Plans foiled

Despite not holding the post of the party president, the Union home minister, Amit Shah, usually has the last word when it comes to the organisational affairs of the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, Shah sought to wash his hands of the matter when it came to alliance talks with Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal. “Prime Minister and the BJP president will decide,” Shah said when asked if the saffron party had finalised a deal with the BJD. This Friday, when the coalition talks broke down and the BJP subsequently declared that it would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Odisha by itself, many in the party began to read a crucial indication in Shah’s initial response. The party leaders said that while it was true that the alliance talks with the BJD were being conducted at the topmost level given Narendra Modi’s ‘friendship’ with the Odisha chief minister, internally the state unit of the BJP was against the tie-up. But they couldn’t say a word against Modi’s wishes. Party insiders indicated that even Shah was against the alliance and agreed with the state unit’s logic that the saffron party should not join hands with the BJD since it is the principal Opposition in Odisha. It seems that, emboldened by Shah’s support, the state leaders have succeeded in spoiling Modi’s plans.

Familiar beat

Does Narendra Modi dislike watching dance forms originating in other parts of the world or was Bhutan trying too hard to impress him during his latest state visit? Instead of welcoming the PM with a traditional Bhutanese cultural performance, the dancers presented garba, a Gujarati dance form, in his honour. Host countries usually showcase their indigenous art forms during State visits by foreign leaders. Was it then a case of India nudging Bhutan to impress Modi with a dance form that originated in his native state with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections? Whatever be the case, it sure has given the right-wing an opportunity to boast about garba going places under Modi’s watch.

Closed groups

The leaders of the smaller parties in Bihar have been running from pillar to post to become part of the major coalitions. Mukesh Sahani of the Vikassheel Insaan Party is among them. Sahani courted both the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan but neither wants him. Another example would be Pashupati Kumar Paras of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party who was recently dumped by the NDA. The Mahagathbandhan, too, has not given the RLJP any hope thus far. It is going to be a two-cornered fight between the NDA and the INDIA coalition. The former parliamentarian, Rajesh Ranjan aka Pappu Yadav, and his Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik) thus thought it wise to merge with the Congress instead of being left out in the cold.

Competitive ally

Electoral competition and generosity rarely go hand in hand. This is evident from the Communist Party of India’s decision to field the feisty woman leader, Annie Raja, from Wayanad in Kerala against the sitting member of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi. She can give a tough fight to Rahul Gandhi. D Raja, the CPI general secretary, asserted that it was necessary to contest all the four seats that the party was allotted in Kerala as part of the Left Democratic Front. Many opined that the CPI could have chosen not to put up a candidate from Wayanad as a gesture of generosity.

The CPI also announced its candidate from the Begusarai seat in Bihar where the Congress wanted to field the former JNU student union president, Kanhaiya Kumar. Kumar, who quit the CPI to join the Congress, contested from Begusarai in 2019 but lost.

Tough questions

Politicians cannot afford to duck questions from the public, especially if he or she belongs to a party that has a lot to answer for. Suresh Gopi, the BJP’s candidate from Thrissur, got a taste of this during his recent church visit. The priest sought answers from him on the atrocities being committed against Christians and why the PM hasn’t yet visited strife-torn Manipur. In spite of being an actor, Gopi could only mumble a few words to wriggle out of the situation.

Surprise winner

The one person who seems happy over the failure of BJD-BJP alliance talks is Aparajita Sarangi, the BJP MP from Bhubaneswar. Rumours have it that one of the demands of the BJD was the Bhubaneswar seat, ostensibly to deny Sarangi the opportunity to contest. The BJD leadership is uncomfortable with Sarangi who has been attacking the Naveen Patnaik regime. Besides, Sarangi, a former IAS officer, has never been on good terms with VK Pandian, Patnaik’s Man Friday. When the state BJP president, Manmohan Samal, made it clear that the party would fight alone, it was Sarangi who first supported him. Her tweet read, “Excellent. Immensely grateful.”