FOR PERFECT ‘UNDERSTANDING’ AMONG OPPOSITION PARTIES
Whether the united opposition bid to have its own candidate for the forthcoming presidential election will succeed, or more importantly whether their candidate, if at all there is one, will achieve anything other than ensuring that the election does not go uncontested, depends not on the opposition parties, but the NDA, more specifically the BJP. But one thing is for sure: the opposition parties are going out of their way, virtually so, to ensure that there is perfect understanding among them, if not on fielding a common candidate, but at least in terms of what each party wants to tell every other party. In a break from the past, the representatives of every party that attended Wednesday opposition meeting spoke in English for the benefit of the representatives of DMK, which is sworn to oppose the imposition of Hindi on Tamilians, although most of them can pick up a language faster than many others because they are such compulsive communicators!
Those who specially cared about the language etiquette surprisingly included RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is of late discovering the power of silence, especially at a time when another day does not pass without Sushil Kumar Modi, the BJP leader in his state, revealing one more alleged benami transaction gratifying the Lalu clan, Lalu himself directly or his kin, mainly sons and daughters. Lalu kept the sobriety of the situation and spoke in English, although his speech was only a part-sentence long: “No ideological compromise”, declared the RJD supremo, who is now keeping an uncharacteristic silence to Modi’s allegations, which must be giving senior ruling coalition partner Nitish Kumar the delight of his life in Patna.
The joint opposition parties are understood to be zeroing on Vice President Hamid Ansari as a consensus candidate for the presidential poll, but their biggest worry would be whether Ansari would like to oblige them by agreeing to be their nominee. According to all available indications, no candidates whose names are in consideration want to contest the election. But the most acceptable name for all continues to be that of the incumbent Vice President.
Meanwhile, a deft move by the BJP caused further confusion in the opposition camp as the party leadership announced a scheduled meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and others to discuss the possibility of finding a consensus candidate. Although the NDA seems to have already organized the numbers to ensure the victory of its nominee, the apparent move for a consensus candidate, even if that is the real intention, is sure to further confound the confusion prevailing in the opposition camp. BJP also announced meetings with CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechuri, who seems be convinced that the ruling party is laying a trap for the opposition by launching these consultations, although he is not sure about the kind of trap.
AHLUWALIA ON BJP’S V-C PROBABILITY LIST
According to Sources, Lok Sabha MP Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia’s name has been figuring in the BJP list for vice president nominees. The party think-tank is said to be keen on his candidature as it thinks it will help consolidate the Punjabi and Sikh votes in its favour, which could help it capture power in the Delhi assembly elections. The BJP wants the assembly elections to be held in December this year or in January 2018.The strategy fits in with the party’s ambitions for the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
HEPTULLA’S APPOINTMENT SETTLES NOMINATION SPECULATION
The appointment of Manipur Governor and former Minority Affairs minister Najma Heptulla as the Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia settles the issue on her candidature for the vice presidential poll. At one point of time, she seemed to have been one of the BJP favourites, but later on party circles had indicated little possibilities for that happening. Now that she has been appointed to the new position, the issue remains closed as far as Najma is concerned. 77-year-old Najma succeeds Lt Gen (Retd) MA Zaki, who just completed his five-year term this month. Najma, who has been a five-time member of the Rajya Sabha and its deputy chairman for 16 years, served as the Minister of Minority Affairs in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet before being appointed as the governor of Manipur.
CONG MINORITY DEPARTMENT TO HAVE WIDER REPRESENTATION
The Congress party wants to reconstitute the minority department so every section gets a fair representation in it. Accordingly, there will be one Chairman and four vice chairmen in the minority department. Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Christian and Buddhist sections are expected to get proper representation in the panel. Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have asked the state leaders to give him five names from the each state to be considered for appointment as chairman and vice chairmen. Those lobbying to head the setup apparently include Rashid Alvi, Meem Afzal, Zafar Ali Naqvi, Imran Kidwai and Dr.Shakeel-uz-Zaman Ansari. (IPA)