Poor shot

At the Ravana vadh ceremony during Dussehra in Patna, the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, was to shoot an arrow at the effigy of the demon king so that the fireworks could begin and engulf it in flames — a symbolic gesture to mark the victory of good over evil. The governor, Rajendra Arlekar, and a few state cabinet ministers were also present to shoot their arrows at the effigy. As the countdown began, all of them took their positions to shoot. Hundreds had gathered at the ceremony to witness the moment. However, Kumar looked bewildered, seeming to have forgotten what had to be done with the bow and arrow. Realisation dawned on him when the other dignitaries present released their arrows. But it was too late. The CM fumbled in haste and his bow and arrow fell on the ground. The effigy went up in flames without Kumar’s arrow. This slip-up was panned by politicians cutting across party lines. The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Tejashwi Yadav, pointed out that the arrow is the election symbol of Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), and the gaffe indicated that he was not bothered about his party. Others wondered whether it was yet another instance of Kumar suffering from dementia. Still a few others added that the incident revealed that Kumar was now bored with the National Democratic Alliance and was considering quitting it. Whatever the case may be, the JD(U) spokesperson claimed that Kumar was still the newsmaker and the Opposition had nothing better to do than watch him.

Back in demand

While the Bharatiya Janata Party’s top brass does not get along well with Yogi Adityanath, it cannot afford to ignore him either. Every election, the Uttar Pradesh CM, known for his polarising speeches, is always in demand. Candidates lobby to have Adityanath as their campaigner. Some past candidates acknowledged that it was Adityanath’s campaigning that ensured their victory.

Yogi Adityanath. File picture

With two key states bound for polls, the focus is, once again, on Adityanath. Many in the BJP are thanking the Election Commission of India for slating the UP bypolls for November 13. This way, the UP CM will be able to campaign in his own state as well as for Maharashtra and Jharkhand, scheduled for polls on November 13 and 20, respectively.

Two faces

The ruling Mahayuti in poll-bound Maharashtra recently tripled the salaries of madrasa teachers. It also hiked the working capital of a government agency that provides loans to those from the minority community. This prompted the Opposition Congress and the Assam Jatiya Parishad to describe the BJP as a party which can go to any extent to win elections. Their reaction to the BJP’s double standards stemmed from the fact that the party had closed down 1200-plus madrasas in Assam. The BJP clearly has different policies for different states.

Clash of the titans

Jharkhand will witness a battle within a battle. The Congress has appointed its deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, as a senior coordinator for the state polls. Gogoi will have to contend with the Assam CM and the BJP co-in-charge for Jharkhand, Himanta Biswa Sarma. Sarma has been wooing the Adivasi population in Jharkhand. The Congress hopes Gogoi will be able to counter Sarma’s plank by flagging the BJP’s unfulfilled promises for Assam’s tea tribes.

Gogoi has already come up trumps once by winning the Jorhat Lok Sabha seat despite the ruling BJP deploying its might to defeat him. It remains to be seen whether he will prove to be Sarma’s Achilles’ heel in Jharkhand.

On the rise

Supporters of the Union minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, are on cloud nine after the BJP’s victory in Haryana. Pradhan was the election in charge of Haryana and the party managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Congratulatory messages are thus pouring in for Pradhan from every corner.

Regional media in Odissa has come up with articles on how an Odia reached the top of national politics within such a short period. Many in Odisha have even started projecting him as the successor to Nadda as the BJP president.

Black humour

The new, desi version of the statue of Lady Justice in the Supreme Court has caused much mirth. Instead of a blindfold and a sword — a colonial-era inheritance — the new statue has her eyes open, holds a book in her hand and is adorned in jewellery. Sanjoy Ghose, a lawyer, queried if the new statue looked like an actress. Yet another lawyer wondered whether people would fear Lady Justice without her sword.