By Nora Chopra
INDIRA GANDHI ADVISED RAJIV AGAINST INDUCTING SCINDIA AS MINISTER
The former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had warned Rajiv Gandhi against giving a ticket to Amitabh Bachchan and inducting Madhav Rao Scindia into the cabinet, says ML Fotedar in his book “Chinar Leaves According to Fotedar.” In the course of a conversation regarding parliamentary elections, Indira Gandhi categorically told her son two things he should never do. ‘Do not ever bring Teji’s son in electoral politics and do not induct Madhav Rao Scindia in your cabinet if you ever become the prime minister.’ However after her death, Rajiv forgot his mother’s advice and he asked Amitabh to contest from Allahabad and inducted Scindia in his cabinet. Fotedar reveals that in 1999 Sonia wanted Manmohan Singh to become the PM. Dr Singh was the first preference of Sonia Gandhi. This irked some of the ambitious leaders and Madhav Rao Scindia who had prime ministerial ambitions, used his friend Amar Singh to make Mulayam Singh Yadav change his mind about supporting the Congress led coalition government.
CONGRESS ON A COME BACK TRAIL IN ELECTIONS IN ALL STATES
While the Congress is on a comeback trail the Narendra Modi magic seems to have evaporated. The chants in the Lok Sabha elections were Namo Namo but those very chants appear to have changed. First it was Delhi assembly elections, and then came Bihar assembly results which were followed by Uttar Pradesh panchayat elections and then came the Jhabua by-election results in Madhya Pradesh where the BJP was wiped out and now the latest is the nagar panchayat results in Vidharba region. In the Vidharba region, the Congress has made a triumphant come back. It won 13 out of 17 seats. Two have gone to Shiv Sena and two to BJP. The Congress victory in Madhya Pradesh and now in the nagar panchayat elections in Vidharba is being seen as the defeat of Prime Minister Modi; that the Modi magic has disappeared and that the voters in the rural area have become disenchanted. Maximum farmer suicides have taken place in that region. With the Congress victory in Vidharba, chants of dissent can be heard in the party against the PCC chief Ashok Chavan. Chavan had not canvassed in these elections. He had held a meeting just a few weeks back in Nagpur but most top leaders of the party in Vidharba had boycotted his meeting. Chavan aware of the demand for his removal has convened a luncheon meeting of all those leaders who had boycotted him earlier. The central leadership has asked him to patch up with these leaders. And last but not the least important news are the results of the Narendra Modi bastion of Gujarat. In Gujarat the results of local elections are mixed. While the BJP has succeeded in the urban areas by retaining power in 6 zila panchayats, the Congress has made a major dent in the rural areas. In district panchayats, the BJP got just 122 and the Congress got 205, independents got 6 while others got just 5. In taluk panchayat the total seats are 4784 where the BJP has bagged 674 and Congress 850, indipendents 52 and others 6. In the urban municipalities, the total number of seats are 2088, BJP got 472, Congress 267, indipendents 68 while others could manage only 7 seats.
VETERAN CONGRESS LEADERS BUSY WRITING MEMOIRS
With Congress out of power and Rahul Gandhi’s writ running in the party, senior and veteran Congress leaders have been relegated to nobodys. With no work on hand most of the Congress leaders these days are busy writing their memoirs. M L Fotedar’s controversial book Chinar Leaves has already left the Congress leadership extremely embarrassed. The latest however to join the bandwagon is Mohsina Kidwai, Rajya Sabha MP. Kidwai’s memoir which is being published by Harper Collins is likely to be non controversial. It is only a simple narration of her experience and her proximity to Indira Gandhi as well as Rajiv Gandhi. Mohsina is one of the most respected Congress leaders in the party. She served as Indira Gandhi’s companion also. Kidwai’s book may not be controversial but her decision to write her memoirs has already started to give jitters to Congress leadership. Ever since Fotedar’s book has hit the market, the Congress leaders have become suspicious about all the memoir writers and are keeping a check on them. . Among the others who are busy narrating their experiences are RK Dhawan and HR Bhardwaj. Recently Mohsina got a call from Ahmad Patel, the political secretary of Sonia Gandhi, and Mohsina assured him that her memoirs will be positive towards the Congress president.
MAMATA DESPERATE TO BRING IN TATAS IN HER INDUSTRY CONCLAVE
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is very keen to organize a high decibel Biswa Banga Sammelan in Kolkata in January. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and industrialist Mukesh Ambani will participate. Mamata is trying her best to rope in Tata Group chief Mistry or Ratan Tata to come to Kolkata on this occasion. But her Singur past is acting as a damper. She even has approached the Bengali ex-diplomat who is a Tata Sons Board member to put in a word to Mistry. Mamata needs Tata sons for image makeover before the assembly elections in May 2016.
CONGRESS MAY TRY FOR AN ALLIANCE AGAINST BJP IN ASSAM ELECTIONS
Buoyed by the Bihar results, Rahul Gandhi is said to be reluctant to go to polls in alliance in the next round of elections due in 2016 and 2017. Bihar results have made him so confident that he wants to go alone but Assam is a different story where the Congress is in a dilemma as the leadership is not sure of returning back to power .So a different strategy can be adopted In Assam. . The thinking in the Congress leadership is that Assam is the most difficult state as there is a strong anti incumbency against the octogenarian chief minister Tarun Gogoi, whereas the BJP has mastered the art of polarising the voters on communal lines. After the Bihar results, efforts are on that the Congress can have an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF. Though the talks had failed early last month but after the Bihar results, efforts have been once again renewed. The JD (U) leaders like KC Tyagi and Sharad Yadav are mediating between the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal and Tyagi is trying for a knot even between the Congress, Ajmal and Prafulla Mahanta. If this works out then the Congress will not have much to worry. (IPA)