Image management
At the concluding session of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national executive meeting, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, urged party leaders to reach out to the deprived sections and minorities, specifically the Pasmandas and backward sections among Muslims, Bohra Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, even if they do not vote for the party. Party leaders even claimed that Modi asked members to visit churches and Sufi dargahs. The deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, who briefed the press, however, firmly denied that the PM had named any specific section. Many in the party are now wondering why Fadnavis lied. Party insiders believe that Fadnavis was asked by the media department of the BJP to say what he said. The whispers in the party corridors are that the media department was told by the top brass that the specifics were not for public consumption, possibly fearing that Modi’s minority pitch could harm the party’s Hindutva image. The BJP’s media department has become very powerful and even senior leaders have to obtain its nod before making any statement.
Warm welcome
The youth welfare and sports development minister of Tamil Nadu, Udhayanidhi Stalin — he is also the son of the Tamil Nadu CM, MK Stalin — got a royal welcome in Bhubaneswar when he was there for India’s hockey match against Wales at the Kalinga Stadium. Considering Odisha’s age-old friendship with Tamil Nadu and the fact that a number of officers of the Odisha IAS cadre hail from Tamil Nadu, all efforts were made to make his stay comfortable. He was taken to the slums to be shown how the lives of the slum dwellers have been transformed owing to the flagship slum upgradation programme, Jaga Mission. Udhayanidhi even drank water from the tap that is being provided to people under the Drink From Tap programme. Junior Stalin was effusive in his praise for Naveen Patnaik and his government’s developmental programmes.
Softened stance
The instructions have come right from the top and BJP leaders in Bihar are falling in line. The line from the top brass is to go easy on criticising the CM, Nitish Kumar, who quit the National Democratic Alliance last year to join hands with the then Opposition and form a new government. BJP insiders claim that the party’s state unit chief, Sanjay Jaiswal, conveyed the command to his colleagues, who have been abstaining from going all out against Nitish. But some of them have also been asked to dish out some light criticism for the sake of being in the Opposition. The reasons behind this development are verbal clashes and growing differences between Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) and Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal. While the latter is in a hurry to push its leader and deputy CM, Tejashwi Yadav, a step higher, Nitish has no immediate plans of quitting. The BJP has sniffed an opportunity amid all this. Yet, when asked about the change, a senior BJP leader revealed that the party was just returning the favour to Nitish, who is going soft on the saffron party these days. Curiouser and curiouser.
Ignorance is bliss
People in Bihar are pointing out that Nitish Kumar might be at the helm of affairs in the state, but is unaware of important happenings. He becomes innocence personified when his views are sought on incidents. He makes a poker face and says that he does not know about it. Be it the lathicharge on youths protesting against a job exam paper leak in Patna or an RJD minister saying something controversial, Nitish either expresses surprise that such a thing happened under his rule or wriggles out by saying that he will enquire about it. The list is endless.
Still going strong
BS Yediyurappa has proved, once again, that he cannot be ignored. With the PM holding a 15-minute one-on-one meeting with him on the sidelines of the national executive, Yediyurappa has underlined why he is important to the party. A sidelined Yediyurappa was not among the invitees when Modi visited Hubli recently to inaugurate the National Youth Festival. But with the BJP facing dissent among its traditional Lingayat vote bank, it appears that the party has no way but to accommodate Yediyurappa, the Lingayat strongman.
Sudden change
Shashi Tharoor has visited dozens of leaders and literary figures in an attempt to carve out a niche for himself in his home state’s political scene. His party colleagues are peeved at this. The state party president, K Sudhakaran, lamented that the former doesn’t even speak to him over the phone or work for the party. But just a couple of days later, Sudhakaran claimed that Tharoor had eventually spoken to him. Tharoor watchers in the state are rather perplexed at the quick change in stand.
Footnote
The Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, cannot resist using couplets to make his point and often writes down his own verses during meetings. When asked about recent charges against EVMs laid by the Bahujan Samaj Party chief, Mayawati, Kumar said, “If an EVM could speak, she would say: Jisne tere sar par tohmat rakhi hai, maine uske bhi ghar ki laaj rakhi hai.” Kumar isn’t the first in the EC to use couplets, but is certainly one of the most lyrically gifted officers in the Nirvachan Sadan.