By Nora Chopra
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has arrived. Despite the fact that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul were opposed to her entry in active politics, she has taken charge of the Congress. She may not be campaigning outside Rae Bareilly and Amethi, but her onslaught on the BJP and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is indication that she is ready to take on the reins of the party of her ancestors. On April 30, after the elections in her mother’s and brother’s constituencies get over, Priyanka is scheduled to visit Varanasi for a darshan in the Vishwanath Mandir. She would be accompanied by the Congress candidate Ajai Rai and it would be there that she would, make her appeal to vote for the Congress. In the coming days, she’s expected to make more emotional interventions that would be seen as her attempt to salvage the image of her family and her husband. But the question being asked is whether the Congress is late in using their brahmastra and whether Priyanka’s charisma would work in the communally charged atmosphere in the country.
MODI FACTS, FIGURES AND FUTURES
A competition of sorts has broken out between pollsters, astrologers and numerologists over who predicts the maximum numbers for the BJP to make Narendra Modi the prime minister of India. While the pollsters have predicted that Narendra Modi is sure to become the PM in the wake of wave sweeping the country, some astrologers and numerologists have gone a step further and by making some stunning predictions. KV Gopalakrishnan is one such Chennai-based numerologist who going a step further from the predictions of the pollsters has predicted that once Narendra Modi assumes power he will rule the country for the next twenty years. And nobody will be able to dislodge him. According to Gopalakrishnan, the NDA will get 286 plus seats whereas the UPA will get stuck at only 100 seats. But this numerologist has put a caveat in Modi’s assuming power and the longevity of his tenure. He has said that the longevity of Modi’s tenure as well as his prime ministership would depend on the new prime minister taking oath at an auspicious time and date. The condition is that Modi should take oath on May 25 and at 11.41 a.m. Gopalakrishnan has even predicted that once Modi becomes PM then Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalithaa both would come around and support him.
SHUKLA BROKERS TRUCE BEWTEEN PRIYANKA AND PATEL
The man to watch these days is Rajiv Shukla. After the exit of Amar Singh from the scene, Shukla has replaced him as the new political power broker. He is busy these days brokering deals for the Congress party. The latest being between Priyanka Gandhi and Ahmad Patel. He is close to both. If the talk in the Congress is to be believed, Priyanka Gandhi who has informally taken control of the party is giving special importance to Ahmad Patel. When she is in Delhi, she meets AP almost on a daily basis for marathon meetings. Sources close to her claim that she is acting as bridge between the Rahul team and Patel. The meetings between the Gandhi daughter and Sonia’s political secretary are seen as most important sessions and continue for at least an hour. The most important decisions taken recently are said to have emerged during these sessions including that of the Varanasi candidate. Shukla not only played a role in bringing Priyanka Vadra and Ahmad Patel on the same table, also he has been appointed as the acting in-charge of the Congress-ruled hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
CONGRESS-BEAT JOURNALISTS OUT OF WORK?
Even before the results have come out, the Congress has perhaps accepted defeat. It looks like the Congress headquarters, housed in 24 Akbar Road, would soon be converted into a residence of the ghosts (bhoot bangla). Never before, even when the Congress sat in the opposition for nine years, there was never such deafening silence experienced by anyone. You just have to step into the ruling party office to experience the silence of defeat that has already taken over the ruling party of the day. All rooms are mostly locked. As for the Congress beat journalists, they are suddenly finding themselves out of work. Not a single general secretary or secretary or spokesperson is to be found with whom one can get a story. The beat journalists are extremely upset with Ajay Maken, the chief of the communication department who has been absent from the party office for the last two months. First, the excuse was that he is busy with his election, which got over on April 10 but he is yet conspicuous by his absence. The beat journalists are so upset that they were heard planning to file a lost complaint on Maken. Even Tom Vaddakan secretary media department has gone missing for the last one week.
CHOUHAN WANTS SUSHMA TO HAVE HIGHEST MARGIN
Why has the Vidisha parliamentary elections become so important that the entire cabinet of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, including the chief minister himself, is staying up and working to get Sushma elected? If the buzz in Madhya Pradesh is to be believed, the MP chief minister’s target is not only to get Sushma elected but to increase her margin from three lakh plus margin of 2009 to four lakh plus. Chouhan and his mentor Sushma’s main target is that her margin should be more than any other elected parliamentarian’s, and particularly more than Narendra Modi’s, which is they expect will not be more than two and a half lakhs in Varanasi. If her margin exceeds that of Modi, then she too can be claimant of his chair in a post poll scenario because nobody will then have any problem in joining the NDA. Her opponent, the Congress candidate Laxman Singh is brother of Digvijaya Singh. Diggy while campaigning in Vidisha told the electorate that if they get his brother elected, then he would also be their MP. Pick one, get one free!
LAST HURRAH IN FIRST LOKPAL?
Before leaving the gaddi of Delhi Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh want their man to be appointed Lok Pal. The meeting to appoint the Lok Pal is likely to be held on April 27 and 28. Among the names that are making rounds are of the Chief Justice Of India P Sathasivam who demits office on 27 April and of the Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth. [IPA]