By Nora Chopra
EXODUS STARTS IN CONGRESS ON ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS-EVE
With elections in sight in four states of Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress should be ready for a major setback as an exodus is all set to happen. With the Congress in a disarray in all the states, the disillusioned leaders have started looking for safer pastures. In Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda baiter Choudhury Birender Singh is likely to join the BJP after his meeting with the BJP president Amit Shah. He is expected to make his announcement of joining the BJP by Friday. Singh is not the only one to quit the party, captain Ajay Yadav a minister in the Hooda Cabinet till Tuesday is also quitting and he too is likely to join the BJP. Yadav is also in touch with the INLD leaders. Besides Yadav the Faridabad MP Avatar Singh Bhadana is also in touch with the state leaders of the BJP. Karamvir Singh Saini, the Congress spokesperson in Haryana has already moved over to BJP a few months back. If Birender Singh joins the BJP, it is will prove to be boon for the party which does not have a credible Jat face to counter Hooda and Chautala.
BJP MINISTERS SCARED OF PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI
The ghost of Narendra Modi looms large over the entire BJP. They are so terrorised that they do not do anything that he does not like even in his absence. Recently when the Rashtrapati Pranab Mukherjee hosted an Iftaar Party it was not only Modi who boycotted his Iftaar but his entire cabinet boycotted it. Except for Rajnath Singh who made a token appearance for a few minutes none of his ministers dropped in. Najma Heptullah, a former Congress leader was there but in her personal capacity because of her relations with the President Pranab Mukherjee. Ram Vilas Paswan was there but then he is an ally. So scared are his ministers that even Ram Vilas Paswan who is just an ally minister in his cabinet and whose Iftaar parties are famous in the capital did not host his Iftaar in Delhi. He went to Patna to host his Iftaar. The MP Chief Minister Shivraj Chauhan who sees himself as Modi’s competitor did dare to host an Iftaar in Bhopal but dared not to wear the skull cap. He had dawned the cap at his Iftaar last year.
RSS HAS NOW DIRECT CONTROL OVER BJP
Gone are the days when the national presidents of the BJP used to play second fiddle to the party. The Bharatiya Janata Party is no more the old BJP. It has changed beyond recognition. These days nobody seems to talk about LK Advani or Vajpayee. The man whose presence is palpable even in his physical absence is the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his dummy Amit Shah. Shah is not seen as a separate entity. Shah is Modi and whatever he says or does is taken as the word of Modi. Shah has become a centre of attraction for all the BJP chief ministers, state BJP heads, union ministers and important functionaries of the saffron organizations. There is a major rush for an audience with Shah with each one vying to shake hands with him. Shah is not the only person in great demand. The other person is Ram Madhav the man who was recently deputed by the RSS to join the BJP. Virtually every person who visits 11 Ashoka Road wants to call on this ex spokesperson of the RSS. This shows the RSS will no more rule through remote control but would now on have direct control over the BJP.
UTTAR PRADESH BUREAUCRATS ARE ON TENTERHOOKS
The bureaucrats in Uttar Pradesh which has the biggest quota of bureaucrats for central deputation are the most aggrieved lot. In a bid to score a political point, the Samajwadi Party government is giving a hard time to more than half a dozen IAS officers empanelled for central deputation. These officers have been waiting for the no objection certificate for the past two years. This long list includes the former UP Chief Secretary Javed Usmani who was removed after the SP lost miserably in the Lok Sabha elections. The long list includes senior officers like Durga Shankar Mishra, J N Chamber, Net Ram and Fateh Bahadur once famous for power because of his proximity to Mayawati the then Chief Minister. They are still in queue for the NOC though JN Chamber has somehow managed to get the NOC after much effort. The same fate was in store for other officers too like Vijay Shankar Pandey Shashi Prakash Goyal Sanjay Agarwal, Anant Kumar Singh and Jivesh Nandan .Same is the case of IPS officers. More than a dozen IPS officers too are awaiting a nod from the UP Government despite qualifying for a stint at the centre.
SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF CONGRESS LEADERS RISE IN KARNATAKA
There is nothing wrong when Narendra Modi attacks the Congress on the issue of dynasty. Rahul Gandhi is not the only scion of the first family of the Congress, there are dozens of sons and daughters who have occupied the topmost jobs in the power circuit resulting in the disillusionment or resentment among the common workers. If you have to do politics in the Congress Party you have to be either the son or daughter of some Congress leader or you should have a god father who can promote you. Despite Rahul Gandhi’s utterances of establishing the rule of democracy and promoting grass root people, the recent appointments done are mostly of the sons of Congress leaders. Take for instance the Karnataka assembly. The strength of the house is 224 and the Congress strength is 122 out of which about two dozen MLAs are sons of former Congress leaders. Congress had fought all 224 seats out of which one third were children of ex Congress leaders. It is the same in youth Congress in Karnataka. (IPA)