying in private that Mayawati became CM of UP three times with the help of the BJP and she will come around after the Lok Sabha polls.

Modi has been lashing out at the Congress for all the ills of the country and blaming it for "ill-treating" regional parties.

The leadership has also issued stern warning to motor-mouths of the BJP not to speak out of turn or personally attack any of the these leaders personally. The way, UP BJP MLA was reprimanded and made to apologise publicly is an indication that the party is moving with extreme caution.

A senior Cabinet Minister told Lokmat that barring Lalu's RJD and Samajwadi Party, all other parties have been part of the alliance with the BJP during the past 20 years and none were untouchables.

Be it BSP, TDP, National Conference, PDP, JMM, JVM, BJD, DMK, AIADMK, TRS or even TMC, all were part of the NDA.

Even when DMK leader M K Stalin openly proposed the name of ally Rahul Gandhi for the post of PM, Modi went out of his way to placate him. Modi said to party workers through a video conference in Chennai that the BJP was open to alliances and cherished its old friends. This was a clear hint that it was looking to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu – before or after the LS Polls.

Ends 

Rahul calls urgent meeting on UP

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rahul calls urgent meeting on UP 

Congress may Contest 20-22 LS seats

Mayawati says “Left two seats so that BJP doesn't tie-down Rahul to Amethi”

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Jan 12

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has called an urgent meeting to take a stock of the political situation in UP where the party has been left with with only two seats by the SP-BSP leaders.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and incharge of UP affairs and Raj Babbar, president UP unit have been will brief Rahul Gandhi after taking stock of the situation in Lucknow  tomorrow. 

Rahul Gandhi will be returning from Dubai where he had gone to address a massive meeting of the NRIs which is considered his best ever show on foreign soil. Before going to Dubai, Rahul Gandhi had told Gulf News that his party can do “very interesting things” in UP and had asserted that it would be a “mistake to “underestimate” his party, the SP-BSP just did the same today.

But the SP and BSP had done exactly that and declared that only two seats -Amethi and Rae Bareli – will be left for the Congress. The Congress leadership had signals to the SP-BSP leaders that it would be happy to be contented with even 8 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. It had come second in second in five Lok Sabha seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and had strong presence in another 9 seats. The Congress was keen that some of its senior and your leaders who had done better in 2014 be accommodated in the alliance. However, the SP-BSP leaders stood their ground.

But Mayawati's one comment today at the press conference in Lucknow may still be music to the ears of Rahul Gandhi when she said, “We have left these two seats for Congress so that the BJP doesn't tie-down Rahul Gandhi to Amethi.”

Obviously, Mayawati has kept the doors open for the largest party of the Opposition for any post-poll understanding or even future adjustment of seats during the coming months in UP and elsewhere.

However, insiders in the Congress say that the party will field its candidates in 20 Lok Sabha seats where it has sizable presence of votes. Though UP Congress leaders want that the party should contest all 80 seats. However, Rahul Gandhi's objective in 2019 Lok Sabha polls was articulated by him in the Gulf News interview which was first in recent months where he said, “Our first aim is to defeat Mr Narendra Modi. And so there are states where we are very strong and we are the primary party in the state and in those states we are contesting the BJP directly. There are states where there are possible alliances — Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Bihar — where we are working out an alliance formula. We are an ideological party. We fight based on ideology. There are very interesting things that the Congress party can do in Uttar Pradesh that we are working on.”

He had said the Congress idea is very powerful for Uttar Pradesh. “So, we are very confident of our ability in Uttar Pradesh and I think we will surprise people.”

However, his statement did not reach the SP-BSP leadership leaving him with a choice to contest 20-22 odd seats.

Ends

BJP in a Bind on advancing Assembly polls in three states

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special Report

BJP in a Bind on advancing Assembly polls in three states

Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana on the radar

"Time of strengthen NDA” says Amit Shah

wooing Marandi in Jharkhand

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Dec 24

The BJP leadership is in a bind as to what it should do about Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand where Assembly polls are due between October-December 2019.

The core policy group in the BJP is studying the pros & cons of advancing the polls in these states and hold them simultaneously with the Lok Sabha in April-May.

Though the BJP contested the Assembly polls in these states on its on and successful formed governments in Haryana and Jharkhand on its own. In Maharashtra, it entered into a post-poll alliance with the Shiv Sena for the assembly though it secured 122 seats while Sena got 63 in the Assembly of 288. Though both were partners in the Lok Sabha polls, they fell out during the Assembly polls. However, they formed the government together in the state and have been estranged partners as Sena could never reconcile of losing the post of the Chief Minister to BJP. The view is that the BJP may swing the Assembly polls again in these states in its favour by riding on the Modi wave if they are held along with the Lok Sabha.

However, the reasons for advancing the polls in these three states differ from state to state.

In Maharashtra, there is a strong feeling that BJP must go with Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha polls. But the Sena wants assembly polls be held along with Lok Sabha and share Assembly seats on a 50:50 sharing formula. The Sena wants that the post of the Chief Ministers to be shared for two and a half years each irrespective of number of seats won by any of the partners.

The BJP leadership was on a high until it lost thee Hindi speaking states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to Congress. Since December 12, the BJP leadership is trying to retain allies and conceding their demands too. It wants to retain its existing allies and working hard to expand the NDA. It knows that losing Sena would be a set back in the present scenario.

However, the other view is that the BJP should not concede the post of the Chief Minister to Sena irrespective of the compulsions. A senior member of the BJP Core Group said he is of the firm view that BJP should not succumb to the Sena antics and should not hesitate to go it alone in the Lok Sabha polls. There is no need to advance the Assembly polls. This will send a strong political message. However, no final decision in this regard has been taken either way and the BJP is keeping all options open.

