Master stroke
Old habits die hard. The Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch, LK Advani, had once called Narendra Modi a “good event manager”. Modi has indeed proven to be a master manager. Apart from big shows like the upcoming visit of the American president, Donald Trump, even small events appear to be politically planned to the last detail by Modi. He recently paid a “surprise” visit to the Hunar Haat (artisans fair) organized by the ministry of minority affairs. Official sources claim that Modi’s visit was impromptu, that even the minister of minority affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, was unaware of it. After a cabinet meeting chaired by the PM, Naqvi had come back home and was about to have lunch when he was informed that Modi was reaching Hunar Haat. Naqvi left his food and rushed. The events at the lawns, however, made it clear that Modi’s visit was anything but a “surprise”. Of all the food stalls at the fair, Modi chose to eat Bihari “litti-chokha”, even tweeting his picture with a banner saying “Bihari vyanjan” in the backdrop. If anything was a surprise, it was the style in which Modi launched the campaign for the Bihar elections scheduled for later this year. But thinking that this was all that was there to Modi’s visit to Hunar Haat would be simplistic. Investing so much time for a single message would be wasteful. Hunar Haat showcased the works of Muslim artisans and given the scale of the anti-CAA-NPR-NRC protests, Modi took great pleasure getting photographed with smiling artisans, who, to borrow a saying, could be identified by their beards and clothes. It was aimed to give out the message that the Modi government is working for the Muslims and they are happy with the state of affairs.
No laughing matter
Most Congressmen did not take notice of Sandeep Dikshit’s outburst at the party leadership after the defeat in the Delhi elections since he is seen as a habitual dissenter. His criticism was dismissed as personal pique. The exception to this rule was Shashi Tharoor, who endorsed Dikshit’s suggestion regarding the election of a new party president. This prompted leaders old and young to have a hearty laugh. While Tharoor has been advocating the election of a Congress president instead of selection, Congress leaders have been having fun at his cost, privately arguing that Tharoor has convinced himself that he will win in a democratic contest.
One party veteran said, “He has so much faith in his charisma. But he doesn’t know it is not a beauty contest or fashion show. He is unaware of conspiracies and intrigues of Congress politics. If the top leadership doesn’t signal support, he may not get even ten votes.” Many other leaders said Tharoor thinks becoming the party president is just the next step since he is already heading the All India Professionals’ Congress. The truth apparently is that Tharoor counts for nothing in the Congress hierarchy and his overweening ambition could be counterproductive.
Royal dilemma
Ambitions seem to be the perennial thorn in the Congress’ side. In Madhya Pradesh, the party is grappling with a unique crisis. While Jyotiraditya Scindia wants to be nominated to Rajya Sabha, the chief minister of the state, Kamal Nath, is said to be reluctant to enhance the profile of his main rival. The Bhopal political grapevine is abuzz with speculation that Priyanka Gandhi’s name was proposed for Rajya Sabha from the state with tacit encouragement from the CM only to scuttle Scindia’s chances. Senior leaders believe that Priyanka accepting the offer from any state — Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh have made similar offers — will adversely affect her political prospects in Uttar Pradesh. She is unlikely to accept the offer, but her name is being used to derail Scindia.
The Congress will get two seats from Madhya Pradesh this April; one is likely to go to sitting member, Digvijaya Singh, who is retiring. Supporters of Kamal Nath say that giving the other seat to Scindia is problematic as both Scindia and Digvijaya are from a royal background. One leader said, “ek seat raja ko, ek maharaja ko — ye kaise hoga?” Scindia is already upset for not having been made the CM and sources say he may be uncontrollably angry if he is not sent to the Rajya Sabha. The stability of the government in the state could then be at risk. In fact, few leaders are in favour of sending Digvijaya Singh, who lost the Lok Sabha election from Bhopal, to the Rajya Sabha. But once again, upsetting him could put the survival of the Congress at risk in the heartland state.
Sharp prick
The Karnataka Congress member of legislative council, CM Ibrahim, is known for his caustic remarks. Almost two months after the BJP Lok Sabha member, Tejasvi Surya, called all those who oppose CAA as “puncture-wallahs” — hinting that most of those who fix punctures are Muslims — Ibrahim came up with a one-liner to deflate Surya’s pride. “I agree that most Muslims are poor and cannot afford to buy new cars. But we can even make a car out of four scrapped cars,” Ibrahim quipped, meaning that Muslim mechanics can not only fix punctures but also make cars out of mere scraps.
