By Nora Chopra
The erstwhile commerce minister in the UPA government Anand Sharma is the man to watch. Sharma who is known to be a man without roots is tipped to become the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha if the present leader Ghulam Nabi Azad does not get re elected from any state by February next year. Congress leadership wanted to give Azad the Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand but the chief minister Harish Rawat refused. Now the party depends on the Jammu Kashmir elections where the party’s hope to get the required numbers is said to be remote. In such a scenario, Anand Sharma who is the party’s deputy leader is likely to succeed Azad. Sharma who cannot even get elected from his home state Himachal Pradesh and is now in Rajya Sabha as member from Rajasthan, has emerged as the Congress president’s close confidante. Sonia Gandhi relies on him completely. Anand was the sole organizer of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Jawaharlal Nehru. The event was conceptualised by Sharma and that brought the party back in the mainstream again giving jitters to the BJP leaving his other Congress colleagues envious. Sharma has been giving bytes attacking the BJP. Sharma in his latest press conference after the celebrations told the BJP that the Congress was in its right not to invite anyone who they don’t want. it was the party’s internal programme and they can invite anyone they like .
CONGRESS MAKING ALL PREPARATIONS FOR DELHI ASSEMBLY POLLS
Sharmishtha Mukherjee, the daughter of the president of India Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to be the Congress candidate in the forthcoming elections in Delhi expected to take place in another two months. The Congress party is gearing up to try its luck a fresh in Delhi where the party failed to get even one MP elected in the last Lok Sabha elections in May this year and got merely eight MLAs elected in the assembly polls in 2013. Most of the Congress candidates lost even their deposits. The Congress leadership is hopeful that there is an erosion in the image and popularity of the Aam Aadmi Party and that can be beneficial for the Congress to restore some of its lost grounds in the city. For that, the Congress has told all its MP candidates to contest the Vidhan Sabha elections. Congress is also keen to field Sharmishtha Mukherjee, the daughter of the President of India from the Greater Kailash assembly segment which covers the Bengali dominated CR Park. Sharmishtha Mukherjee had recently become a member of the Congress Party and had even sat on a dharna to protest against the BJP. If Sharmishtha agrees to contest, the Congress leaders feel that at least one of their seats will be ensured. The TMC is also not expected to put up its candidate against the president’s daughter. The BJP too is likely to go soft on her. Besides Sharmishtha, Ajay Makan who contested the New Delhi seat is reluctant to contest from any assembly seat from there. He may go to Rajouri Garden. The ex DPCC chief JP Agarwal wants to be fielded from Badarpur. Jagdish Tytler may contest from Sadar Bazar, the Congress has also struck a deal with the five times Matia Mahal MLA Shoeib Iqbal who joined the Congress this week. He will contest on the Congress ticket .Shoeib‘s joining the Congress would negate the impact of the Kejriwal on the Muslims who were believed to be shifting to AAP in this election under the belief the AAP can alone stop the BJP from coming to power and their votes will not be wasted if they voted for the Congress as in 2013 polls.. Among the other MPs who can contest in the assembly elections are Krishna Teerath from Karol Bagh and Mahabal Misra from Nasirpur. Sandeep Dikshit and Kapil Sibal are not willing to contest.
