Seek inspiration
Prashant Kishor has finally made the journey from poll consultant to politician by launching his Jan Suraaj Party. What’s more, he already behaves like a veteran politician — the launch programme of his party was set to begin at 2 pm, but Kishor refused to emerge because the crowd was thin at that time. Minutes turned into hours and he only came out when a sizeable number of people trickled in. When he started speaking, many noticed that his style was similar to that of the inimitably rustic and charismatic Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Lalu Prasad. Others said that although Kishor had brought freshness to Bihar politics, he has also succumbed to caste equations instead of rising above them. Some thought about the money that must have been spent on organising the function and bringing so many people to attend. Others reminisced about the Aam Aadmi Party leader, Arvind Kejriwal, in the way that the party was launched.
A few also wondered whether Kishor has imbibed the williness of his former mentor, the Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar, and top guns of the Bharatiya Janata Party with whom he worked a decade ago. Kishor himself claims to be inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. “Please don’t make him a khichdi. He is original and a tough nut,” one of Kishor’s close associates shot back when asked about the influence of other politicians on him.
Renewed efforts
Delhi’s perpetual CM-in-waiting, Vijay Goel, has doubled his efforts to remain in the limelight amidst loud whispers that the BJP is considering the former Union minister, Smriti Irani, as a CM candidate in the assembly polls next year. Goel climbed up the ranks from being the Delhi University Students Union president to a Union minister. He has championed unfashionable causes like getting rid of stray dogs and often stages comical protests like driving an ambulance to the house of the AAP leader, Arvind Kejriwal, when the latter filed for medical bail.
Vijay Goel
This week he led a stir outside Kejriwal’s new home in Lutyens’ Delhi. But Irani, who grew up in the capital and is fluent in Hindi and Bangla, has an edge as the party is reportedly looking for a strong woman leader to counter the incumbent CM, Atishi.
Strategic silence
Lalu Prasad’s RJD and the Congress are agitating against the use of prepaid smart electricity meters in Bihar. That is fine, but it is surprising that two of the top Opposition parties in the state have ignored the issue of the ongoing land survey that has turned the lives of lakhs of rural families topsy-turvy. A probe revealed that RJD leaders are well-aware of the frustration among the masses over the land survey but intend to tap into it during the assembly polls due next year. They want the angst with the survey to simmer so that people will vote for the RJD just to teach a lesson to Nitish Kumar.
Marked territory
A recent social media post by the Karnataka minister, Priyank Kharge, criticising the Centre’s nod for setting up four semiconductor units in Gujarat and one in Assam triggered sharp retorts from the Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma. Sarma attacked the Congress for its divisive mindset, putting the state Congress in a spot. Kharge later cleared the air, saying that he was only protecting his state’s interests by questioning the fairness of the allocation of theprojects. In the end, both Khargeand Sarma managed to send a message to their constituents: their state comes first.
Double standards
The BJP expelled its Tripuraunit vice-president and a leading tribal leader, Patal Kanya Jamatia, for “anti-party” activities on Tuesday. The trigger was Jamatia floating a political outfit, the Tripura People’s Socialist Party, that she claimed would operate under the BJP. Those in the know claim that with Tipra Motha, a constituent of the BJP-led coalition government, getting more importance, her own priority was diminishing. Her contention is that if Tipra Motha chief’s elder sister, Kriti Singh Debbarma, could be fielded by the BJP from the East Tripura Lok Sabha seat, why should the party have any issue with her party that would operate under the BJP?
War room
The former CM of Jharkhandand governor of Odisha, Raghubar Das, finds himself in the eye of a political storm following a sudden visit by Himanta Biswa Sarma, the co-coordinator for the Jharkhand election, to Bhubaneswar. He abruptly spent two hours in a private discussion with Das before departing for Assam. Das still has significant influence in Jharkhand and could sway voters. The Biju Janata Dal in Odisha has alleged that the Odisha Raj Bhavan has turned into a war room for the Jharkhand election, underminingits dignity.
