The Congressman and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh, created a flutter when he said that the Congress loses votes if he campaigns for it. His words were interpreted as a sign of rebellion by a section of the media, although Digvijaya was only exposing party leaders who have been making such claims at internal party fora. Some Congress leaders reportedly believe that Digvijaya has attracted the ire of a section of the majority community on account of his strident anti-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh stance, as well as his insistence on justice for the Muslim community.

Although this impression can be said to have been caused by propaganda by the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress leadership has indeed decided not to make Digvijaya the face of the party in the upcoming assembly elections. Instead, it has projected Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia. Digvijaya, who has succeeded to a considerable extent in diluting this perception of him with his Narmada yatra, is actively managing the poll preparations behind the scenes. He seems to have put his emotions aside and prioritized his political commitment, and the party chief, Rahul Gandhi, is aware of this. In spite of that, public perception is that Digvijaya has been sidelined and that might cause the Congress some trouble. Even when he is present on the stage during Rahul’s functions, he avoids giving speeches, thus further bolstering the perception of his apathy. Insiders, however, say that he has used all his power to ensure that people close to him get tickets to contest the polls.

Jyotiraditya Scindia Telegraph file picture

Crowd in front of the Durga Puja pandal at Bagbazar Sarbojanin Durgotsav, 2016. Telegraph file picture

Like a shadow

The bonhomie between Rahul Gandhi, and the Congress parliamentarian, Jyotiraditya Scindia, has become a major talking point in the Grand Old Party circles. Each time Rahul goes to poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the scion of the Scindia family stays close to him like a shadow.

Jyotiraditya, who is a member of the Lok Sabha from Madhya Pradesh’s Guna constituency, has known Rahul since his childhood, and is often seen gently telling Rahul how to perform a particular religious ritual correctly or offering last-minute inputs for the party chief’s speeches. While he was in Datia, Rahul went to the Peetambra Shaktipeeth and then to a dargah, where he was offered a skull cap that is often worn by members of the Muslim community. Rahul wore the cap even as his forehead bore visible signs of bhabuti and trikund, as a mark of India’s glorious secular traditions. Rahul’s next destination was a gurdwara, where he wished to put a crisp Rs 500 note in the daan peti (donation box). Fortunately, Scindia gently discouraged him and reminded him that the election code of conduct is in effect in the state, which goes to the polls in November. Suitably cautioned, Rahul quietly put the currency note back into his pocket.

Tense times

In the meantime, in Madhya Pradesh, tension is brewing in the state unit of the BJP, where the RSS has reportedly presented a dismal picture of the ability of the present chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, to win the impending assembly elections. The RSS, which takes pride in calling itself a ‘cultural organization’, conducted a series of surveys, none of which is said to have indicated that the ruling party will cross the 100-seat tally in the 230-member state assembly. According to the reports of insiders at Samidha — the Bhopal office of the RSS — some bitter pills have been offered to the BJP. It has been asked to deny tickets to more than 70 outgoing legislative assembly members from the party. A fresh round of surveys has now been ordered; the results are now being awaited with bated breath.

Keen sense

It is widely known that the BJP president, Amit Shah, became the number one confidant of Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. This could well be because of Shah’s reputation as a master poll strategist. In fact, a webpage on Shah claims that he earned the reputation of an “astute election manager” after he was entrusted with the task of managing the poll campaign of LK Advani for the first time in 1989 when the party stalwart contested the Ahmedabad constituency for the Lok Sabha. Shah’s association with Advani lasted over two decades. In 2009, Advani, the prime ministerial face of the BJP, won his Lok Sabha seat in Gujarat, but the BJP lost the national election. Ironically, Shah, like Modi, has grown out of Gujarat, and is now the second most powerful leader in the current dispensation while Advani is completely sidelined. A picture on the webpage shows Shah greeting Modi with sweets while Advani looks on forlornly from a distance.

Pleasant visit

Rishi Kapoor seems to be doing fine. The actor, who announced last month that he was heading to the United States of America to get medical treatment, was spotted with his wife, Neetu Singh, at a temple in New York. Kapoor, who is a regular on Twitter, also shared a picture with the veteran lyricist, Javed Akhtar, who called on him in the US. “Thank you Javed Sahab for... making us laugh so much. Thank [sic] for visiting us!” read the tweet.

Footnote

Now that Durga Puja is over, a pall of gloom has descended over Bengal. This has been a rather good year for Bengalis — especially sarkari babus — since the official calendar for 2018 includes 35 holidays. However, 2019 presented a rather bleak picture in this context.The state calendar had only 27 holidays initially. But Didi — who always has the pulse of the people — has decided to raise the number of chhutis to 31