Fly on the Wall : Mayawati, A tough player

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Mayawati, A tough player 

The terms and conditions of political alliance arrived at between BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Singh are unfolding now causing acute embarrassment to all & sundry. The two leaders agreed that this alliance is limited to Parliamentary polls in May 2019 and not for the Assembly elections due in 2022. That Mayawati's party will contest 45 Lok Sabha seats while the SP will be given 35 seats. The constituencies will be decided is due course but the number is non-negotiable. Akhilesh Singh requested Buaji that the line of communications should remain open to which Mayawati nodded in agreement. However, Mayawati is now not available for talks and operates through intermediaries. Even when the question of putting up a joint Opposition candidate for Kairana Lok Sabha seat came up, Mayawati refused to meet. RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary wanted to contest the seat. Akhilesh Singh invited him to Lucknow to sort out the issue. Mayawati, instead of meeting them, sent a message that ticket be given to a woman Muslim leader who may contest on the RLD symbol. Since the Jats who dominate Kairana constituency, don't vote for Muslims, it will be a test of RLD's popularity among the Jats, she conveyed through messengers. If the RLD's Muslim candidate wins, it would be a proof that Jats voted for the RLD candidate. Left with no choice, RLD accepted the condition as the BJP is unwilling do any business with the RLD as its two tradition seats - Kairana & Baghpat – were captured by the BJP in 2014. 

Congress' pipe dream

Irrespective of Congress president Rahul Gandhi's declaration that he would be Prime Minister if his party emerges as the single largest party and Opposition parties come together, Mayawati is determined not to do business with the Congress. She had told Akhilesh Yadav during the seat sharing meeting that the Congress party has no political base in the state and its votes are also not transferable to the BSP or SP candidates. Sensing that Akhilesh Singh was keen to bring Congress on board, she said, “If the SP wants, it can shares seats with it from its quota of 35 seats. We are not going to spare a single seat for the Congress in UP.” Akhilesh Singh didn't react on this issue as it was he who had taken the initiative to enter into an electoral alliance with “Buaji”. He had  and even touched her feet during the first meeting to mollify her. Obviously, Mayawati is adopting a tough posture with the objective to negotiate Lok Sabha seats with the Congress in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and other states. The Congress wants 15 Lok Sabha seats in UP which neither SP nor the BSP will be willing to spare. Therefore, Rahul Gandhi's dream of making the single largest party cannot be achieved unless SP-BSP are willing to do business with it.  

BJP changes tack, avoid attacking Siddha, targets Rahul

After initially attacking Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamiah and calling him names, the BJP leaders changed tack.  Modi had bitterly attacked Siddha while launching Karnataka poll campaign terming the state's Congress-led government a " Sidha rupaiya sarkar" (a government that directly takes money). BJP's leader after leader targeted Siddharamiah of looting the state and used all sorts of adjectives. But Modi suddenly changed tack and gone gone full tilt at Rahul Gandhi. Its the Congress president who is now bearing the brunt of  Modi's broadsides at election rallies of late. 

It is learnt that surveys had revealed that Kannadiga sub-nationalism was working on the ground and the Chief Minister was succeeding in invoking the regional pride. Siddaramaiah's efforts to hold up Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath who are even seen as North Indians attacking a south Indian leader.

Thus, the campaign was turned into Modi VS Rahul and the PM is avoiding locking horns with Siddaramaiah. The BJP even started playing down the corruption charges against Siddha as BJP's own Chief Ministerial candidate commands no better record on this score. In fact Siddha is proving a nightmare for BJP on twitter and scoring with the each passing day in campaigning. Irrespective of the results, Siddha has emerged as the leader par excellence. 

