Nitish, Or Kharge? Jury Still Out On INDIA Bloc’s PM Face

Who will be the I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s prime ministerial face, Mallikarjun Kharge or Nitish Kumar? Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has emerged as the new champion of the cause of social justice, holding an unprecedented caste survey in the state. Nitish has always fancied and is seen as having the credentials for the top job. Like PM Modi, he has been CM of a state for more than 15 years. Nitish hails to the Kurmi OBC community, and the INDIA Bloc comprehensively expects to cash in on this to reach out to the OBCs. However, Kurmis have the synergy to determine the electoral outcome in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan. Nitish has successfully managed to resurrect his diminishing graph within the Opposition’s INDIA bloc and threatened to deprive the BJP and PM Modi, of their OBC vote base. While INDIA bloc partners like RJD, SP, CPI, seem to be supporting of Nitish’s candidature, his commitment to secularism is doubtful, though ideologically, he is a socialist. On the other hand, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge belongs to the SC community, and the INDIA bloc understandably hopes to cash in on this to reach out to SC, ST. 84 Lok Sabha seats including 21 from Karnataka (Kharge’s home state), 17 in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala (18), MP (16) etc. are reserved for SC category in the country. It will also help Kharge pit caste identities to counter the BJP’s election planks of religion and ultra-nationalism. Kharge has got positives of winning Karnataka, Himachal and Telangana, which has given him a lot of confidence, though loss in three Hindi heartland states has neutralized this political advantage. However, while the octogenarian Kharge can be a popular face in southern states, he does not seems to bear an appeal in Hindi heartland which is so essential to become a formidable force in 2024. All said and done, INDIA bloc partners must stick together and arrive at a consensus on the PM face.

CONGRESS’ MEDIA HEAD PAWAN KHERA MAY GET A RAJYA SABHA SEAT IN 2024

Congress’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, is versed for his feisty defence of the party line in TV debates and media interactions, is expected to get the Rajya Sabha nod this time from Rajasthan, Karnataka or Telangana. In Karnataka, four Rajya Sabha members are retiring, and in Telangana, three. Accordingly, Congress too will retain its two seats (one each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan), but the party will gain two additional seats from Telangana where those seats are currently being occupied by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Among prominent leaders, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and environment minister Bhupender Yadav will retire as Rajya Sabha members representing Rajasthan whereas education minister Dharmendra Pradhan will retire as member representing Madhya Pradesh in April 2024. Now, Pawan Khera, who is acknowledged as a TV-savvy leader working behind the scenes galvanising the media strategy of the party, providing instant information, updates to the media and busting fake news like a pro, is in line for a coveted RS seat. Khera has been acquainting the media with latest party updates through a channel of statements and tweets, be it about the reported arrest of two editors of vernacular newspapers in Manipur and the demand of their immediate release, or justice for 2002 Gujarat riots gang rape victim Bilkis Bano.

HINDU RELIGIOUS HEADS, INDIA BLOC TO BOYCOTT RAM TEMPLE INAUGURATION

After the head pontiff of Puri’s Govardhan Mutt refused to attend the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya on 22 January, his counterpart from Uttarakhand’s Jyotir Mutt, Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, has announced that neither of the country’s four prominent Shankarcharyas, or religious heads, will attend the event. This is because the ceremony is being held “against the shastras” — or sacred Hindu scriptures — especially since the temple construction is yet to be completed, he said in a video posted on his official handle on X, formerly Twitter. Following the example of the Left parties, the Congress leadership too has finally decided not to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and as according to them, inauguration of an incomplete temple has no meaning. The statement issued by the main Opposition party makes three important points: 1) Religion is a personal matter; 2) The RSS-BJP have turned the temple into a political project; and 3) The temple is not yet complete and the event has been brought forward for electoral gain. Among the INDIA bloc partners, the CPIM was the first to declare that its general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who received an invitation from the temple trust, would not attend the event. Other opposition parties in the INDIA bloc such as the Trinamool Congress and RJD also indicated they might keep off. The AAP was non-committal on whether it would attend or not, while saying that its national convener Arvind Kejriwal was yet to receive the invitation. BSP chief Mayawati too had hinted earlier that she may skip the event. DMK and CPI will also not attend the event.

MVA REACHES SEAT SHARING CONSENSUS IN MAHARASHTRA

Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on January 9 agreed on a seat-sharing plan for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. In the meeting also saw the MVA allies agree on inducting Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi into the MVA and the INDIA bloc. While Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut staked claim to 23 seats, which it had fought in alliance with BJP in 2019. According to sources, the Congress and the Shiv Sena could contest 18-20 seats each and the NCP may get 8 seats in the arrangement. Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi might get two seats and Swabhimani Paksha leader RajuShetty, an INDIA partner, might get one seat. This will be the first time when erstwhile rivals Sena and Congress will fight the Lok Sabha polls together as the MVA was formed after the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra elections.

AKHILESH MEETS PARTY SENIORS, RENEWS FOCUS ON PDA PLANK

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav held a meeting on January 9 at the state party headquarters in Lucknow along the party MLAs and former legislators ahead of 2024 Parliamentary election. The SP chief took advice from the party leaders on candidature for individual seats and the interestingly that too in a sealed envelope. Akhilesh Yadav is emphasizing with full swing on its PDA (Pichre, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank and SP are now looking to woo non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs), who constitute about 35 per cent of the population, directly connecting with the youth of every village and chalking out a strategy for the future. The party is focusing more on Purvanchal seats such as Ghazipur, Ghosi, Mau, Azamgarh, Mirzapuri, Gonda and Kushinagar to set the ground with the sole aim of wining the seats. (IPA Service)