New foe

Be it Delhi or Gujarat, the mighty Bharatiya Janata Party is now focused on slamming the relative rookie, Aam Aadmi Party. The daily attacks on the Congress seem to have given way to those on the AAP. For over a month now, media addresses are held almost every day to attack the AAP. In Delhi, the municipal corporation elections are due and in Gujarat, the AAP has generated a lot of buzz for the year-end assembly polls. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi is currently under the BJP and the party fears losing it. The principal reason for the rise of the AAP, according to BJP leaders, is the freebie culture. The home minister, Amit Shah, recently expressed his frustration at people becoming dependent on such freebies: “AAP wants to make the people ‘AAP-nirbhar’ and we want to make them ‘aatmnirbhar’”. Shah also said that the AAP’s tactic can mislead people for 5-7 years but after that they will see through it. The AAP has been in power in Delhi for more than 7 years now and if they also snatch MCD from the BJP, it would be too much for the saffron party to stomach. The whispers in BJP corridors is that the party has to launch an ‘AAP-mukt Bharat’ campaign.

At home

When it comes to politics, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Bihar chief minister, Rabri Devi, wants to have her cake and eat it too. She seems to have succeeded at it too. She was the leader of the Opposition till luck smiled and her party came to power as part of the Grand Alliance. She was happy as her sons, Tejashwi and Tej Pratap Yadav, as well as other party leaders became members of the cabinet. However, she lost her status as leader of the Opposition. Yet, she refused to vacate the chamber provided to her. No amount of requests could dislodge her. Meanwhile, the BJP leader, Samrat Choudhary, became the leader of the Opposition and has been waiting to get a chamber. “The chairman of the Council has allotted me a chamber just above his official one. But... I would like to have one on the ground floor so that people can meet me easily,” Choudhary rued. But then, none knows how to get the chamber vacated.

Similar traits

Several Grand Alliance leaders in Bihar believe that the CM, Nitish Kumar, could give the prime minister, Narendra Modi, a run for his money. This belief grew firmer after the RJD leader, Sudhakar Singh — he was recently stripped of his cabinet post — accused Nitish of being a dictator, asserting that the role of ministers in the state was limited to signing files as everything was controlled by Nitish and the bureaucrats appointed by him. He also said that the CM is a dictator who believes that the way to heaven is through the PM’s chair. This has been a common grouse among ministers in his previous governments too. Asked about such allegations in a democratic set-up, a senior leader from the ruling party asserted: “This is also one of the reasons that we believe he can take on Modi.”

Conscience keeper

The Congress Lok Sabha member, K Muraleedharan, is doing the job of his political rivals by calling out the Kerala state Congress for not taking disciplinary action against the leader, Eldhose Kunnapillil, who has been accused of raping and physically assaulting a woman friend. While the Congress has been treading cautiously, Muraleedharan is not mincing words about the party not taking suitable action against the lawmaker. Although Kunnapillil has been granted anticipatory bail after spending more than 10 days in hiding, Muraleedharan felt that the party should discipline the lawmaker, whatever may be the outcome of the case.

Debt of gratitude

The Union minister for railways, communications, electronics, and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BJP candidate with the support of the Biju Janata Dal, following a request from the PM to Naveen Patnaik. Vaishnaw has now repaid his debt to the state by announcing a slew of developmental projects from the expansion of railways to the introduction of 5G services in the state. During his visit to Odisha, Vaishnaw announced the modernisation of the Bhubaneswar railway station, which will offer travellers a world-class experience. He also announced that work on the KhurdaBolangir railway line, which has been going on for some 27 years at a tardy pace, would be accelerated and completed. He also inaugurated India’s first aluminum freight rake at Bhubaneswar. Vaishnaw has said that 5G service would be available in at least four cities by March 2023. Having done his best for the state, he hopes that the people will not only appreciate his work but also maintain confidence in him.

Footnote

The BJP in Karnataka was quick to trash the Bharat Jodo Yatra, not losing any opportunity to attack Rahul Gandhi and the “futile” yatra. But the BJP itself launched a Jana Sankalpa Yatra, with the CM, Basavaraj Bommai, and his predecessor, BS Yediyurappa, leading the campaign. Now the Janata Dal (Secular), too, will start a Pancharatna Yatra with leaders like HD Deve Gowda in attendance. This only proves that neither Rahul nor his party has taken a single wrong step after entering Karnataka last month with the Bharat Jodo Yatra that has received much popular support.