The BJP president Amit Shah has been quoted by core group leader as saying, “Its time to strengthen the NDA.”

In Jharkhand, the BJP trying to woo Babulal Marandi, president Jharkhand Vikas Morcha which secured 8 Assembly seats out of 81 and 10% popular votes. Its a different matter that the BJP took away six of its MLAs in its fold and he is angry since then. Now the BJP doesn't want him to go over to the Congress-JMM alliance. He wants the post of the Chief Minister. In fact, he was with the BJP way back in 2000 and state's chief minister too. But parted company later. The BJP is willing to make him a Cabinet minister at the centre right away.

Ends 

Rahul's "One seat One candidate" plan to counter Modi

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Count down 2019

Rahul's "One seat One candidate" plan to counter Modi

403 LS seats identified in 15 states for Opposition alliance

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, June 4

As part of Rahul Gandhi's ambitious “One seat One candidate” mission, the Congress president's war room has identified 403 Lok sabha seat in 15 states where it may enter into alliance or understanding with like-minded parties.

Rahul Gandhi is willing to make any sacrifice and walk an extra mile to dislodge the BJP during the Lok Sabha 2019. If he is wooing adversaries, he is keen to bring all ex-Congressmen back into the fold to gear up for Mission-2019. He personally made a phone call to Ajit Jogi's wife to inquire about her husband's health. Jogi has floated a regional party in Chhattisgarh and has been ensuring Congress's defeat for ten years. Simultaneously, he is exploring the possibility of entering into an pan-India alliance with the BSP in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh etc. Obviously, Rahul Gandhi wants enough number of LS seats for the party in UP and willing to concede seats in Congress-dominated states. Rahul Gandhi is not averse to concede space to others in Punjab, Haryana and even Delhi to the BSP. He told the local leadership to come out with a detailed plan to counter the Modi juggernaut in 2019.

Same goes with AUDF in Assam and even NCP may get a few seats in Gujrat outside Maharashtra as part of this mission. Efforts are on to rope in the Abdullahs in Jammu & kashmir who had deserted the Congress. The Congress is already in alliance with Bihar, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand. The talks are on in UP where SP-BSP-RLD have come together. The Congress burnt its fingers in two byelections- first in Phulpur where it unnecessarily put up a candidate and lost the deposit and secondly, lost Palghar seat in Maharashtra and faced humiliating defeat.

But it was Rahul Gandhi who personally clinched the Karnataka alliance and gave the prime position to Janata Dal (S) with the objective to win majority of 28 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP had won 17 seats in 2014 while JD-S won 2 and nine by Congress. Rahul hopes to reap the harvest in Karnataka during LS polls.

Incidentally, Rahul Gandhi did in Karnataka what his late grand mother Indira Gandhi did tway back in 1978 when she installed Charan Singh as PM though he had no majority. Surprisingly, it was Kamal Nath who was behind the whole operation in 1978 which was executed at the behest of Sanjay Gandhi. Now same Kamal Nath wants alliance with the BSP outside UP.

It is, however, not clear as to how many seats Congress will contest out of these 403 Lok Sabha seats in 15 states as seats are being identified. Rahul Gandhi is yet to resolve tricky issues on remaining 140 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh (25), Telangana (17), West Bengal (42), Odisha (21) and Delhi (7) etc.

Ends

Food for Children: PMO overrules two Union Ministries

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special Report 

Food for Children: PMO overrules two Union Ministries

States can give packaged food 

Shot in the arm of packaged food industry 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov 9

The running battle between some of the Central ministries and the states for years on whether the children be given cooked or packaged food has been resolved by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

While the Ministries of Health and Women & Child Development ministries have been strongly advocating the need for giving cooked food to children falling in the severely acute malnutrition category. However, many states including Maharashtra were pitching for ready-to-use food for them.

After prolonged discussions with the states, expert committee reports and obtaining the views of the concerned ministries, the Prime Minister's Office mandated that states be allowed to decide their own policy in this respect. If the states want to give packaged food, so be it. The decision of the PMO has come as a big shot in the arm for the packaged food industry. Some say it will be a big incentive to the big players in the market such as Patanjali Foods, ITC and others.

In fact, the PMO overruled directives of the two concerned union ministries who were against providing ready-to-use food to children. The PMO said that individual states be allowed to formulate their own policy to give nutritious food to children. The PMO, however, clearly stated that the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) where hot-cooked food is served to children in the age group of 3-6 years will continue unhindered. The scheme to provide food to children in the age group of upto three years will remain unchanged. But the states will have the discretion to give ready-to-use food to children above the age of 6 years.

The tussle began when the WCD Ministry headed by Maneka Gandhi issued a directive to states that the ready-to-use food is against the stated policy. Therefore, the matter went to the PMO where it was resolved. Even the health ministry was of the opinion that the nutritious food quality is better in the hot cooked food rather than in the Ready-To-Use Food packets. In fact, the ministry had set up an expert committee. However, the states contested the claim and wanted their own way to implement the scheme which is centrally funded scheme with Centre footing the 50% of funds to states. The Health Ministry had, in fact, stressed as early as in 2009 that the use of RUTF was not an accepted policy of the government. And in 2013, the centre had asked Jharkhand to stop distributing RUTF to malnourished kids. However, the inter-ministerial group also spoke in two languages when it said that the Packaged food was helpful only temporarily and would not affect eating habits of the family. The WCD letter also pointed to concerns that the use of RUTF may replace family foods habits that children should normally be eating.