The larger picture changes many times when it comes to the internal machinations of a political party. The main story of the recently-concluded assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana was the failure of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the Union home minister — also the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party — Amit Shah, to turn the polls into a referendum on Article 370. Whispers in the BJP’s corridors, however, had a different take on the matter. Some party leaders were heard pointing out that this was the first round of polls after the appointment of JP Nadda as the working president of the BJP. Nadda is slated to take over the reins of the BJP from Shah as full-time party president sometime early next year.

The whispers in the BJP circles clearly appeared to be holding Nadda responsible for the party’s performance in the polls, which were below expectations. Party leaders were heard saying that Nadda may not be a good omen for the party. Unlike Modi and Shah, Nadda prefers to maintain a low profile. He was the Union health and family welfare minister in the first Modi cabinet. His closeness to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is believed to have earned him the party’s responsibility. Two more state polls are coming up in the near future — the Jharkhand assembly elections at the end of this year and then the Delhi polls in early 2020. If the BJP’s performance continues to slide, then Nadda could well be labelled inauspicious for the party.

B.S. Yediyurappa (Telegraph picture)

Star crossed

Ever since he took office by triggering a rebellion in the previous coalition government in Karnataka, the chief minister of the state, BS Yediyurappa, has been struggling to manage the repeated flooding on account of heavy rains, even in a rain-deficit region like northern Karnataka. But he has no one to blame other than the stars. Yediyurappa, who is an ardent believer in astrology and all its variants, has said that the stars were not conducive to good weather in the state as the second round of flooding since July kept him occupied to a great extent.

Now, Yediyurappa’s other headache will involve convincing the Centre to send flood relief — after all, Delhi dished out a relief package of a measly Rs 1,200 crore, when the estimated damage was to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore after the first flood.

No niceties

The minister for housing and urban affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, who is a former diplomat, set aside diplomatic niceties when he was asked about a project in the city of Ahmedabad at the time when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. During a press meet to announce the selection of a consultant for re-developing the Central Secretariat area, an architecture scribe asked whether the designs pitched to the government will be made public.

The soft-spoken lady asked, “HCP [the selected firm] has done projects like Sabarmati and IIM Ahmedabad... Sabarmati, which was once upon a time a river has now become a nullah because it has stopped flowing.

It has stopped giving access even to the Gandhi Ashram. Earlier you could go down to the river and that has stopped... all that we have seen is a lot of concrete”. In response, Puri retorted, “I find it distasteful to carry out a serious technical discussion based on one’s political likes and dislikes... As a student of history I was taught choice of words, which one employs, shows one’s leanings”.

Tough time

Laxman Savadi, one of Karnataka’s three deputy chief ministers, is having a tough time convincing his party about his organizational skills. Better known as one of the ministers in the earlier BJP government caught watching porn in the assembly, Savadi tried to prove his worth by pitching for his party in Maharashtra’s border districts to woo Lingayat voters. The BJP won just two of the 18 assembly seats in Sangli and Kolhapur, where Savadi campaigned. His rivals, who could not digest his rise to deputy CM without being a member of any House, have their knives out.

Rahul Gandhi has not gone overboard with the showing in Haryana (PTI)

Footnote

The election result in Haryana has apparently brought the aam Congressman back to life. Even the most ardent supporter of the Grand Old Party would not have imagined such a performance given the drubbing it received at the hands of Narendra Modi and the BJP in the general elections. Surprisingly, Rahul Gandhi has not gone overboard with the showing in Haryana. Is that because the veteran, Bhupinder Singh Hooda — Rahul wanted Ashok Tanwar to replace him as the state chief — put up a commendable performance?