The game is afoot
Eknath Shinde, who split the erstwhile Shiv Sena and went on to become the chief minister of Maharashtra, has not been able to come to terms with the loss of the top post. Sena leaders claim that ahead of the assembly elections last year, the Union home minister, Amit Shah, had privately promised to make Shinde CM again, even if the Bharatiya Janata Party won more seats. However, the BJP won a record number of seats and firmly staked claim for the top post. Shinde sulked for sometime but ultimately fell in line. However, he keeps alleging that he is being targeted by Devendra Fadnavis, now the CM. Some key decisions taken during his tenure have been overturned and probes ordered into others, hinting at corruption. Shinde held a personal meeting with Shah in Mumbai to lodge his grievances. The buzz in Maharashtra has it that Shah was not in favour of making Fadnavis CM, but was compelled to do so owing to pressure from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Shinde’s petulance, sections in the BJP believe, was due to Shah’s backing. Shinde also met the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader, Raj Thackeray, who is aggressively protesting the decision of the Fadnavis government to make Hindi compulsory in primary education. The buzz is that Shinde and Raj Thackeray could tie up to counter the BJP’s growing dominance in Mumbai.
A man of his words
Nitin Gadkari
The Union minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, says he is a man of his word. During his visit to Odisha, he addressed a public meeting in Bhubaneswar in the presence of BJP members of Parliament and the legislative assembly as well as the CM, Mohan Charan Majhi. Gadkari unveiled massive projects worth Rs 4,137 crore and outlined how he plans to improve road infrastructure across the nation. He claimed that Pune’s and Odisha’s road infrastructure would be improved to American standards. Around three lakh crore rupees would be invested. He reminded everyone present that “I am not like those leaders. I know how to get things done. The media can record all my speech and see the promises that I had made are being executed or not.”
Gadkari hails from Nagpur, the headquarters of the RSS, and is one of the most powerful ministers in the Central government who can even challenge Modi’s influence. All BJP leaders, including MPs and ministers, try to be close to him. Also present at the meeting, albeit virtually, was the Union minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, who gave his speech through videoconferencing.
Mixed messaging
After the Indian railways launched a pilot ATM on a train in Maharashtra, the Trinamool Congress MP, Mahua Moitra, wrote on X: “How does very same govt that thrust demonetisation down the country’s throat today spend tax payer money to install ATMs on trains? #strangerthanfiction.” X users pointed out that the demonetisation in 2016 merely replaced old notes with new ones, and did not discontinue physical currency. However, since then, the government has pushed for digital transactions on its UPI platform that has eventually led to banks closing ATMs as more transactions moved online.
Spot the difference
The Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, made a long post trying to establish Garu Bihu as a day “dedicated to the worship of the cow (Gomata)”, and “a continuation of Sanatan Hindu tradition”. This has drawn sharp criticism as an attempt by the RSS-BJP ecosystem to “rebrand” Bohag/Rongali Bihu, essentially an agrarian-harvest festival, to suit the Hindutva narrative. On the same day as Sarma’s X post, an article was also published in Swarajya, a right-wing publication, under the headline, “Bihu And Erasure Of Sacred Memory: Reclaiming The Festival’s Dharmic Roots”. An X user pointed out, “When both the Chief Minister’s posts and articles in ideological platforms like Swarajya start echoing the same narrative about Bihu, it’s not coincidence — it’s coordination. This is not about celebrating Bihu; this is about rebranding it.” The reactions showed that the BJP winning elections and its attempt to appropriate local icons and festivals are different ball games in Assam and the Northeast.
Show respect
The first day of the Assamese New Year started on an angry note for the ruling BJP with the state unit chief and Lok Sabha MP, Dilip Saikia, venting his ire over the “disrespect” shown to him during the inauguration of a party office. The video of the usually composed Saikia blowing his top went viral. The crowd mismanagement at the function saw Saikia being stopped from entering the venue within the office because of overcrowding. He was seen gesturing angrily at a party leader to remove the mandal president for not ensuring discipline. A BJP insider said, “He felt disrespected. The incident should serve as a lesson to all of us.”