Divine will

Many in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party believe that Lord Rama has been showering his abundant blessings on the prime minister, Narendra Modi, ever since the pran pratishtha ceremony in Ayodhya. Several party leaders have also been viewing the implosion within the INDIA bloc as a direct consequence of the Opposition leaders’ decision to not attend the consecration ceremony. “See how swiftly the political landscape has changed since January 22 ... Mamata announced [her] decision to go alone, the Aam Aadmi Party declared no alliance with the Congress in Punjab, Nitish is all set to dump INDIA...” one senior BJP leader said, ascribing all these developments to divine intervention. It has been reported that for 11 days preceding the consecration, Modi adopted a strict regime, surviving only on coconut water and sleeping on the floor. Leaders in the saffron camp believe that this observance may have pleased Ram Lalla who is now showering his blessings. Although BJP leaders have so far refrained from explicitly hailing Modi as ‘bhagwan’, the possibility of this has been rising lately, given the increased sycophancy gripping the saffron party. The results of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections could prove to be a litmus test in this regard. If Modi returns to power, then he will be the only leader after Jawaharlal Nehru to secure a third straight term as prime minister. But Modi is understood to be aiming even higher than that by targeting to shatter all records with his party’s high margin of victory in the elections. If that happens then the day is not far when Modi will be regarded as ‘god’ by his party members.

Political plunge

The Tamil superstar, Vijay, is next in line to take the political plunge. The popular actor has been dropping hints about launching his political outfit. Office bearers of the All India Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, Vijay’s fan club-cum-social welfare outfit, recently met at his office in Chennai and elected him president of his soon-to-be-registered party. The club members are eager to contest the Lok Sabha polls as well as the electoral battles in the southern states where his films run to packed houses. With Rajinikanth unclear about his political career, Vijay, it seems, would be the one to watch after Kamal Haasan, whose party is yet to find a foothold in the political arena.

Stiff hurdles

With the days of the present Grand Alliance government in Bihar seeming numbered and a National Democratic Alliance dispensation looking forward to taking its place, several hurdles have been cropping up for both sides. The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Lalu Prasad, is trying hard to instal his son, Tejashwi Yadav, as the chief minister. The Grand Alliance requires only eight more legislators to form the government. But RJD insiders said that just having the numbers will not suffice because even if Lalu is able to cross hurdles in the form of Nitish Kumar and the Raj Bhavan, he will meet insurmountable ones in the form of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. “What if Lalu... Rabri Devi, Tejashwi ... Misa Bharti, and other members of the family are arrested in the numerous cases that they are facing? The family will be doomed,” a senior RJD leader said.

On the other hand, the BJP has been working hard to placate existing allies, including the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader, Jitan Ram Manjhi, the Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal leader, Upendra Kushwaha, and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader, Chirag Paswan. All of them rebelled against Nitish and sided with the BJP previously, but are now feeling insecure about their future with Nitish’s imminent return into the NDA fold.

Power play

The return of Jagadish Shettar to the BJP has strengthened the hand of the Lingayat strongman, BS Yediyurappa. Forced to resign as the Karnataka CM, Yediyurappa won back his pride of place in the party when the BJP installed his son, Vijayendra Yediyurappa, as state party president in November. His fellow Lingayat, Shettar, who joined the Congress last year, has made a ghar wapsi, further boosting Yediyurappa’s clout.

Wrong timeline

On National Voters’ Day, observed on January 25, a slip of the tongue by the election commissioner of India, Arun Goel, pushed the history of Indian legislature back to the Stone Age. In his address, Goel said, “In the Rig Veda and Atharva Veda dating 6000 BCE to 1100 BCE, the term[s] sabha... samiti... and sansad... find frequent mention.” However, the Vedic period is accepted to have begun in the Bronze Age, after the second millennium BCE.