Image management

In the confusing poll arena of Maharashtra, with three parties in each of the two competing political alliances — the ruling Mahayuti and the Maha Vikas Aghadi — plenty of opportunities have opened up for consultants promising to transform political fortunes. The Shiv Sena faction led by the incumbent chief minister, Eknath Shinde, has hired the maximum number of consultants. The buzz is that Shinde has opened the purse strings to ensure high popularity ratings. He is scared that the state Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing the CM’s post if the Mahayuti returns to power. Shinde’s consultants have two tasks: to puff up his standing among the Marathi voters and to make a mark in national politics.

While the BJP is known for deploying professional poll consultants, the party’s face in the state, Devendra Fadnavis, has privately hired one for himself. But the ruling coalition was caught unawares by the deputy CM, Ajit Pawar, the leader of a faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, who was not known to care for advisers. Pawar has hired a national-level consultant to improve his image. Insiders say that the first advice to the grumpy-faced politician was to ensure that there is a smile on his face when he is photographed.

Blindspot

It is well-known that a nexus among the mafia, the law enforcement and the politicians has compromised the Prohibition in Bihar. Only the CM, Nitish Kumar, seems unaware of this. Although the ban on alcohol was imposed in 2016, liquor is freely available through a thriving underground network, leading to a sharp rise in crime. Hundreds have died in hooch tragedies and others have been left blind. Even senior leaders of the Janata Dal (United) poke fun at the failure of the ban behind Kumar’s back. “Even [the] Delhi Sultanate ruler, Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq, reversed his faulty decisions, but our chief minister is so unyielding,” a JD(U) minister said. Another asserted that he fears that the Opposition will pounce on Kumar the moment he rolls back the liquor ban. Many wonder if he will ever take remedial measures.

Formidable pair

The prime minister, Narendra Modi, showered lavish praises on Nitish Kumar during his visit to Bihar. The camaraderie between the two, however, left both the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan with long faces because it implied that the BJP has made up its mind to bank on Kumar for the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar. The Union ministers, Giriraj Singh and Chirag Paswan, the deputy CMs, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha, the former Union ministers, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Upendra Kushwaha, and other NDA leaders are said to be nursing the desire to become the Bihar CM. On the other hand, the Modi-Kumar bonhomie has left the Mahagathbandhan leaders distressed because they know that the pair is formidable in the polls. The Opposition was hoping that the BJP dumping Kumar could turn the tide in its favour.

Skilled leader

The Congress’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, has turned heads with his leadership and crowd management skills. After a party leader was detained by the police for alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct on polling day when he visited a colleague’s place, local Congress workers and supporters started thronging the Gingia Police Station. During this mayhem, Gogoi took charge of crowd control, using the police loudspeaker to urge the crowd not to get excited and create any problem and to maintain a distance from the police station if they were “true Congressmen”. The crowd responded to his plea. Gogoi left after over five hours at the station and the party leader was out on bail soon after.

Gogoi’s leadership qualities, including standing by a colleague or managing an agitated crowd, shone through. Regardless of whether he wins, Gogoi has revived the also-ran Congress in the Behali constituency. No wonder leaders in the state BJP as well as the Opposition are worried about the ‘new leader’ on the block in the run-up to the 2026 state polls.

Gogoi’s efficiency is not the only reason why he has raised people’s hackles. While the Assam and the Meghalaya governments were trumpeting the successful landing of a seaplane on the Brahmaputra and the Umiam Lake, Gogoi played party pooper. He pointed out that seaplanes will not do much in a region “already plagued with air and rail connectivity issues”. He added another sobering note: “No lessons,” Gogoi said, seemed to have been learnt from the “failed Gujarat model where Rs 13 crores were spent on a much-hyped seaplane service in 2020 which was ultimately abandoned months before its launch.”