Warm ties
A meeting between the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, and the Union minister of road transport, Nitin Gadkari, garnered a lot of attention within the Bharatiya Janata Party. Although it was an official engagement — a review meeting on national highway projects in UP — the optics of the meeting were loaded with meaning. The body language of the two leaders appeared to signal a bond that could cause discomfort for some within the BJP. Both Adityanath and Gadkari are seen as roadblocks for the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo. On many occasions, Gadkari has even made oblique jibes against the duo. Recently, he wrote a letter to the Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, requesting the withdrawal of the 18% goods and services tax on life and health insurance premiums — a move that was exploited by the Opposition as well as BJP allies from Andhra Pradesh. Adityanath, on the other hand, has been made the fall guy for the BJP’s drubbing in UP. Yet, both the leaders enjoy strong backing from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Rumour has it that the bonhomie between the two could be aimed at killing two birds with one stone, nay bond.
Fruit for thought
The Rashtriya Janata Dal president, Lalu Prasad, is bored of being confined indoors owing to his ill health. He has thus started going out for uncharted evening rides in Patna, taking in the ambience of the city where he has spent a large part of his life. He just crisscrosses the state capital or visits the Ganga or makes a stop at some street-food vendor to savour spicy delicacies. On Independence Day, he went to a fruit market in a prime locality and bought loads of different fruits. “I thought that the shopkeepers should do some business, so I bought fruits from them. I have given them shops here. There are attempts to evict them, but I will not allow such things to happen,” Prasad told mediapersons who had rushed to the place after getting wind of his visit. Prasad and politics are inseparable — he could well be gearing up for next year’s assembly polls.
Wealth is health
The Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, revealed his secret to staying healthy on Independence Day. On his visit to a Mahadalit locality on the outskirts of Patna on August 15, the oldest person from the community, Ramashish Ram, hoisted the national flag. Kumar asked him his age and when Ram said that he was 69, the CM exclaimed, “You are just 69? I thought you would be more. Look at me. I am 74 and yet I don’t look like it. You wouldn’t have been able to guess my age had I not told you. You should live strong. Play, jump, roam around, and visit places to stay healthy.”
While people who caught this exchange smiled, they also wondered about the rumours about the CM’s declining faculties. A leader close to the CM asserted in private that the latter had missed a point while comparing himself with Ram. Kumar hails from a well-to-do family and has led a comparatively comfortable life in comparison to the man he gave unsolicited suggestions to. The standard of living in the early years shows in the later years, the leader added. “But we are relieved that the chief minister is fit,” he rushed to add.
Tricky territory
The Karnataka deputy CM, DK Shivakumar, is known to have many tricks up his sleeve to help the Congress. People are thus used to his sudden stunts. But it was hard not to be surprised, even for his party, when he declared himself as the candidate for the Channapatna assembly seat for which by-elections are due. Even though he is the state Congress president, none shoots the gun that is meant to be fired solely by the party high command. Shivakumar currently represents the neighbouring Kanakapura constituency; his declaration comes at a time when everyone in the party thought he would pitch for his younger brother, DK Suresh, who lost from the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat recently. Only time will tell if his trick tricks the voters.
A test of will
The Opposition in Assam has latched on to a remark by the CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, about his wife making a will that leaves all her property for the people of the state. Sarma was perhaps trying to counter the attack on him for the rise in his wife’s wealth. But it has become a will of contention now. No sooner had Sarma spoken about the will that the Raijor Dal started attacking Sarma, demanding that the will be made public instantly to reveal whether everything will be willed to the people. The Congress went a step further with the Assam PCC chief, Bhupen Kumar Borah, declaring that a special investigation team will be formed within 100 days once the Congress comes to power to probe the wealth of the CM and his ministerial colleagues, claiming that it was earned through corruption. It also promised to distribute the same among the public. All eyes are now on Sarma to see how he wiggles out of this issue.
