Stroke of luck
The Bharatiya Janata Party president, JP Nadda, is being seen in party circles as one of the luckiest leaders of the current regime. In defiance of the BJP’s convention of one-man-one-post, he continues to hold three key positions. Apart from being the party president, he is also the Union minister for health as well as chemicals and fertilisers in the Narendra Modi government. Further, he is the leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha. This unusual accumulation of power has sparked envy among many in the party. The most crucial of his posts is that of the BJP president — a position he has been continuing in on an extension since January 2023. The ongoing tussle between the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, over the choice of the next party chief has worked in Nadda’s favour. If a new president is not elected by January next year, he will have the unique distinction of serving an extra three-year term without a formal election. Interestingly, the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, recently claimed that the sangh does not meddle in the BJP’s internal affairs, adding that the party can take its time to appoint a new president. This remark appears to have given the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo a licence to delay the election. Within the party, however, many believe that the duo’s real strategy is to wear down the sangh leadership until it relents and accepts a rubber-stamp for Modi-Shah as the party president.
Double standards
One of the touching moments of the shradhanjali organised by the Assam government for the late singer, Zubeen Garg, in Guwahati involved his pet dogs being brought near the corpse to get a glimpse of him one last time. The Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, posted the video on X, stating, “dogs are a man’s best friend and if dogs love you, you are a great man...”
Going by Sarma’s logic, Rahul Gandhi should also be a good man by virtue of being a dog lover. However, Sarma has often criticised Rahul Gandhi for displaying his affection for dogs, giving them “preference” over party leaders and has even said that he resigned from the Congress after allegedly being offered biscuits on a plate from which Rahul Gandhi’s pet dog, Pidi, was eating. His post has exposed his double standards.
Timely initiative
The Congress leader, Sonia Gandhi, and the member of Parliament, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, made a surprise appearance at the Walk Against Drugs, a community walk organised by Ramesh Chennithala, in Wayanad. The state-wide walk has garnered public support since Kerala has been witnessing a spurt in drug abuse cases. Chennithala’s walk is timely as the Kerala Congress is agog over who will lead the party in the assembly election due next summer. After leading the state Congress for more than a decade and later becoming the leader of the Opposition, Chennithala lost the opportunity to head the Opposition for the second time to VD Satheesan after the last elections.
Renewed vigour
The Union minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has been appointed as the BJP’s election in-charge for Bihar. The party hopes that Pradhan will lead the BJP-Janata Dal (United) alliance, which has been under attack from the Opposition over vote theft, to a victory in the coming elections. Pradhan managed the Haryana election in 2024, surprising many by securing an unexpected victory from the brink of defeat as the party grappled with anti-incumbency. The new assignment also gives Pradhan a chance to consolidate his position in the Odisha BJP. The BJP had achieved success in Odisha in the 2024 general election due to his efforts. But Mohan Charan Majhi was made the CM and steps were taken to sideline Pradhan.
Haunted by the past
The Luv Kush Ramlila Committee was compelled to drop the actress, Poonam Pandey, from its drama after outrage from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP. The Luv Kush Ramlila is one of the grandest Dussehra presentations in the capital. Pandey has been a source of controversy in the past for her nude photographs. She was set to play the role of Mandodari.
Undue credit
The BJP has found a way to celebrate an electoral defeat in Assam by claiming that the Bodoland People’s Front’s win in the Bodoland Territorial Council polls is the victory of the National Democratic Alliance, of which both the United People’s Party Liberal and the BPF are part. What has happened in BTC has happened within the NDA, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who led the BJP’s campaign, said. While the BJP, UPPL and BPF are in the NDA, they contested the polls separately.