Influential ally
A man is known by the company he keeps. So when the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre started making rapid U-turns on several policy decisions — four in the two months since it came to power for the third time — Bharatiya Janata Party supporters were left perturbed. Looking for reasons behind the rollbacks, they zeroed in on Modi’s proximity to the chief minister of Bihar and Janata Dal (United) president, Nitish Kumar. “This is the effect of the friendship with him [Kumar]. Kumar [is] the original U-turn maker in contemporary politics and has no qualms about it. His quality has rubbed off on Modi,” a senior BJP leader was overheard telling his followers. Another quipped that such back-tracking has led to Modi replacing Kumar as the subject of jokes circulating on social media about the latter’s somersaulting, such as Kumar’s photograph serving as U-turn signs on highways. However, the turn of events has not gone down well with some party leaders. They have questioned the role of Modi’s advisers, including Amit Shah, in springing forth such schemes when the government is resting on the crutches of the JD(U) and the Telugu Desam Party. One wonders whether there will be more such U-turns on Delhi’s rajpath.
Loose tongue
From a spurt in the activities of a banned militant outfit and flash floods in Guwahati to protests over inflated electricity bills owing to smart meters, the Assam government has come under intense scrutiny in the past fortnight. The behaviour of the CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has been pointedly criticised. During a press interaction, Sarma tried to blame hill-cutting by USTM, a private university, for the waterlogging in Guwahati. At this, when a Muslim scribe asked him about the hill-cutting in his own constituency, Jalukbari, Sarma tried to dodge the question by suggesting that the reporter had a vested interest owing to his connections with the USTM chancellor who is also a Muslim.
Himanta Biswa Sarma
Most media bodies called out Sarma for his “unacceptable” behaviour towards a journalist. It is hoped that the incident will serve as a lesson for those in power on what to say in public and how to say it.
Enemy within
The BJP is still being haunted by its loss in the Pataliputra Lok Sabha constituency, where Misa Bharati, the eldest daughter of the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Lalu Prasad, bested Ram Kripal Yadav, who had defeated her twice in the past. All surveys had predicted that Yadav, a humble leader with grass-roots connections, would be third time lucky. The BJP think-tank thus undertook a deep analysis to identify the factors responsible for the defeat. One of the reasons stood out — security arrangements. Central forces were deployed in areas that favoured Yadav, while the state police and home guard were posted in the pockets that supported Bharti. The former saw fewer footfalls owing to the presence of the Central forces.
Senior BJP leaders suspect that such selective deployment could only be the result of a betrayal by someone at the helm of the state. They have identified a JD(U) parliamentarian, who was suspected of having grown close to Prasad and having made efforts to break his own party last year, to be behind the distribution of forces.
Hopes belied
The BJP-Janata Dal (Secular) combine in Karnataka clearly had lofty hopes about the supposed rivalry between the CM, Siddaramaiah, and his deputy and the state Congress chief, DK Shivakumar. It is true that Shivakumar had stood his ground about being made the CM after leading the party to a win in the assembly polls. But just when the Opposition thought of driving a wedge between the two by raking up allegations of land scam against Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar came out all guns blazing in the CM’s support, much to the chagrin of the BJP and JD(S).
Socialism now
HD Kumaraswamy is not a fan of the prime minister’s disinvestment economics. Kumaraswamy has trained under his socialist father and the former PM, HD Deve Gowda, who always vouched for public sector undertakings. As the Union minister of heavy industries and steel, Kumaraswamy is working hard to save PSUs from disinvestment. He has held 50 meetings in the past two months to revive ailing PSUs. His stance is yet another benefit of coalition politics.
Clear the air
The Election Commission of India’s battle against “false narratives” seems endless. The chief electoral officer of Andhra Pradesh recently had to clarify that a viral video claiming the paper trail slips of LS polls are being destroyed was misleading. These slips are preserved for a year after the polls. The Chief Election Commissioner has also advised poll observers in Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir to be “vigilant”.
