The Gandhinagar seat simply cannot help but be in news. Today, BJP political bigwigs spent the day paying visits to veteran leader L. K. Advani. The reason? To pacify him to contest from Gandhinagar instead of Bhopal.
First question. Why couldn’t BJP have given Bhopal to Advani? Because they felt if Advani leaves Gujarat, people will not take it in a positive light.
The next question. After having won five times from Gandhinagar, why is Advani so adamant on Bhopal? One of the reasons can be that he feels the people of Gujarat may not favour him as he had opposed Modi’s candidature as a Prime Minister. He has his fears that he may lose, which at this point in his career will be a huge blow. Second, his proximity to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan who he had pitched as an alternative to Modi.
Hmmmm…genuine concerns. For a lay man, a leader is one who will bring progress to his constituency. For a politician, it is about which constituency will give him victory. It is not much of a comfort to Advani even if Modi rubbishes his fears saying that he and his supporters will ensure that the veteran leader wins from Gandhinagar. How can Modi ensure? Isn’t Advani supposed to win on his own? Politics is certainly beyond the know-how of a layman.
Anyway, after an intervention by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the octogenarian seems to have finally agreed to contest from Gandhinagar.
The grapevine has it that it is not just Advani who is upset with the party. Even veteran leader Jaswant Singh is unhappy with the seat allocation and has made a request to fight from Barmer – a constituency in Rajasthan that he has never represented before.
It is interesting to note that the old timers are still young at heart when it comes to experimenting with new constituencies.
Oh! Oh! What is it that we hear? Now Advani wants his close aide Harin Pathak to contest from Ahmedabad East. Is this going to be another storm-in-the-making?
In an attempt to secure victory in Tamil Nadu, the BJP has got into an alliance with DMDK, MDMK, PMK, KMDK and IJK. Actor-politician Vijayakant’s DMDK will fight for 14 seats, while the BJP and the PMK will fight for 8 seats. Vaiko’s MDMK will contest 7 seats while the KDMK and IJK will fight one constituency each. With the presence of so many ‘K’s in the alliance parties, Ekta Kapoor’s superstition seems to be rubbing on, and this alliance may prove beneficial for the BJP after all. The BJP had not won a single seat in Tamil Nadu in the last election. Yes, this alliance is indeed historic and definitely holds great importance in a state that has been dominated all these years mainly by two parties – DMK and AIADMK.
In Bihar, it would have rained liquor if the Election Commission had not seized 25.02 lakh litres of illicit liquor. Along with the liquor 615 persons have also been taken into custody.
In a war of words, BJP today said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is losing the support of Muslims in the state. This statement comes in the wake of the CM denying ticket to MP Monazir Hasan from Begusarai.
In another development, BJP leader Ashwani Choubey is all set to contest from Buxar in Bihar. He had initially shown resentment over Shahnawaz Hussain being given a ticket from his birth place, Bhagalpur. But the way politics operates, the politicians carry an astounding ability to smile, make up the differences, and hug the enemies. (Thank God, they don’t kiss and make up.) Choubey apparently has said that he has forgotten the past and is all geared up to convert Buxar into an opportunity.
While Infosys co-founder and Congress candidate from Bangalore South Nandan Nilekani and his wife were declaring their assets which ran to INR 7,700 crores, BJP workers in Bihar were fighting for and against Shatrughan Sinha. The opponents and supporters clashed in front of the state BJP office. Apparently people are unhappy with his candidature because he hardly visits his constituency – Patna. Looks like he is a ‘hardly-working’ MP.
Meanwhile, CPM has expressed their desire to form a non-Congress, non-BJP government along with regional parties. Whether they form the government or not remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure – this statement qualifies them to join forces with Aam Admi Party.
Actress and BJP member Kirron Kher now-a-days is busy winning over unhappy leaders. Her candidature had raked some negative sentiments among party workers like former MP Harmohan Dhawan, two-time former MP Satya Pal Jain and party district unit president Sanjay Tandon. While Tandon and Jain have finally accepted her candidature, Dhawan is still sulking. Even a personal visit by Kirron Kher and her dimpled smile did not help lighten the situation. Guess Kirron should now hum the song, “Chhodiye gussa hujur aisee bhee kya narajgee…” The unhappiness is mainly because she is looked at as an outsider.
While Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Navin Patnaik re-nominates the candidates in Orissa, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to go alone in Uttar Pradesh. Releasing its list of candidates, BSP chief Mayawati said that her party is contesting elections with full preparations to emerge as the balance of power at the Centre. The last thing we need is any kind of balancing from Mayawati, even if it means balance of power.
At the same time, Samajwadi Party (SP) has accused Mayawati of being hand-in-glove with BJP and said that she continued to be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh three times only because of the support of the BJP.
Today, it was Himachal Pradesh that had the good fortune of a visit from Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. There, Rahul lashed out at the BJP over claims of development and said that Sardar Patel had described RSS as poisonous and it is an irony that Modi, who has lived with RSS ideology is now installing Sardar Patel’s statue. Wait for RSS’s reaction tomorrow. Another complaint with Election Commission for sure!
Rahul went on to add that while Congress wanted power in each individual’s hands, the opposition felt that the country could be run only by the powerful and rich people. He also termed the Lok Sabha elections as a ‘battle of thoughts.’
We may not be able to confirm if it is indeed a battle of thoughts, but we are slightly worried about the way Rahul’s thoughts are progressing – from anger to musing to philosophy. The other day he had remarked about the natural beauty of Arunachal Pradesh and had expressed his desire to spend retired years there.
Well, as the election nears, it is but obvious that there are going to be an array of thoughts from one and all…stay tuned with us as we capture and try to make sense of them.
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