Battle over re-naming college turns bitter

A relatively junior BJP leader who was once a party spokesman, Amitabh Sinha has challenged the authority of Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. Sinha who was made chairman of the governing body of Dyal Singh Evening College, changed the name of the historic college as  Vandemataram Dyal Singh College. Since this created a political crisis, the Minister told him to reverse the decision. However, Sinha curtly told Javadekar that the minister had no locus standi on the issue. This has acutely embarrassed Prakash Javadekar who is camping in Karnataka as incharge of the BJP's campaign. Javadekar had assured the Akali Dal, a key ally of the BJP, that the sentiments of Sikhs would be taken care of. He even held a high-level meeting of the higher education secretary, the then chairman of the University Grants Commission, the vice-chancellor of Delhi University and other officials. Amitabh Sinha was told to hold a meeting of the Governing body to reverse the decision. The virtual revolt by Amitabh Sinha has caused a flutter. Javadekar reportedly complained to BJP Chief Amit Shah in this regard. The matter may be resolved after the polls. But it certainly brought out chinks within the ruling BJP.

A hidden agenda Behind arrest  

The arrest of Upendra Rai, a former editor-in-chief of the Sahara TV by the CBI caused ripples in political circles. It transpires that a case under stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) may be invoked by the Enforcement Director shortly as the government is keen to fix Rai's political patrons. The Modi dispensation believes that Rai was able to make a killing due to his close links in the Finance and Home ministries. It transpires that he deposited Rs 57 crores in his various bank accounts and withdrew Rs 53 crores within one year period. The CBI went after Rai after Rajeshwar Singh, a senior officer of the Enforcement Director, lodged a complaint to the CBI. Though Rai was once close to Rajeshwar Singh but both fell out. It was Rajeshwar Singh who was reportedly promoting Rai and the latter had free access to key government departments including the ED and CBI. The tiff turned so bitter that Rai complained to the CBI against Rajeshwar Singh and a Preliminary Enquiry (PE)  registered by the CBI. As the probe began, Rajeshwar Singh went up to the Supreme Court and obtained a stay against the CBI probe. Later, Rajeshwar Singh lodged a counter complaint of blackmail and extortion against Rai with the CBI. The end result was that CBI registered an FIR against Rai and arrested him. Now the PMLA is being slapped. It is now learnt that the Modi dispensation wants to know who were the recipients of Rs 53 crores Rai withdrew from banks on various dates. The government suspects that Rai had links with Karti Chidambaram. The Modi government feels that Rai had the support of certain senior Congress leaders who held key positions in the government during the UPA regime.

Fly on the Wall : BJP's Mission- 2019: Task Force In Place

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

BJP's Mission- 2019: Task Force In Place

Irrespective of the outcome of Assembly polls due to take place this year, the Central leadership of the BJP has started gearing up for the May 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Recruitment of commissioned task force for 300 Lok Sabha seats has begun quietly. These seats have been identified by the party which it will contest seriously across the country and an army of work force is being recruited. The task force will be commissioned for a limited period of three to four months and will be in place of work by January 1. However, they will be acclimatized and given a crash course for 15 days so that they are fully conversant of the constituency, local dialect, customs and caste equations. All of them will be given a motorbike, fuel and daily allowance. Arrangements are being made for their stay at the house of a local BJP leader so that they are fully conversant with the political situation. This poll model is completely different than what the BJP followed during the May 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The recruitment of this task force is carefully planned and party general secretary Ram Lal is executing it in close coordination with the RSS. The RSS has an army of trusted lieutenants across the country and they will be loaned for a limited purpose and for limited period. The 15-day crash course will organised at the state level and different states will follow different period as per their convenience. But it will be Centrally monitored, controlled and fully funded operation. Earlier, the high command used to deploy its trusted persons in constituencies irrespective of the fact whether they are aware of the local customs and dialect and familiar with situation. The launch of Mission 2019 is a clear signal that the BJP is aware of the challenges ahead.

