BJP ignores Smriti Irani and Meenakshi Lekhi, relies on Brand Modi to take on AAP in Delhi polls

Hopes belied

Two prominent women leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Smriti Irani and Meenakshi Lekhi, had been hopeful that the party leadership would turn to them to take on Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly polls. Their expectations were bolstered given the prominence of the women voters in recent elections. Moreover, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, has been stressing on ‘naari shakti’ and the lack of a charismatic leader in the Delhi unit. All this further instilled hope among the two former Union ministers, both of whom are very articulate. But their hopes have been dashed. The top leadership has decided to bank on Brand Modi to oust the ‘AAPda’, a term coined by the saffron party to liken the AAP to a disaster. It must be noted that while Irani lost the 2024 general elections from Amethi, Lekhi was denied renomination from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat and replaced by Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj. Pushed to the margins, the two leaders have been desperate to return to the mainstream. While it seems like Irani, who has built a home in Amethi to emphasise her commitment to the constituency, may have to wait until the next general elections, Lekhi’s future remains uncertain. Her disappointment is discernible from her X bio. It just says “Lawyer and social activist” and contains no reference to her association with the BJP. In contrast, Irani’s bio reads “Grassroots BJP politician, former Cabinet Minister”.

Brownie points

The chief minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, who is constantly under scrutiny for his performance, heaved a sigh of relief after the Singapore president, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, arrived for a state visit on Friday. As many as eight MoUs were signed on the first day of the visit.

Majhi was quick enough to address the media, claiming that much has been achieved in the state since he came to power. Shanmugaratnam showered praise on Odisha and interacted with students at the World Skill Centre, built by Majhi’s predecessor, Naveen Patnaik. Majhi knows that he is under constant scrutiny for being able to carry forward Patnaik’s legacy to make the state prosperous. The state pulled out all stops to give a royal welcome to the president.

Coded message

While common people are already struggling under heavy taxation, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Tejashwi Yadav, has alleged that a new tax was being levied in Bihar, especially on those associated with the welfare and development projects undertaken by the state government. He has code-named it “DK Tax”, without giving out any further details. Rumours have it that Yadav is referring to a person in the good books of both the CM, Nitish Kumar, and the Centre and is allegedly working as the de facto boss of the establishment despite being embroiled in various irregularities.

Meanwhile, Yadav’s assertion has exploded like a beehive, stinging both the ruling Janata Dal (United) and the BJP. They have countered Yadav saying that Bihar was used to A, D, G, S, R, L and M taxes during the RJD rule, but have stopped short of clarifying the code words.

Changed tune

Makar Sankranti, which the people of Bihar observe by gorging on dahi chura and sesame sweets, has been synonymous with political shifts in the state. Just when everybody was thinking that nothing new in politics was going to happen during the festival this year, the RJD president, Lalu Prasad, surprisingly attended a feast thrown by the former Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party leader, Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is the younger brother of the former Union minister, the late Ram Vilas Paswan. Paras has been claiming to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance despite being neglected by it.

Prasad invited Paras to the Mahagatbandhan and asked him to contest the upcoming assembly elections as a part of the Opposition alliance. This infused some enthusiasm into Paras, who quickly asserted that his options were open owing to poor treatment in the NDA. The belief is that in all probability the RLJP is going to join the Mahagathbandhan for its own survival. The BJP did not give it even a single Lok Sabha seat to contest in last year’s elections and chose to favour Paras’s nephew, Chirag Paswan, and his Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

Reel threat

The screening of a documentary on the harassment of AAP leaders by investigative agencies was stalled by cops in the poll-bound national capital as the party had
not sought the nod of the poll authorities. Central forces were deployed outside the hall where Unbreakable was to be shown, primarily to journalists. The AAP chief, Arvind Kejriwal, lashed out saying, “What is there in this film that BJP is scared of? This film exposes all the secrets behind the scenes when AAP leaders were wrongly arrested. It exposes the illegal and unconstitutional actions of the BJP government.”