Timely visit
The two-day Manipur peace mission of the Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, came amidst the continued silence of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, on the ongoing conflict between the Meitei and the Kuki communities in the state. The visit has done the Congress a world of good. Even Bharatiya Janata Party insiders admit that the trip was well-received by both the warring communities yearning for peace. This will give the Congress much-needed traction in a state where it has been out of power since the 2017 assembly elections. After winning 28 assembly seats in 2017, the party was able to secure just five seats in the 2022 polls. The support for the Congress leader’s visit was evident from the fact that locals of Bishnupur started protesting against the BJP-led administration for denying him permission to visit Churachandpur by road — the Bishnupur-Churachandpur border is at the epicentre of the conflict that erupted on May 3. This shows that Rahul Gandhi has stolen a march over Modi, even if the latter decides to visit Manipur or break his silence on the strife. A member of a leading civil society organisation who met Rahul Gandhi in Imphal requested him to help resolve the conflict “if his party comes to power”. By keeping his visit strictly apolitical, Rahul Gandhi seems to have gained politically.
Eye on the prize
The former chief minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, is trying hard to bounce back after being shunted out of the state. Although Deb has been given a Rajya Sabha berth and made the BJP in-charge in Haryana, he seems to carve out a more meaningful role for himself. What better way to achieve this than by beating the Hindutva drum? He was recently spotted at an event in Delhi launching the app, Templesnet.com, along with some Hindu priests and the Vishva Hindu Parishad secretary-general, Milind Parande. Speaking at the event, he said that all those — from the Mughals to the British to the communists — who have tried to destroy sanatan dharma have been obliterated. He even hailed the PM for his daily practice of yoga. It remains to be seen if all this praise can get Deb a berth in the Union ministry.
Vital lesson
The Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, recently got a taste of the deteriorating law and order situation in his state when he was taking a morning walk on the road adjacent to his residence. Suddenly, two motorcycle-borne youths came down the road, breaching his security cover. Nitish jumped onto the footpath to save himself. The youths also got nervous and fell from the motorcycle. They were then nabbed by the police. It later emerged that the two youths were members of a gang of snatchers. A senior Janata Dal (United) leader said: “Thankfully Nitish does not wear any gold chain or finger ring. Otherwise it could have been snatched.” Patna has become the national capital for snatchers, but the government has done little to address the issue.
Growth trajectory
A decade after Sheila Dikshit was voted out of office, a woman is, once again, at the helm of affairs in Delhi. Last week, the Aam Aadmi Party minister, Atishi, was given the additional portfolios of finance, revenue and planning. As the CM, Arvind Kejriwal, holds no portfolios himself, Atishi will now sign off on the most significant policy decisions for the city. A policy wonk, Atishi gradually worked her way up the party ladder. To do this she had to drop her surname, Marlena — derived from Marx and Lenin, whose tenets her parents adhere to — and toe the party line on a bunch of controversial decisions.
Credit seekers
Both the Biju Janata Dal and the BJP have been fighting to take credit for the rescue operation after the Balasore train disaster. Two days after the railways minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, flew to Bahanaga on June 20 to felicitate the locals for their contributions to the rescue efforts and announced a grant of two crore rupees for the development of the block, the CM, Naveen Patnaik, sent his private secretary to the area to announce a slew of projects, including the reconstruction of the Bahanaga school where the bodies of the victims had been kept and the development of the village panchayat. It seems that the one-upmanship game over Bahanaga will be on for some time.
New equations
Suresh Gopi, the actor-turned-BJP leader from Kerala, is being tipped for a slot in the Union cabinet. This has led V Muraleedharan, the minister of state for external affairs, to lose sleep for fear of being replaced. There has also been speculation that the saffron party wants Muraleedharan to contest the 2024 general elections from Attingal, where the party’s vote share has seen an uptick lately.
Footnote
The Karnataka deputy CM, DK Shivakumar, couldn’t have had worse timing while recounting how the CM, PC Siddaramaiah, had chickened out of a steel flyover project during his previous tenure. Shivakumar even bragged that he would have pushed through had he been in charge, not fearing the protests against the project. This added fuel to the rumours of a possible power-sharing arrangement that the Congress leadership might have offered Shivakumar to convince him to take the deputy’s chair.
