Power move
The prime minister, Narendra Modi, participated in the special discussion on 75 years of the adoption of the Constitution in the Lok Sabha and was expected to do the same in the Rajya Sabha too. At the last minute, however, the Union home minister, Amit Shah, was assigned to address the Rajya Sabha. The Bharatiya Janata Party president and Union health minister, J.P. Nadda, was ignored despite being the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. In Delhi’s power corridors, Shah replacing Modi was viewed as a not-so-subtle play to underscore the former’s position. Since Modi swept to power in 2014, Shah has widely been seen as his successor. Post 2017, however, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, with his brand of bulldozer governance, emerged as a stronger claimant for the top position. Many in the BJP felt that by fronting Shah in the upper House, Modi could be sending out a message. The timing was also notable: it came against the backdrop of Adityanath hogging the limelight with his administration’s hardline approach to handling the controversy related to the Sambhal incident. The idea, however, appeared to have boomeranged as Shah’s ‘insulting’ remarks against the Dalit leader, B.R. Ambedkar, during the his reply in Rajya Sabha put the ruling BJP on the back foot. The united Opposition heavily criticised Shah, accusing him of demeaning Babasaheb. Modi, however, did not back down and instead aggressively defended his old and trusted confidant. The BJP rank and file too rallied behind Shah.
Too crowded
Movie buffs might remember the Soorma Bhopali, the character from Sholay prone to exaggeration. The former member of Parliament, Monazir Hasan, has asked the Jan Suraaj Party founder, Prashant Kishor, not to behave like Soorma Bhopali. Hasan and the former Union minister, Devendra Prasad Yadav, recently resigned from the party’s core committee after alleging mismanagement. Both were considered stalwarts of the Muslim-Yadav faction, which accounts for over 31% of votes in Bihar.
Prashant Kishor. File picture
The resignations came after JSP’s defeat in the assembly bypolls in four seats and the election of an MLC seat. “Kishor should not overestimate himself and learn how to differentiate between seniors and juniors... He takes party-related decisions without consulting anybody. He shouldn’t think of himself as a Soorma Bhopali,” Hasan said. He and Yadav questioned the need for a core committee of 151 members. They asserted that no party in the world has such a large core committee and that its huge size defeats the purpose. They also advised Kishor to not treat the JSP as his fief.
Get the message
The Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, had to postpone and rename his statewide tour to interact with women due to his friend-turned-foe and Rashtriya Janata Dal president, Lalu Prasad Yadav. Previously called the Mahila Samvad Yatra, it has now been rechristened as the Pragati Yatra. The yatra was scheduled to begin on December 15 and will now start on December 23. Attacking the CM for his Rs 225-crore tour, Yadav had asserted that Kumar was embarking on it to ogle at women. The comment not only caused an uproar but also went viral on social media, taking the wind out of the sails of the tour that has been planned with eyes on the 2025 assembly elections. It was also seen as a message to the RJD voters to stay away from the yatra. Yadav’s volley forced Kumar and his party to postpone and rename the yatra. Meanwhile, Yadav’s younger son and the leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, has announced a cash scheme for women if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar. Kumar and his colleagues are now racking their brains on how to make a counteroffer.
Make history
The Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, released the book, The Chief Minister’s Diary and Speech Collections — the third volume of his speeches — in Guwahati recently. In his own words, the books will “serve as a document which can be referred [to] decades later to interpret the actions of the current Chief Minister in building a Viksit Assam”. The first edition was published in 2021 after he assumed charge. The state governor, L.P. Acharya, who released the books, endorsed them as valuable resources for future generations and hailed Sarma’s leadership in shaping Assam’s development according to Narendra Modi’s vision. While the book launch has attracted attention, those following Sarma’s career claim that the leader, known for his political acumen as well as his futuristic vision, is very keen on leaving behind a legacy. Documenting his experiences in the form of books, despite his hectic schedule, ensures that nothing gets lost over time as is often the case. Being the chronicler of his own life and career, after all, is a safe bet for anyone.