BIRENDRA SINGH IS A CENTRAL MINISTER AT LAST AFTER A LONG WAIT
At last Choudhury Birendra Singh who recently swapped the hand for the lotus has seen his dream come true. Birendra Singh has finally caught the bus which he had been missing for the last several decades. The BJP has proved to be lucky for Singh. His wait is now over and the ex Congressman is now a union minister in the Narendra Modi government thus breaking a long time jinx. Each time it was final that Singh would be made minister but something happened that would kill his chances. When Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister, he was highly impressed by the Jat leader and had wanted to make him the chief minister of Haryana But after the assembly polls, Bhajan Lal did his famous somersault upsetting Singh’s chances. Subsequently P V Narasimha Rao lured him with a ministerial berth but 10 Janpath prevailed on him. The latest was when Pawan Bansal had to quit the railway ministry in the aftermath of corruption charges, Manmohan Singh decided to replace Bansal with the Jat leader but luck again did not favour him and Mallikarjun Kharge became the railway minister .This time it was the powerful Haryana chief ministerand his arch rival Bhupinder Singh Hooda who ensured that Singh did not become a minister at the centre under Manmohan Singh. It was after this that he felt hurt by the treatment meted out to him by the Congress leadership. Rahul refused to meet him. He then met Amit Shah and joined the BJP . Joining the BJP has turned his fortunes. Modi inducted him as a union minister. He is now minister for rural development
ARUN JAITLEY HAD A MAJOR ROLE IN PICKING MINISTERIAL CANDIDATES
Narendra Modi was keen to bring Manohar Parrikkar for the telecom portfolio. The thinking behind this was that Modi was on the lookout for an honest decision taker who would have both the image and ability. And Parikkar just fit the bill. But for Arun Jaitley‘s health reasons, the prime minister was forced to place Parrikkar in defence. Ravi Shankar Prasad came in as the second choice. However Prasad had to come out of law as he was informed the day he took oath that he would have to quit from the law portfolio sooner or later. Though it was out and out a Modi expansion but the only person privy to what Modi wanted and would do was Arun Jaitley. Except for Rajiv Pratap Rudy, all others who have been inducted are said to be Jaitley’s men. Rudy known for his proximity to Rajnath Singh was the only one who could get in despite Jaitley’s opposition. Even Mukhtar got in despite Jaitley’s opposition.
FORMER SHIV SAINIKS GET PLUM POSTS IN MAHARASHTRA CONGRESS
Resentment is high within the Congress in Maharashtra against the appointment of the two shiv sainiks as the leader and deputy leader of the Congress legislature party. Both the CLP leader Radha Kishen Vikhe Patil and deputy CLP leader Vijay Vaddettiwar had come from the Shiv Sena to join the Congress in 2009 before the assembly polls in Maharashtra. A day before their appointments, Balasahab Vikhe Patil the father of Radha Kishen Vikhe Patil had stated that the Congress should support the BJP to help them sail through in the confidence motion. It is believed that to stop the possible split in the Congress legislature party ,the high command was forced to take the decision. The decision was taken at the behest of the former CM Ashok Chavan and the party general secretary Mohan Prakash. Ashok Chavan who is extremely upset with Prithviraj Chavan, the outgoing chief minister for being unnecessarily targeted in the Adarsh scam has been in touch with the BJP leaders who too are more interested in splitting the Shiv Sena and the Congress to complete their own numbers than to take outside support of the NCP.. Had there been a delay in the appointments of the CLP and the deputy CLP, about fifteen anti Prithviraj MLAs led by Bala Sahib Vikhe Patil would have split the party and joined the BJP. Bala Sahib is an old shiv sainik and was a minister in the Vajpayee government. A disgruntled Ashok Chavan is said to be behind the move just to teach Prithviraj a lesson in politics. He is alleged to have dangled the threat of the split and got the men of his choice to the two most important posts of the party. The suspension of the five MLAs from the house is also said to have been an extension of the game to help the BJP. The Congress leadership is however keeping its fingers crossed. Besides being hand in gloves with the BJP, the deputy leader Vijay Vaddettiwar is also alleged to be involved in the irrigation scam.
BJP WOOING SAURABH GANGULI AGAIN FOR LEADING PARTY IN BENGAL
The erstwhile captain of Indian cricket team Saurabh Ganguli is the new icon of West Bengal whom every political party seems to bag.. All parties, irrespective of their colour are making overtures to him and Saurabh reportedly is making full use of his status keeping everyone on tenterhooks. Saurabh who till now had been known for his penchant for the reds, has had no qualms of wearing the saffron but for Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. As the BJP is keen to target West Bengal in the 2016 assembly elections, tyey are looking for a well known face to lead the party in the state. Who would be the BJP’s face in west Bengal is a million dollar question?. Can Babul Supriyo who has been elevated to the post of a union minister (MOS) fullfil the requirement of leading the party.? Most leaders particularly the state leaders do not have a favourable opinion on projecting the singer as the BJP face. And then he is supposed to be the candidate of Ramdev. He got the Lok Sabha ticket in the Ramdev quota and he was made a minister in that quota also.Senior BJP leaders want to approach Saurabh ganguly again and this time, they will make use of Narendra Modi. (IPA)
