Staunch defence
The “Cuttack is burning” remark made by the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has not gone down well with the Mohan Charan Majhi government in Odisha. After communal violence erupted in Cuttack during a Durga Puja immersion procession, Banerjee targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party dispensation and said it would ruin the country one day. Miffed with Banerjee’s criticism, the Odisha BJP leaders, led by the state party chief, Manmohan Samal, and ministers, attacked the Bengal CM, saying that the Odisha government is taking steps to maintain law and order and that people have faith in the government. The leaders added that instead of intervening in Odisha’s affairs, Banerjee should focus on her own state and that Odisha does not require any advice from her. Banerjee had enjoyed a good relationship with Odisha under Naveen Patnaik’s regime. However, after the BJP came to power, her equation with the Odisha government has become adversarial. There is another important point to note here. Odisha BJP leaders seem to be aware that the more they attack Banerjee, the more they will be noticed by the party’s central leadership.
Caste counts
In poll-bound Bihar, the smaller partners in both the National Democratic Alliance and the Mahagathbandhan are driving a hard bargain to secure their share of seats. Determined to safeguard their political identities, the allies are demanding a respectable number of constituencies to contest. Dominant parties often overshadow the smaller ones. Hence, the allies are pushing back firmly. In the ruling NDA, parties such as the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Hindustani Awam Morcha, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha are putting pressure on BJP-Janata Dal (United) strategists, while in the Opposition camp, the Mukesh Sahani-led Vikassheel Insaan Party is adopting a similar stance.
The assertiveness of these smaller, primarily caste-based outfits highlights the growing confidence of the marginalised sections who are seeking a greater share of power. Sahani, who draws support from the fishermen communities, is eyeing a substantial number of seats and even the deputy CM’s post. Sources say he has also been in touch with the BJP and could consider switching sides if it serves his ambitions.
For major parties like the BJP, JD(U) and RJD, keeping these smaller allies on board is crucial. In Bihar’s finely balanced contest, every caste vote counts.
Double standards
The India chapter of the hardline Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanctions movement against Israel’s occupation of Palestine called out the Congress for its “duplicity”. In a post on Instagram, BDS India cited the two instances of the Congress leader, Sonia Gandhi, criticising the Narendra Modi government’s stance on the Gaza war in her newspaper column, while her party parliamentarian, Shashi Tharoor, described Israel as a “proven friend of India” on X to prove a point. Pro-Palestine activists had condemned the Israel-India Business Summit held in Bengaluru last year which saw Karnataka’s Congress government participate. Protests against the war have faced a backlash from the BJP. However, activists place the Congress on the same scale.
Crime and reward
Two days after the poll authorities booked a Congress leader in Hyderabad for distributing fake electronic voter ID cards, the party gave him a ticket for a bypoll. V. Naveen Yadav — a former All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader who joined the Congress in 2023 — has been booked for bribery and undue influence, which his supporters see as an overreach.
It is common for parties to print out voter slips that indicate one’s place on the electoral list. However, printing out e-voter ID cards on a large scale for distribution is unheard of. The Election Commission officials expectedly publicised their action, a new normal for the poll panel that has been focusing on targeting Congress leaders since the chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, took office in February.
Grave
rumblings
One does not know how the recent resignation of Rajen Gohain, a four-time former BJP MP who fell out of favour in that party, and the former BJP legislator, Kartik Sinha, joining the Congress, will impact the ruling party in the assembly polls in Assam early next year. The incidents, once again, brought to the fore the disgruntlement among old party hands under the current dispensation. Before Gohain and Sinha, another former member of the legislative assembly from Assam, Ashok Sarma, had resigned. The trio had cited a common grievance: old party hands are not being given importance. Gohain even went on to claim that imported leaders (from the Congress and Asom Gana Parishad) were increasingly calling the shots in the state BJP today. Observers say that their departure may motivate other unhappy leaders to speak up.
