Known face
The political strategist-turned-politician, Prashant Kishor, has said that he is ready to give it in writing that Nitish Kumar will not become the chief minister of Bihar again. This opinion has been the dominant narrative in the poll-bound state. The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership, however, has been claiming that Kumar would be the face of the National Democratic Alliance in the October-November polls. Another NDA ally, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief, Chirag Paswan, has gone a step further. The Union minister who is widely seen to be going all out to project himself as the gen-next face of Bihar has said that Kumar would be CM again if the NDA returns to power. All these assertions, however, are for the records. Privately, most NDA leaders, including some from Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), second Kishor’s claim. Age-related problems of mental acuity have gripped Kumar and he may not be fit to discharge his duties as CM, they feel. Sections in the JD(U) have been trying to push Kumar to get his son, Nishant Kumar, to enter the electoral arena and emerge as his political heir. Kumar has been a firm opponent of nepotism in politics and thus many in the JD(U) feel the move could boomerang. “Moreover, the son doesn’t have any political or administrative experience. How can he be made the CM in one stroke?” one JD(U) leader queried. Nishant himself is learnt to be confused about contesting the polls. Occasionally, the 49-year-old engineering graduate comes to give media bytes on political issues and then withdraws into a shell. The BJP is quietly eyeing to take advantage of the post-Kumar leadership crisis in the JD(U). “Nitishji will be the face of the NDA but that doesn’t guarantee that he will become CM again,” one BJP leader confided.
Foreign hand
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during an election campaign rally in support of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from Sidli constituency Nirmal Kumar Brahma (UPPL)
The Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been very vocal against illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, has said those thinking of replacing Assamese with Bengali as their mother tongue in the upcoming census will help reveal the number of foreigners living in the state where influx and language remain sensitive issues. Sarma was reacting to a statement by a minority student leader who claimed that Bengali-speaking Muslims would write Bengali as their mother tongue in the census documents, reducing those speaking the state language, Assamese, into a minority. The comment was made in protest against the ongoing eviction drives being carried out by the state administration, mostly impacting the Muslim population. Sarma seized the comment to up his ante against ‘illegal Bangladeshis’, asserting that language cannot be used as a tool for blackmail. “Assamese is permanent in Assam — both as the state and official language. However, if they write Bengali in the census, it will only quantify the number of foreigners in the state,” Sarma told the media. The minority leader has since been suspended.
Power play
Kerala’s Congress leadership got a rude jolt when its counterpart in New Delhi decided against taking action on Shashi Tharoor for his frequent criticism of the party leadership. Kerala Congress leaders were keen to see Tharoor get a drubbing at the hands of the high command for eulogising the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his policies in his articles and occasionally on social media. Tharoor, who has conveyed to all and sundry that he has set his eyes on the CM post, conveyed to his colleagues in Kerala that he is a force to be reckoned with, giving them anxious moments. Now all eyes are on Tharoor to see whether he will speak against the Kerala leadership when he is scheduled to land in Kochi next week.
Take time
The chief electoral officers of Delhi and Chandigarh have uploaded the electoral rolls of the previous special intensive revision in their jurisdiction. Uttarakhand has also started uploading these rolls. All three CEOs have to conduct polls four years later, indicating that the poll panel may focus on places that give it more time to conduct such an exercise. The Election Commission of India has been questioned in the Supreme Court over its urgency to revise electoral rolls in Bihar just before polls, leaving little time for aggrieved voters to appeal. The district electoral officer of Kargil has already held a training session for booth level officers to carry out an SIR. The EC is expected to reveal SIR dates for the rest of India after evaluating the show in Bihar and hearing from the apex court.