BJP needs Modi's Magic in Karnataka; desperately

Nothing is going right for BJP in Karnataka Assembly polls and a desperate leadership is pinning its hopes on carpet bombing by  Prime Minister Narendra Modi to swing the balance in its favour. Until now, BJP president Amit Shah is campaigning and overseeing the poll strategies in the State and visiting one Mutt after the other to woo the Lingayats as well as Vokkalingas. There are as many as 700 Mutts in the state. But the state leadership is worried as Chief Minister Siddaramiah is gaining ground with the each passing day. Barring one, almost all Kannada TV channels have give an edge to the Congress. The BJP's handicap is that none of its national leaders can speak Kannada and its state leaders are a disunited lot. On the contrary, Rahul Gandhi has given the charge of the state to Siddharamiah and firmly told others to cooperate with him. He has consolidate his Dalit-OBC-Muslim vote bank while BJP is struggling to keep its 17% Lingayats together under Yeddyruppa and create a positive buzz. Modi has signaled that he will address around 15-18 rallies in the state after April 20 on his return from UK. The BJP leadership has requested the PM to help in swinging to mood of the people as two back-to-back surveys showed that the Congress is ahead in the electoral race. Most of the  public rallies of the Prime Minister  would be held at the district levels to touch the base with the voters and Modi will address at least two to three rallies in a day. Modi logged 24 rallies in the high-stake Uttar Pradesh elections last year, his best still remains 31 during the Bihar polls in 2015. In Tripura, Modi clocked four rallies. The BJP expects a swing of one to two per cent vote in the State to change its fortune and Modi's magic will do it.

Rs 100 crores booty and foot in the mouth !

A couple of months ago, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in close coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Police, recovered old currency notes estimated to be of the value of Rs 100 crore. The biggest ever haul in old currency notes created ripples and Central Intelligence agencies also swung into action. What worried the Centre most was that the recovery took place from Uttar Pradesh's industrial hub Kanpur. A team from the Reserve Bank of India and Income Tax department was also busy in reaching at the bottom of the truth for their own issues. The NIA seized the huge amount from a locked house and negotiators who promised to get these old notes exchanged were also arrested. The NIA went to town claiming that the money belonged to the terror groups. In fact, the amount was in two tranche; first being Rs 36 crores and then the remaining amount. However, within weeks all nine persons who were arrested, were released by the NIA quietly saying that it had nothing to do with the case as neither the amount and nor the persons were connected with any terror groups. It now transpires that first tip of the stashed money came to the NIA from one of its informers in J & K. The informer said that the amount is stashed in Kanpur. Elated by the tip-off the NIA raided the house with the help of the local police. But after investigations it surfaced that the money belonged to a political party and businessmen. The NIA retreated and no press release was issued either by the UP Police or the NIA. Cheers !

Modi's somersault on auctioning Coal, spectrum ?

Is the Modi government planning to dump the much-hyped policy of auctioning of natural resources ? If the statements by Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar and Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar are any indication, the auction policy may be a thing of the past. Susheel Kumar said that one cannot always think in terms of monetising revenues and has to keep the wider goals in mind. Niti Aayog Chairman Rajiv Kumar also echoed similar sentiments at a close-door conference. Talking to industry leaders, he said the government is rethinking its approach to spectrum auctions. He said, “this is the beginning of a process whereby you don’t try and always maximize government revenues … you may want to maximise development by bringing in greater benefits to citizens or to the private sector. He went on to say, “We have not done the famous spectrum sales during the financial year and there is a rethinking in the Government.” Instead of revenue, the government may want to maximise development by bringing in greater benefits to citizens and encourage private sector. The statements came as surprise as the UPA's policies on Coal and spectrum had brought down the Manmohan Singh government which had allocated the spectrum and coal mines based on first-come-basis. The CAG then had accused the government of incurring a “presumptive” loss of 1.76 lakh crore to the national exchequer because the spectrum were not auctioned. Similar allegations were leveled regarding the allocation of coal mines by the previous government and that was described as the coal scam. However, the somersault signals that rhetoric is being replaced by reality in the Modi government. The private sector groaning against the losses is failing to expand and therefore not able to return the huge loans it had borrowed from the banks which resulted in rising non-performing assets of the banks, bringing the banks to the point of bankruptcy.